- ADVENTURE -
N O R T H E R N
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IT ’ S BITTERLY COLD as Claude crawls out of his sleeping bag . Snow drifts down when he touches the wall of the tent – the moisture in his breath has frozen on the fabric . He ’ d wondered before this trip how tough it would be to cross the Indian Himalayas in winter and he has his verdict – above all else , it ’ s freezing cold .
Swiss bike adventurer Claude Balsiger has travelled the Himalayas with his bike for many years , and has even organised bike treks in the mountains . He holds the world record for the highest bike tour ever , that went up to 6 175m above sea level . He has definitely earned his Himalayan spurs – but all his previous adventures had taken place in summer . “ Winter in the Himalayas is of a different calibre ,” he says . And , compared to what was to come , the bike tour across the ice was much the easiest part .
Claude ’ s dream is to travel 160km over the frozen Zanskar River to the town of Padum on a mountain bike , from there to trek – on foot , on skis or by bike – towards
the main Himalayan ridge , to negotiate the ridge on skis with trainee mountain guide , Thomas Wäspe , crossing several 4 000ft passes , and one at 5 000ft , to the northern Indian city of Manali . They reckon they will need a total of four weeks for the 500km . They are accompanied by photographer Martin Bissig , local guide Tundup , some porters and a cook .
THE FROZEN SHEET
With the first rays of sun that penetrate into the narrow valley comes the euphoria . “ This is the grandest bike tour of my life ,” says Claude . He names the frozen road that winds its way deeper and deeper into the valley ‘ The White Trail ’. The locals call the ice on the river ‘ chaddar ’ ( Ladakhi for ‘ sheet ’). It is the only available access out of the valley in winter .
Ice on a flowing body of water is treacherous ; the thickness of the Zanskar ice varies from 1.5m to just a few centimetres . Tundup repeatedly checks it with his wooden rod before giving Claude the thumbs-up to continue the journey . Because the temperature sometimes shoots up from -20 ° C to above freezing point , water breaks through and covers the ice . The next morning it ’ s all frozen hard as rock again – and the Swiss expedition team is shivering in its tents .
Five days later , Claude and his entourage arrive in the town of Padum . The news that someone has crossed the river with a bike has already made the rounds . Perfect strangers congratulate Claude on his journey . The District Governor invites Claude , Thomas and Martin to tea and Claude is handed an official document that certifies that he is the first person to have overcome the Zanskar Chaddar on a bike . The real challenges , however , lie ahead .
The team begin the first stage on skis a few hundred metres after the start : the expedition sled carrying their luggage , including Claude ’ s bike , is dragged alternately by Claude and Thomas , but keeps jackknifing . It builds a snow wall in front of it and keeps flipping over onto
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