MEET THE
Mike Unwin goes in search of an encounter with the elusive snow leopard
It’s a snow leopard, at point-blank range. I freeze as the cat’s amber eyes bore into mine. The ears flatten and lips curl in a silent growl; the lithe body hugs the rock, shoulder muscles bunching to leap. I can see every bristling whisker. Sadly, it’s only a photograph. Each time I enter the lodge dining room, the framed images on the walls mock me: snow leopard tracking, snow leopard with cubs. Yes, I think, as I join my companions for a chicken biryani, I don’t doubt that somewhere out there — in the blizzard beyond these ice-frosted windows — there’s one prowling. But our chances of laying eyes on it in these immense mountains seem negligible, at best.
I’m in Ulley: a Buddhist community of some seven households, 3 800m up a mountain valley in Ladakh, northern India.
CHASING A GHOST
Our guide, David Sonam, has assured us that Ulley is a top spot for sightings. Last week, a female with two cubs was seen just above the village. What’s more, our head tracker is local legend Tchewang Norbu: snow-leopard-whisperer extraordinaire.
Still, I can’t shake my memory of The Snow Leopard, in which author Peter Matthiessen spends six months combing Tibet in a fruitless search for the beast. Now, after three days peering into the mountains, I feel we’re also chasing a ghost.
LIFE IN SUBZERO TEMPERATURES
Thankfully, Ulley is a delight: a cluster of simple dwellings festooned in prayer flags