On our routes you are between one and three days' walk from a road, with no phone signal and no helicopter you can count on. That is the whole appeal, and it is also the thing to understand before you book.
The real risks, in order
1 · Altitude
The most likely thing to spoil a trip, and the most preventable. See altitude and acclimatisation.
2 · Rivers
Levels rise through the day with the melt. We cross early. If a crossing is not right, we do not do it — we wait, take a different line, or change the day. The horsemen have the final word on where the animals cross, and often that is the safest line for people too.
3 · Ordinary injury on rough ground
Ankles and knees, mostly, on descents. Poles help more than people expect.
4 · Weather
Sun and dehydration more often than storms. In August a monsoon spill can loosen slopes; we avoid the sections that matter when that happens.
What we carry and what we can do
- A comprehensive first-aid kit and first-aid training. Which first-aid or wilderness first-aid training the guides hold, and when it was last renewed.
- Horses, which can carry someone who cannot walk.
- Route knowledge to shorten a day, change a camp or exit a valley early.
- Do we carry a satellite phone or messenger on the routes? If yes, say which. If no, say so plainly.
What we cannot do
We cannot guarantee a fast evacuation. From the middle of either trekking route, getting an injured person to a road is a matter of hours to more than a day, on foot and by horse. From Padum, serious cases go to Leh, which is a long drive or, weather permitting, a flight. Helicopter rescue exists in Ladakh but it is not a service you can rely on being available, and it is expensive.
This is not a reason to avoid the region. It is the reason we walk slowly, turn back when we should, and insist on the next point.
Insurance — not optional
You must have travel insurance that explicitly covers trekking at the altitude of your route, including emergency evacuation and repatriation. Many standard policies exclude anything above 4,000 or 5,000 metres. Read the exclusions, not the summary. Send us the policy number and the emergency number before you travel.
Decisions on the trail
Route decisions during a journey are made by the guide. If we say a crossing is not happening, or a pass is off, or a day is being cut short, that is the decision. We will always explain why, and it is never about convenience.