GOING TO EXTREMES
UNDERTAKEN BY ONLY A HANDFUL OF ADVENTURERS EACH SEASON, BHUTAN’S HIGHALTITUDE SNOWMAN TREK IS AMONG THE TOUGHEST HIKES IN THE HIMALAYAS, IF NOT THE WORLD — A GRUELING FOUR-WEEK TRAVERSE THAT TAKES IN MORE THAN A DOZEN MOUNTAIN PASSES AND SOME OF THE MOST INACCESSIBLE SETTLEMENTS ON EARTH. THE CHALLENGES ARE CONSIDERABLE, BUT EVEN GREATER ARE THE REWARDS.
GULPED DOWN THE LAST OF THE PORRIDGE at our camp on a stony alpine meadow called Robulathang when Tshering Ngoedup, our sirdar (crew leader), burst into the mess tent and instructed us to clear out. A helicopter was expected to arrive soon and he was worried it would spook our pack yaks— the animals could break their tethers and bolt in any direction, with zero consideration for obstacles such as tents. Much better to face down a panicked yak on open ground, Tshering advised.
Emerging into the chilly morning air on day nine of our trek in the Bhutanese Himalayas, we spotted three figures huddled around a fire on the far side of the meadow. Two were yak handlers; the third was a middle-aged American they had been accompanying as part of a smaller trekking group that set out the day before us. The American had turned back because of severe chest pains, requesting an emergency evacuation via satellite phone. Tshering reckoned he was suffering from acute mountain sickness. It was a common enough illness at these heights.
This encounter was a sober reminder of the difficulties of the hike we were undertaking. Spanning an exceptionally isolated area of northwestern Bhutan along the border with Tibet, the Snowman Trek covers about 360 kilometers at an average elevation of 4,500 meters, where the air contains roughly 60 percent of the oxygen at sea level. It takes anywhere from 24 to 28 days to complete, assuming you complete it at all: this is arguably the most demanding trek in the world, with a high failure rate due to unforgiving terrain, hypothermia, and altitude sickness. Only a handful of trekkers take up the challenge each season, which generally runs through October, after the monsoon rains of summer and before the snow-blocked passes of winter. It is said that far less people have completed the Snowman Trek than have stood on the summit of Mount Everest.
But as our group—seven hikers supported by three guides, three cooks, three yak handlers, and a pair of Sherpas—stood on a ridge watching the rescue helicopter take off on its journey back to the hospital in Thimphu, Bhutan’s capital, I was also keenly aware that, despite the trek’s hardships and risks, the rewards are substantial. The route traverses some of the remotest and most beautiful alpine scenery on the planet; a pristine wilderness that very few foreigners, and indeed Bhutanese, have ever visited. Once you cross the threshold of that first high mountain pass, you enter an almost mythical domain that leaves you feeling like you’ve stepped into Narnia.
CHOMOLHARI, AT 7,326 METERS, is Bhutan’s second-highest peak, and deeply venerated; its name means “mountain of the goddess.” The base camp on its flanks represented a major milestone for us since the trek began in Shana, a village at the entrance to Jigme Dorje National Park in the Upper Paro Valley. The two hard days of trekking that brought us here would prove to be among the most punishing on the entire route, a march of 39 kilometers that saw us gain more than 1,300 meters in altitude, exceeding the recommended acclimatization rate. A rather tough introduction.
On the bright side, most of this section of the Snowman Trek traverses a veritable wonderland of pines and conifers, all draped in bright green lichens and dark, moist mosses. The trail is perforated by crashing rivers of ice-blue Himalayan meltwater that we crossed on wooden cantilever bridges; one junction leads to the Tremo La pass into Tibet, a route employed in centuries past by trading caravans and invading Tibetan armies.
Leaving the forest behind, we entered a widening valley. Rows of vertical white prayer flags topped with juniper sprigs fluttered in