The famed winter Chadar trek in Ladakh is drawing increasing hordes of adventurers every year. At what cost? Tundup Wangail still remembers the first time he set foot on the frozen Zanskar river 40 winters ago, as a five-year-old. He remembers shivering in sub-zero temperatures and the way his father, before open fires in yawning caves, taught him that the cold was their ally. How the frozen river offered them a lifeline to reach Leh to sell goatskin, cheese and butter, and return with stocks for survival even when snow closed all land routes.

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