I had booked to do a winter expedition of Stok Kangri in February of this year. Stok Kangri is a 6000m non technical climbing peak which is mostly attempted in the summer months but in winter due to the level of snow and harsh weather, it becomes a different challenge altogether. I had booked via White Magic Adventure. This is professional company and the guides and support staff are very professional in their approach. In this 8 day expedition, there were 10 of us who signed up for such a venture. However 3 people decided to descend down after 5 days and the remaining 7 decided to ascend the peak. However this summit attempt proved to be unsuccessful for everyone due to heavy snow and extremely strong winds which was predicted to happen as earlier weather reports had forecasted. I think I made a good decision to descend down even though I was very much acclimatized to the high altutude.
Camping at high altittude with temeperatures dropping down to -20C even during the day is not fun. Your feet get cold even with double mountain boots and the way to stay warm is to be in your sleeping bag most of the time. Things can get boring in such cases, imagine having to spend like 5 to 6 hours in your tent to stay warm! Anyhow after this trip, I had personally decided not to do any winter climbs not only due to the cold but it can get very risky as there can be strong winds, avalanches or one can get severe frost bite etc.
However due to doing this trek in winter gave me good opportunity to take some great winter landscape photos that one will not be able to see or experience in the summer months so this was a great and positive experience for me. There was lots of snow and ice. Here I am showcasing some images from the expedition and everyone if you are wondering got back safely to Leh. If you have anymore questions about the trip then do get in contact with me via the contact form or send email to hello@abhishekdeepak.com.