Bagchi and Curley discuss final preparations before heading into the mountains.
Ladakh is known for its steep, unforgiving landscape.
Many small shrines, or stupas, line mountain paths in Ladakh.
Curley surveys the scene with Dorje, the team’s mountain guide.
Curley, Bagchi, and Michel add Tibetan prayer flags to the shrine atop Kangmaru-la.
Prayer flags flutter atop Kangmaru-la. Tibetan Buddhists believe that mountain breezes carry the blessings printed on the flags to all beings.
After a hard climb, Bagchi relaxes atop Kangmaru-la.
Bagchi and Curley’s team camped on the lush Nimaling plain before scaling Dzo Jongo.
Dzo Jongo, silhouetted against a forbidding sky.
Bagchi prepares himself for the ascent.
The icy slopes of Dzo Jongo often melt and refreeze, creating dangerously slick terrain.
Triumphant at the summit of Dzo Jongo, Curley poses for a photo.
Bagchi enjoys the view from the top.
