STAG-LUNG BIG MOUNTAIN PARADISE
Gearing up a borrowed trail bike for a freeride trip somehow, sums up the growing culture of Mountain biking in Ladakh. Changthang was a distant feature in the list of places to go and ride, but understanding the potential that the region held was always in the back of our minds. Carving an excuse for the current situation in the most positive sense, we unclasped a continuous time on bike with a tendency for fresher trails.
Held with the regret of my carelessness and left without my gorgeous Mondraker Dune R, the excitement for the trip was quite cloudy at first. Ten days of a scorcher, while feeding off pure adrenaline did not seem too bad anyways. So, Marin Hawk Hill 1 was the answer that eventually came knocking with some Shimano Zee’s (four-piston Brakes) on them.
Changthang It was then!
A High altitude Plateau, situated in western Ladakh, is a vast open highland with the majority of its land space spread in the eastern part of Tibet, is undoubtedly one of the most surreal of the spaces that I have visited.
The memory of the last visit, of course without a bike, had my journey to it filled with imaginary lines scoped on potential mountains, but as they say “Some things are too good to be true” and it was just that when we arrived our first destination in the form of Ya-Ya tso ( Lake). A picturesque lake situated at 4684m above sea level was quite a vista getting near it. The aquamarine is quite prominent from afar but as you get nearer the natural environs of the lake get mangled with bright tiny colours of tents pitched in a series of camps all around.
Getting a perfect spot for us turned out into quite a quest. Our dusty bikes seemed weary as we were, 4 classic trial bikes or it’s called down- country now? But one thing I was certain of was the DH bike (Downhill) left over by Veronique Sandler when she had visited Ladakh with the Teton Gravity crew to shoot for a segment in the Accomplice movie.
The lake provided us with one of the most beautiful sunsets in the evening and a gorgeous night sky to end our first day, but we had not come just to camp and chill, we were here to ride our bikes!. As pretty as the Lake was, the mountains surrounding it held absolutely no prospect for any riding whatsoever. A short steep line was the only thing that we managed to find further away from the Lake and if you were to ask me, the climb was not worth the ride.
The brown giants turned out to be a bunch of deceiving Landforms here. Meanwhile, the lake had turned into quite a spectacle. More people had flocked in during the day while we were gone and a Loudspeaker from the nearby camp that was kept on for the entire valley to “enjoy” till the wee hours of the morning, perfectly reflecting the unfortunate outcome of our first promised land for freeriding in Changthang.
The next destination couldn’t come any sweeter than STAGLUNG, a vast open valley that spreads to a dream-like reality. It was the classic Changthang Landscape, one would generally relate to. To add a cherry on top of this, we were finally heading into something that would soon transform into something special in the days leading after.
The perfect camping perfectly spaced put on a green pasture spot stranded for our arrival with only mountains and horses amongst our midst and bearable temperature for our legs to breathe . We could not have asked for a better place to finally let our bikes breathe even.
Our first descent from a smaller mountain was the perfect warmup session for the evening on reaching there. A wide chute piercing through the mountain was the only visible line that seemed rideable enough to shred and get a feeling of what the place has to offer for the coming days.
The climb was easy enough to have my bike rested on the shoulder while taking short breathers along the way. The short summit welcomed us to a beautiful view of the valley in the dying daylight.
The surprising part of the session that got us all hyped was from Tsewang Phuntsog, a rider who had picked up a bike from the local bike shop (shootout to Ladakh bike shop) only a month earlier, and opened a steep solo line just close to the one we had just done. The reaction on his face said it all. Fist bumps and hugs were flying all around ecstatically!
Excited and happy faces were radiantly on display that night on camp and would stay the same when that next day a bigger mountain with a similar feature, had us quite excited to start the day off. Now, After a deep discussion over dinner the previous night, regarding how to Slash through the sand while descending. Keeping that in mind, almost everyone was rigidly thrusting their hips side to side and picking up a trail of dust along the way.
My reliance on the bike was unconditionally placed on the Zees (they are some brakes). Coming from riding a Mondraker Dune R, with longer reach and of course a longer front travel (160mm) for quite some time now, getting used to a smaller geometry frame had me riding a little awkward at first, but the brakes certainly compensated for all of that.
Average of two steep lines every day had become quite a routine, even on a windy day that managed to destroy one of our tents did not deter Skaldan, Tsewang Phuntsok and Omyer Lassu starting the day on a steep line and an ending it with a much steeper one. The last bit of daylight was wisely capitalised by Skaldan as he burst through the dirt gracefully opening a smooth line for others to follow. A hike of more than 2 hours to the top was broken down to 1.45 minutes of pure adrenaline. I got my chance early the next morning, waking at the brink of dawn, Gyatso and I decided to grab our bikes and start our day on the mega descent.
We had opted for an easier route to climb, after witnessing the earlier group struggle their back off. Gyatso had suggested taking the ridgeline connecting from a smaller mountain, which proved to be a much easier climb then I had expected. He left very little time to rest when we got to the top and decided to drop in. I took a deep breath and graced my turn, to one of the longest descents I have ever done and at a particular section, even the Zee’s were struggling to keep me stable. Slashing the dirt was the last thing on my mind and my only objective was not to fall from the bike, I even remember thinking aloud “Don’t Fall”.
The morning light was gradually warming up the day and the feeling of contentment was soaring, this was the last of the 12th descent in 6 days, but so I thought. Skaldan and Omyer had different ideas in their head. They were up for the 13th one. This truly was the “Mega Descent” of the entire trip with a little more character to it. A deep chute is paved to the right of the mountain with gradual steepness. Skaldan opening a smoother line parallel to a deep gully that ran right in the middle of the Chute and gradually manoeuvring towards a bunch of exposed rocks with a steeper line shooting right through them at the end, while Omyer was getting a little reluctant at the top, taking his time to get on the saddle and when he finally did, the sketchiness of the start got the best him. After several painful attempts, he decided to start from a lower part of the line.
Nonetheless, it was impressive and inspiring to see someone, who has not had an opportunity to even ride a blue line trail as much as he wanted to, send some of the steepest lines that we have ever done. And, that reflected the essence of this trip, opening a scope of freeriding in Ladakh.
Ladakh is one of the top tourism destinations in India and one of the best places for adventure tourism. Though the scale of it has altered quite rapidly in recent times, with most of the travel companies catering towards the domestic clientele who mostly come to relish the vista that Ladakh has to offer.
This has unfortunately transformed the Tourism industry into a saturated lane and once considered a top adventure destination in the country has been cut down to a lake in Cgahngthan (Pangong Tso), thanks to a popular Bollywood film shot there.
Mountain biking in Ladakh is not something people would associate the place with even though it holds the best potential space in the entire country. Mountain biking has been bottled into long road expeditions. Trials and mountains are left for the climbers and trekkers. Though, in the past, there have been a few riders who have visited the region. The most prominent of them all being the late Kelly Mcgerry for a commercial here.
But, the most impactful for us was the Teton Crew, along with Veronique Sandler and Hannah Bergemann, when they came to Ladakh in November last year, to shoot a segment for their movie Accomplice. They had involved us during their shoot and getting to witness these two amazing women send some of the steepest lines that were available in real-time was truly an inspiration for us to up our game and step out of our comfort zone and thus the Changthang trip.
The future for mountain biking in Ladakh is in its infancy, but the prospect of it lights a little brighter for the coming future. Now, even the local administrations have seemed to finally recognise the importance of diversifying the tourism industry in Ladakh and Mountain biking fits right on the very top of the list.
This understanding has filled me with the hope for Ladakh having a strong MTB culture. Also, the impact that this sport is going to have on both the social and economic front is huge.
I understand the time and long for a future when our small town is buzzing with loud hubs all around.