WhiteMagic Adventure Blog
Mind Games on the Mountain - Life Lessons on a trek to Stok Kangri in Ladakh
Mind Games on the Mountain - Life Lessons on a trek to Stok Kangri in Ladakh
Stok Kangri Peak in Ladakh Stok Kangri is the highest peak of Stok Range in Ladakh. At 6153m, it is one of the highest trekking peaks in India and is an extremely popular quest for trekkers and climbers visiting Ladakh. Over the past few years it has become the Everest among trekking peaks in Indian Himalaya and sees a busy season for about 4 months between Jun to Sep. Although considered an easy climb, it has a difficult summit day which could either be 'easy' or 'difficult' depending on snow conditions and weather. The mountain has to be attempted directly from Base Camp due to camping restrictions on setting advance camps by IMF(Indian Mountaineering Foundation). This means one needs to ascend from 4900m (BC) to 6153m (summit), an altitude difference of 1200+m, back and forth in one attempt. This means it requires really solid acclimatization to altitude before the summit push. Also, to avoid walking on soft snow, the climb starts around midnight, anytime between 11 pm to 3 am. It is extremely cold and the wind chill could drop the temperatures further. If it is snowing it could further complicate things. An average summit day is about 12 hrs. Among the many who attempt summit, a lot of them fail to do so. There could be a multitude of reasons for the failure. Praveen Suthrum recounts from his personal experience on Stok Kangri last season in Ladakh where they managed to reach the ridge at 19850 ft and decided to turn around. Stok Kangri definitely needs good preparation, prior Himalayan trekking experience and a toughened mind. Suthrum explains further on the mind aspect in this story. Reproduced here are pages from the article published in National Geographic Traveller India, Feb 2016 edition. Praveen Suthrum first climbed Kilimanjaro with us in Feb,2014 and got back the next year to attempt Stok Kangri in July,2015. He is a writer, artist and entrepreneur living in Mumbai. Read on about his climb up Stok Kangri.
Cover Page of Feb, 2016 Issue
You can view snaps from the Stok Kangri Expedition on WhiteMagic’s Facebook Page. Album titled – “Stok Kangri(6153m) Climb, Ladakh". Further trip details including itinerary and costs can be found at
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