Stepping softly in the melting Himalaya

Himalayan weather has turned unpredictable, threatening the safety of trekkers and mountaineers. The reason for this breakdown in seasons is climate change, and rising heat is making the great outdoors dangerous

- Bibek Bhattacharya

It 2025 was a bad year for Ladakh. August was a catastrophic month—a combination of climate change and a rare weather phenomenon resulted in a deluge.

The merging of western disturbances from the Mediterranean and the Indian monsoon resulted in 80.2mm of rain in Ladakh through the month, leading to flash floods, soil erosion and widespread damage to infrastructure, like bridges.

Flights in and out of Leh faced prolonged disruptions through the month, with regions cut off for days on end. For context, Ladakh, which falls in the rain shadow of the main Himalayan Range, has an arid climate and next to no summer precipitation, with the mean average rainfall for August being a mere 4.8mm. The rain last year was about 20 times over normal.

Ladakh has witnessed severe summer downpours before, but almost entirely in the form of intense cloudbursts. What differentiated the August rain from incidents in 2006, 2010 and 2016 was that this wasn't a single or two-day downpour, but steady rain that lasted through the month.

Caught in the unseasonal rain were tourists, especially trekking groups attempting various popular trails across Ladakh, including along the valley of the Markha river, a tributary of the Zanskar. The Markha Valley trek, which winds up the riverside and crosses the Kongmaru La towards Hemis, is considered an easy hike and a great introduction to Ladakh’s unique environment. For Sujoy Das, who was leading a group for his Kolkata-based trekking outfit South Col Expeditions, it turned out to be a nightmare.

STRANDED IN THE DELUGE