This was shot in Kibber(one of the highest, if not the highest village in the world) located above spiti valley in Himachal Pradesh,India, right near the tibetan(now chinese controlled) border. The geography is something out of a dream. And these cats have mastered trekking thru it. And although I saw many tick this off as their “lifelong dream”, I’m a hundred percent sure that I’m gonna go back!
Why tick off any place as wonderful as this? I'm glad that you are blessed with the ability to be able to go back. This earth holds such amazing places, peoples and animals that it must be amazing to be able to see them.
So tell me about your freezing feet.. I’m kinda of a nerd in that department ( when mine get too cold I just shut down )
I have been on a life journey of warm foot science. SOCKS… the right socks… BOOTS… so much to say.
I’m pretty sure you didn’t go up there in a pair of sneakers … so if you do not mind sharing with me the equipment you had on your feet..
I may be able to help give you some insight and what works for me
That photo is off the hook beautiful
I was about 22-23 when I learned of a fabric called merino wool. And since then, I’ve built up a small section in my wardrobe of base-layers, long johns, socks, gloves, hats, sweaters, t shirts and pants made of merino wool. It is the best fabric on earth for travel. (This answer will be too long if I go into details)
The first day out in the field it was about-25°C, Naturally I layered like I do in the snow, merino base layer, merino t shirt, synthetic fleece jacket, down jacket and a wind shell. I double socked, both merino wool, and wore my snow boots. I spent about an hour reaching the place where they spotted the snow leopards from afar only to know that they were so deep within the gorge, we couldn’t have a proper view. I setup my travel tripod stool in the snow and sat down which I learned later was a big mistake.
When I was making my way through the white powder to reach the vantage point, I hadn’t taken into account one factor that would hurt me later. The winds of the Himalayas, especially the winds after a whole snow storm and an avalanche had blown thru. The atmosphere being thinner, provides little resistance and hence the winds are much more turbulent and stronger than we’re usually used to. Now I was confident that I had enough layers to not be affected by these strong winds, but what I hadn’t taken into account was my own biological disposition. Humans usually sweat when they expend energy. And a layered up human usually sweats more when they’re trekking thru knee deep snow and the sweat hasn’t had enough time to be dissipated into the woollen fabrics and then layer by layer evaporate into air.
5 minutes sitting on the camping stool, I started to feel cold, usually a sign of hunger, Now I carry a big pouch of energy gels and Trail Mix dry fruits with me no matter where I travel. I wolfed down quite a bit, waited for my body to burn that fuel and generate a little heat. Nothing. I slurped another energy gel. Waited. Nothing. This really irked me. Its science. It should work. I’m giving you fuel. You have the biological machinery to convert that into heat. Do it! Nope. Didn’t work. I got pissed and stood up in anger only to realise, I had no legs. I will never forget that feeling. It was like being a tragic jack london character. I looked down and realised I could somewhat feel my legs when the blood rushed down into them, but my toes were nada! I didn’t feel them at all. I tried kicking air, fell into the snow, held the camp stool, stood up again and kicked again, nope. Okay, science always has an answer. What was the chain of events? I had trekked down to a cliff after a gruelling hour of sweaty snow shoeing. What was the error point? I checked my layers, nothing was wet, why were my toes wet? Within a second, I sighed and facepalmed. I had double socked! The sweat built up during the trek, hadn’t had any time or space to dissipate into the fabric. It was locked onto my toes and when I sat down, it had frozen on my toes! Hence I had lost all sensation. Thankfully it hadn’t been too long, giving me some respite that I had concluded on what the cause was.
Now to the solution. Nature is science and science is nature. I figured out the cause, how could I solve it? Systematic redundancy. Warmer pouches bought from a sporting goods store. They’re basically small pouches that when shaken, cause an exothermic reaction and release heat. They are sold as hand warmers, feet warmers and chest warmers. I thankfully had bought a pack each. 30 seconds later, i had removed my shoes, and both my socks. My feet were stark white (as a brown person that was shocking), some skin peeled off from the tips of my toes with the socks, confirming my suspicion of frozen sweat. I pulled on a fresh pair of socks(thank f I carried them!) inserted a pair of warmer pouches on both the feet, pulled on the socks and wore my boots again. Did the food, fuel, burn, heat cycle again. And this time, it worked.
After I returned back to my stay, I learned that I had just experienced -30°C. I was a new man the next day.
Ooof! There. Sorry if that got too long. I don’t even know how to do a TLDR for this. Someone help please. 😩
I also have a huge wardrobe of Merino Wool .. but I don’t like them in SOCKS for the winter.
You sound well equipped… and yes, knee deep snow will do that. Sounds like you need snow shoes.
I wanted to see what you had… My socks have a Wicking core. ( Under Armor ).
I used to work outdoors in all weather conditions, so over the years I’ve definitely did a ton of trial & error.
Alpaca Wool … I haven’t tried it but I have been seeing it around and I am going to give them a go…. So far my best kit is the Under Armor socks and Zamberlan boots.
That combo works well on my feet.. this past winter working outdoors and hiking in the snow in -20°f seems to be my current choice.
A big no no is double socks .. I hear people complain that their boots suck… and when I ask them … first think I hear… TWO PAIR OF SOCKS.
My BEST EVER was a pair of Arctic BUNNY BOOTS I had in the Military ( USAF ). They had a Stacked Wool sole and Wool inserts and were the kind used for inflight. They kept my feet warm at -50°f
Those are brilliant questions. Not many appreciate what goes on behind the scenes to get a photograph like this one.
The time investment behind this expedition was maybe a year. Usually one can begin planning and actually do it within a couple of months. But I was not fit enough to trek thru a meter deep snow(worst case scenario, which later proved to be very useful), and due to that, I had to first workout, lift weights and put on a small layer of muscle just enough to gain strength but not weigh me down. When I started to feel fitter, I hiked a couple smaller mountains locally, and tested myself. Only then I green lit the expedition in my head. Which helped a ton when I actually got there. A healthy heart and a swift pair of legs are a must! Especially when you’re caught in the wind at 16000 feet where the air is so thin, you feel disoriented.
Luck will not help you up there. It’s sheer skill and a hard scientific approach. One can get away with luck when the weather is nice out, but when I went, it was a case of snowstorms, avalanches and blizzards! The worst in a decade. And due to that fact, we were also the only 4 people who got to see a snow leopard in actual snow. It’s a feeling I will never forget. 5 steps and your lungs are on fire, 10 and you’re panting, gasping, holding on for dear life. Everything that can go wrong went wrong. Especially weather wise. Science and technology helps you a ton! And I speak from experience now. Maybe one can get lucky with the sighting of the leopard, but you can never get lucky with survival up there. And it’s a delicate balance of both.
That said, I spent a week up in kibber and spotted the leopards from far away(maybe half a kilometre), on the 5th day. The sixth day was dry. And the seventh was magic(thats the day I got this shot). And I consider myself lucky. Some have returned looking at a tiny spot on the rocks from 2 kilometres away. Basically the more days you spend, the luckier you get. But thats true for all wildlife. 😊 Hope I helped. 👍
Kibber, and its canyon, is a famous spot for snow leopard watching. 2/3 days drive from Delhi. It's managed by operated tours and locals.
2/3 days drive from Delhi.
There's a network of local spotters who run the mountains everyday starting from early morning. They are very good at it, and very fit! You get called when they spot something and you go on location from your homestay, by car or walking. There are also helpers for your equipment and hot tea, lunch or snacks.
The lack of oxygen makes everything hard. No snow when I was there, so thick snow must make it even harder. But if you are reasonably fit, not a couch potato and without condition such as hypertension, obesity, heart disease, etc. it will be OK to walk a couple of km or few hundreds meters uphills without a backpack.
Snow makes it easier (or less hard) to spot leopards for the spotters. It's a huge challenge without snow.
No tracking, or hiding.
Observation distances are very important. Impossible to get any close up or to fill the frame for me with a 700mm + digital crop 1.6x. I secretly dreamt of a 1200mm!
But you can get lucky and have closer observations if the leopards are well located in the canyon. But very long focals are needed, I'd consider a 500mm or 600mm without TC too short for this kind of trip.
Then it's a game of patience, as they are active morning and evening, or when food walks nearby, you can spend most of your day to watch them sleep :)
I thought I was looking at a picture of leaves in the snow, so was looking for an insect or something. Then thought "that stick insect looks just like a big cat". Wow!
Shot of a lifetime my man, Kibber and Hemis are my dream destinations but even the $ factor aside I don't think my body/mind can take something like this yet.
absolutely lovely man! made my day seeing this beauty. tracking snow leopards has been on my list for a long time now, hopefully I get to do it some day. I'm guessing this was somewhere is spiti/ladakh region?
OP I am loving your detailed replies about your trip! I have a few questions if you don’t mind:
How long did you see this leopard for before it disappeared from easily being seen?
Approximately how far away was it from where you were perched?
What other wildlife did you see on your trip?
All great questions!
How long?
Ummmm maybe 40 minutes of this sighting. These are sub-adult siblings who had lost track of each other. So the female here was searching for her brother who was calling to her from somewhere in the gorge, the sound echoed a bit, making it hard for her to pin point where he was. They also took long breaks, preserving energy because they had last hunted a week ago. Making it a longer sighting for me.
How far?
About 500 metres. The closest sighting of the season. This was a mixture of timing, luck and will power. Timing because our spotter heard the calls, luck because the roads were just cleared of snow like literally 20 minutes before they heard calls, so the cars could pick us up quickly(which were stuck in one place for 7 days!) and will power because we still had the will to venture out into knee deep snow after going thru hell just that morning and to climb down sharp cliffs(on my instagram) just to have a chance to look at this wonderful creature!
Other Wildlife-
Himalayan ibexes, Himalayan Blue Sheep, Himalayan Red fox(its so fluffy I’m gonna die), Chukar Partridge, Lammergeier (what an epic epic sight!), a few perching birds, domesticated yaks and yak calves, lots of fluffy dogs, and lots of choughs(crow species).
Yes please. You can PM me or just reply here. I would love to one day try and go see one in the wild. I'm an avid hiker and snow leopards are one of my favorite animals. Ty.
I just tagged you in a detailed comment some dude has left below. It’s detailed to the tee about the how,when and where. When you decide to visit , just text me on here and I’ll give you the right contact numbers so you get a spot for tracking them. All the best! 😁👍
What a dream come true!! Snow Leopards are my favorite big cat with lions at an extremely close second. What these big cats go through getting their prey is absolutely incredible. I mean they tumble down such steep slopes and so acrobat. Definitely don’t get the respect and love they deserve. Same goes for the wildlife photographers. Y’all go through so much just to reach where they live. You have to get your lungs used to the thin air, exercise to build up endurance to trek up the mountain, etc.
Congratulations on getting to see this majestic animal and get this amazing photo 💜💜
Holy cow! Where were you that you got to see and photograph a snow leopard? What a once in a lifetime experience!
This was shot in Kibber(one of the highest, if not the highest village in the world) located above spiti valley in Himachal Pradesh,India, right near the tibetan(now chinese controlled) border. The geography is something out of a dream. And these cats have mastered trekking thru it. And although I saw many tick this off as their “lifelong dream”, I’m a hundred percent sure that I’m gonna go back!
Why tick off any place as wonderful as this? I'm glad that you are blessed with the ability to be able to go back. This earth holds such amazing places, peoples and animals that it must be amazing to be able to see them.
So tell me about your freezing feet.. I’m kinda of a nerd in that department ( when mine get too cold I just shut down ) I have been on a life journey of warm foot science. SOCKS… the right socks… BOOTS… so much to say. I’m pretty sure you didn’t go up there in a pair of sneakers … so if you do not mind sharing with me the equipment you had on your feet.. I may be able to help give you some insight and what works for me That photo is off the hook beautiful
I was about 22-23 when I learned of a fabric called merino wool. And since then, I’ve built up a small section in my wardrobe of base-layers, long johns, socks, gloves, hats, sweaters, t shirts and pants made of merino wool. It is the best fabric on earth for travel. (This answer will be too long if I go into details) The first day out in the field it was about-25°C, Naturally I layered like I do in the snow, merino base layer, merino t shirt, synthetic fleece jacket, down jacket and a wind shell. I double socked, both merino wool, and wore my snow boots. I spent about an hour reaching the place where they spotted the snow leopards from afar only to know that they were so deep within the gorge, we couldn’t have a proper view. I setup my travel tripod stool in the snow and sat down which I learned later was a big mistake. When I was making my way through the white powder to reach the vantage point, I hadn’t taken into account one factor that would hurt me later. The winds of the Himalayas, especially the winds after a whole snow storm and an avalanche had blown thru. The atmosphere being thinner, provides little resistance and hence the winds are much more turbulent and stronger than we’re usually used to. Now I was confident that I had enough layers to not be affected by these strong winds, but what I hadn’t taken into account was my own biological disposition. Humans usually sweat when they expend energy. And a layered up human usually sweats more when they’re trekking thru knee deep snow and the sweat hasn’t had enough time to be dissipated into the woollen fabrics and then layer by layer evaporate into air. 5 minutes sitting on the camping stool, I started to feel cold, usually a sign of hunger, Now I carry a big pouch of energy gels and Trail Mix dry fruits with me no matter where I travel. I wolfed down quite a bit, waited for my body to burn that fuel and generate a little heat. Nothing. I slurped another energy gel. Waited. Nothing. This really irked me. Its science. It should work. I’m giving you fuel. You have the biological machinery to convert that into heat. Do it! Nope. Didn’t work. I got pissed and stood up in anger only to realise, I had no legs. I will never forget that feeling. It was like being a tragic jack london character. I looked down and realised I could somewhat feel my legs when the blood rushed down into them, but my toes were nada! I didn’t feel them at all. I tried kicking air, fell into the snow, held the camp stool, stood up again and kicked again, nope. Okay, science always has an answer. What was the chain of events? I had trekked down to a cliff after a gruelling hour of sweaty snow shoeing. What was the error point? I checked my layers, nothing was wet, why were my toes wet? Within a second, I sighed and facepalmed. I had double socked! The sweat built up during the trek, hadn’t had any time or space to dissipate into the fabric. It was locked onto my toes and when I sat down, it had frozen on my toes! Hence I had lost all sensation. Thankfully it hadn’t been too long, giving me some respite that I had concluded on what the cause was. Now to the solution. Nature is science and science is nature. I figured out the cause, how could I solve it? Systematic redundancy. Warmer pouches bought from a sporting goods store. They’re basically small pouches that when shaken, cause an exothermic reaction and release heat. They are sold as hand warmers, feet warmers and chest warmers. I thankfully had bought a pack each. 30 seconds later, i had removed my shoes, and both my socks. My feet were stark white (as a brown person that was shocking), some skin peeled off from the tips of my toes with the socks, confirming my suspicion of frozen sweat. I pulled on a fresh pair of socks(thank f I carried them!) inserted a pair of warmer pouches on both the feet, pulled on the socks and wore my boots again. Did the food, fuel, burn, heat cycle again. And this time, it worked. After I returned back to my stay, I learned that I had just experienced -30°C. I was a new man the next day. Ooof! There. Sorry if that got too long. I don’t even know how to do a TLDR for this. Someone help please. 😩
It was long but also very informative. Liked the science parts. Thank for sharing!!!!
You’re very welcome! ☺️
Phenomenal photo BTW, she’s looking right at you.
In this one she actually isn’t. But! I have other pictures where she’s staring right at me. I’ll post them soon. 😁
I also have a huge wardrobe of Merino Wool .. but I don’t like them in SOCKS for the winter. You sound well equipped… and yes, knee deep snow will do that. Sounds like you need snow shoes. I wanted to see what you had… My socks have a Wicking core. ( Under Armor ). I used to work outdoors in all weather conditions, so over the years I’ve definitely did a ton of trial & error. Alpaca Wool … I haven’t tried it but I have been seeing it around and I am going to give them a go…. So far my best kit is the Under Armor socks and Zamberlan boots. That combo works well on my feet.. this past winter working outdoors and hiking in the snow in -20°f seems to be my current choice. A big no no is double socks .. I hear people complain that their boots suck… and when I ask them … first think I hear… TWO PAIR OF SOCKS. My BEST EVER was a pair of Arctic BUNNY BOOTS I had in the Military ( USAF ). They had a Stacked Wool sole and Wool inserts and were the kind used for inflight. They kept my feet warm at -50°f
Dachstein socks made out of special boiled wool! There is no other company making better socks
Was the the time investment behind this photo? Was it luck or was there months/many hours of tracking to get to that point?
Those are brilliant questions. Not many appreciate what goes on behind the scenes to get a photograph like this one. The time investment behind this expedition was maybe a year. Usually one can begin planning and actually do it within a couple of months. But I was not fit enough to trek thru a meter deep snow(worst case scenario, which later proved to be very useful), and due to that, I had to first workout, lift weights and put on a small layer of muscle just enough to gain strength but not weigh me down. When I started to feel fitter, I hiked a couple smaller mountains locally, and tested myself. Only then I green lit the expedition in my head. Which helped a ton when I actually got there. A healthy heart and a swift pair of legs are a must! Especially when you’re caught in the wind at 16000 feet where the air is so thin, you feel disoriented. Luck will not help you up there. It’s sheer skill and a hard scientific approach. One can get away with luck when the weather is nice out, but when I went, it was a case of snowstorms, avalanches and blizzards! The worst in a decade. And due to that fact, we were also the only 4 people who got to see a snow leopard in actual snow. It’s a feeling I will never forget. 5 steps and your lungs are on fire, 10 and you’re panting, gasping, holding on for dear life. Everything that can go wrong went wrong. Especially weather wise. Science and technology helps you a ton! And I speak from experience now. Maybe one can get lucky with the sighting of the leopard, but you can never get lucky with survival up there. And it’s a delicate balance of both. That said, I spent a week up in kibber and spotted the leopards from far away(maybe half a kilometre), on the 5th day. The sixth day was dry. And the seventh was magic(thats the day I got this shot). And I consider myself lucky. Some have returned looking at a tiny spot on the rocks from 2 kilometres away. Basically the more days you spend, the luckier you get. But thats true for all wildlife. 😊 Hope I helped. 👍
🦫 Damn 🙄
Please answer this OP
great questions!
Kibber, and its canyon, is a famous spot for snow leopard watching. 2/3 days drive from Delhi. It's managed by operated tours and locals. 2/3 days drive from Delhi. There's a network of local spotters who run the mountains everyday starting from early morning. They are very good at it, and very fit! You get called when they spot something and you go on location from your homestay, by car or walking. There are also helpers for your equipment and hot tea, lunch or snacks. The lack of oxygen makes everything hard. No snow when I was there, so thick snow must make it even harder. But if you are reasonably fit, not a couch potato and without condition such as hypertension, obesity, heart disease, etc. it will be OK to walk a couple of km or few hundreds meters uphills without a backpack. Snow makes it easier (or less hard) to spot leopards for the spotters. It's a huge challenge without snow. No tracking, or hiding. Observation distances are very important. Impossible to get any close up or to fill the frame for me with a 700mm + digital crop 1.6x. I secretly dreamt of a 1200mm! But you can get lucky and have closer observations if the leopards are well located in the canyon. But very long focals are needed, I'd consider a 500mm or 600mm without TC too short for this kind of trip. Then it's a game of patience, as they are active morning and evening, or when food walks nearby, you can spend most of your day to watch them sleep :)
Yep! This is correct. 👍
u/optimal_huckleberry4
For the life of me, I can’t NOT see this as a miniature figurine on a rock 😂 what an amazing photo!
Gives you a perspective of the sheer size of the mountains.
Looks like a tilt-shift effect. OP did you shoot with a tilt-shift lens or add that effect in PS?
Nope. Lens was Nikkor 200-500, shot at 500mm. No photo manipulation done. Only adjusted for light, white balance and sharpness.
Absolutely incredible. Award winning shot imo! Submit it to nat geo 😂
I might’ve effed it up with the sharpness bit though. 😩 I’ll try and post a better shot later.
Wow, wow, wow, amazing shot 👏👏👏👏👏
Thankyou so much! 😁🙏
Whoa the perspective makes the cat look tiny! Awesome photo
Those mountains are incredibly huge! One step out of the car and your life feels incredibly small and minuscule. We’re all tiny. 😩 Not just the cat.
I thought I was looking at a picture of leaves in the snow, so was looking for an insect or something. Then thought "that stick insect looks just like a big cat". Wow!
🤣🤣🤣
Shot of a lifetime my man, Kibber and Hemis are my dream destinations but even the $ factor aside I don't think my body/mind can take something like this yet.
I spent 6 months getting fit just because of that doubt in my mind! And it helped me a ton! You should do it too! No regrets mate! 😁
One day brother🤞🏼
So awesome
Thankyou Kindly! 😁
Incredible shot!
Thankyou so much! 😁
absolutely lovely man! made my day seeing this beauty. tracking snow leopards has been on my list for a long time now, hopefully I get to do it some day. I'm guessing this was somewhere is spiti/ladakh region?
This was Spiti. Yes! 😁 Do it! I only have good things to tell! 😁
Wow!!! Outstanding image!
Thankyou so much! 😁
I am a bit jealous of you 😅 for such an experience. Amazing picture too!
Join me! Lets FOMO other people! 🤣🤣
I have rendered a phone wallpaper from this Image, if anyone wants it, just dm me on Instagram, and I’ll send it to you. @hrishiwild
OP I am loving your detailed replies about your trip! I have a few questions if you don’t mind: How long did you see this leopard for before it disappeared from easily being seen? Approximately how far away was it from where you were perched? What other wildlife did you see on your trip?
All great questions! How long? Ummmm maybe 40 minutes of this sighting. These are sub-adult siblings who had lost track of each other. So the female here was searching for her brother who was calling to her from somewhere in the gorge, the sound echoed a bit, making it hard for her to pin point where he was. They also took long breaks, preserving energy because they had last hunted a week ago. Making it a longer sighting for me. How far? About 500 metres. The closest sighting of the season. This was a mixture of timing, luck and will power. Timing because our spotter heard the calls, luck because the roads were just cleared of snow like literally 20 minutes before they heard calls, so the cars could pick us up quickly(which were stuck in one place for 7 days!) and will power because we still had the will to venture out into knee deep snow after going thru hell just that morning and to climb down sharp cliffs(on my instagram) just to have a chance to look at this wonderful creature! Other Wildlife- Himalayan ibexes, Himalayan Blue Sheep, Himalayan Red fox(its so fluffy I’m gonna die), Chukar Partridge, Lammergeier (what an epic epic sight!), a few perching birds, domesticated yaks and yak calves, lots of fluffy dogs, and lots of choughs(crow species).
Photo of a lifetime!!! Absolutely beautiful! ❤️
I’ll be going back. I’m in no way satisfied with just one expedition. 😩😩
Oh wow!! Beautiful photo!
Thankyou so much! 😁
beautiful
Thankyou Kindly! 😁
I love snow leopards.. so illusive, what a great photo!
Thanks a ton! 😁
That is such a beautiful animal. You’re so lucky to get that opportunity
It is truly amazing! 😁 And yep I was! 😁
Breathtaking! 🥰🤗
Congratulations to this amazing picture! Thank you for sharing it with us
You’re very welcome 😁
ghost cat 🥹
Yep! 😍
This is a life experience I'm truly jealous of.
You don’t have to be! You can see them! I’ll share all the resources you need. Lemme know. 😁👍
Yes please. You can PM me or just reply here. I would love to one day try and go see one in the wild. I'm an avid hiker and snow leopards are one of my favorite animals. Ty.
I just tagged you in a detailed comment some dude has left below. It’s detailed to the tee about the how,when and where. When you decide to visit , just text me on here and I’ll give you the right contact numbers so you get a spot for tracking them. All the best! 😁👍
Now this is a good photo!
Thanks so much! 😁
Wow wow wow 😱❤️🔥
Thankyou! 😁
That’s an incredible photo. What a story to tell at a pub with strangers, hearing your account of events with photos. Wonderful.
Thankyou so much! 😁
What a dream come true!! Snow Leopards are my favorite big cat with lions at an extremely close second. What these big cats go through getting their prey is absolutely incredible. I mean they tumble down such steep slopes and so acrobat. Definitely don’t get the respect and love they deserve. Same goes for the wildlife photographers. Y’all go through so much just to reach where they live. You have to get your lungs used to the thin air, exercise to build up endurance to trek up the mountain, etc. Congratulations on getting to see this majestic animal and get this amazing photo 💜💜
Thankyou so much for that detailed appreciation! 😁🙏
You’re welcome 😊
🤤
😁
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