Rothang closes : ten dead

Workers and Lahaulis have continued to foot it over the Rothang La on the Manali-Leh highway while snow cover was manageable , until the last days weather hit. Manali Mountaineering Institute rescue workers found two more bodies yesterday , one unidentified, bringing it up to a total of ten . Fifteen workers were rescued in time and treated for frostbite. The pass is closed indefinitely , with harder weather to come.
Source : Tribune , Times of India

Grand day out with the army : cold picknick at the Zoji La

 

Army units set up tea tents , manned by among others a doctor and army medics, providing food and heat  after a three day standstill on the Srinagar-Leh highway yesterday. 272 civilians were served at the langar before evacuation , and truckers were provided with blankets and kerosene to thaw up after the recent heavy snowfalls , closing the Srinagar-Leh Highway after managing to bring out some 150 vehicles.

Other 3000-ish locations , like Gulmarg and Pahalgam , have also received snow the last week , lower down turning in to sleet and rain.
Jammu-Srinagar road has been unaffected.

Srinagar-Leh Not Closing October 31st

After a meeting in Srinagar with among others BRO representatives it was announced today that the road to Leh will remain open as  long as weather permits , in line with actual practice last years.

Source  : Tribune

Manali-Leh : CLOSED

Leh had it´s first snow yesterday , lasting a few hours . Higher up the Khardung La was blocked – and today the Manali-Leh Highway is shown as closed. IANS talks of heavy snowfall over the Lachulung La & Tanglang La. Daytime temperatures still around + 10 , night time -10.

Sources : Tribune , leh.nic.in

“Manali-Leh Closing October 31st”

The Border Roads Organisation today said that the Rothang and Baralacha La were expected to be impassable from snow soon , and that they will not try to keep the Manali-Leh Highway open after October 31st : BRO “would not be in a position to carry out snow clearance operation for evacuation in case of any accident or physical casualty.”

Source : Tribune

Over the Rothang

Manali-Kaza , September 19th © Eva Forss

Roshni tweets from a single day cannonball run between Leh and Manali  on the 19th :

continuous snowfall that threatened to close all the passes, falling rocks etc

Twitter with it´s 142 character limit forces you to condense your language , the vikings would have liked it.

Swedish blogger Eva hit the Kaza-Manali road on the  19 th :

The beauty of all that snow …finally we realised all the work involved in removing all the snow , and the time needed for it . In several places avalanches had hit the road , towering high as houses..

Eva´s  blog   , with more photos , you´ll find at  Resedagboken (you can imagine my surprise finding someting in my mother tongue )

UPDATE: Posters on IndiaMike describe going over virtually snowfree Rothang & Kuzum La on the 26th and 30th.

“We are still stuck in Kaza ! “

The route between Manali and Kaza is still out , according to to to a e-mail quoted by IANS today :
“We are still stuck in Kaza! Yesterday (Wednesday), based on information given by the ADC’s office, we set out for Manali.”

“However, contrary to the information that the road through the Kunzum Pass and Rohtang Pass is open, we could not go beyond Kunzum and had to return,” Doongaji wrote.

“There were another 20-odd cars with us, who also came back. The telephone network continues to be dead.”

The main hurdle is said to be near Koksar , which is located at the northern base of the Rothang La. The chief of Lahaul & Spiti police ( who now seems to have counted in around 150 stranded tourists , among them 96 angrezis ) says the road should cleared to Koksar by Friday (tomorrow ) evening.Maybe it works out this time.

The road to Shimla is said to be cleared – except for ( you may have guessed it ) Malling , where people have started to walk across.

UPDATE , FRIDAY : IANS claims that both the Kunzum La and the slides at Koksar has been cleared , giving free access to Manali (or in the media hyperbole “150 tourists have been rescued”).

Manali Today .. Not Too Promising

“view from Dharma guesthouse” from twitpic (looks more like lower end of Vashisht).
Weather report says mostly cloudy (doh ! ) , possible rain and thunderstorms tonight.

UPDATE : Better weather , same crossed the Rothang and is now sunning in Lahaul.
Swedish blogger crossed the Kunzum & Rothang La on the 19th.

Spiti Update , September 15th

News today mentions 52 foreign and 24 domestic (Hi Lucid ! )  tourists unable to get out of Spiti , mainly staying in Kaza.The road between Gramphu and Losar has been  badly damaged in landslides , but the section to Chota Dhara is expected to be clear by tomorrow.  The Kinnaur route is also described as out ,but no details.

Source : Tribune , September 15th

Rothang , Baralacha La open

The sun has reappeared in Himachal after four days of continous rain and snowfall and ensuimg landslides and snowlocked passes. BRO has just announced that also the Baralacha La has been cleared for light vehicles , and should be open for trucks and buses soon. No word on the Kunzum La yet.

UPDATE, MONDAY : Baralacha La finally cleared from three feet of snow.