The Atal tunnel opened , ending the winter isolation of Lahaul . Gone are some stunning views , and the slooooow progress of the first fifty klicks of the Manali-Leh road . And the countless hours of unplanned stops as the road goes out at 3000+ meters.
Less tea breaks , and no need thaw the fuel lines of trucks by making small fires under the engine. No more stops for prayers & kora at the top cairn . Going to/over the “Plain of Corpses” pass will become a strictly touristic activity from now on . Lahaulis and guest workers from Nepal won’t miss the old days of winter isolation, stocking up supplies for the whole winter or risky winter crossings on foot.
Already bus prices and truck charges have been reduced. Change ( a few will say havoc ) will come to Lahaul when there is easy access within a day from Delhi to a real winter landscape.
The long tunnel @ 3000 meters altitude is understandably an object of national pride. This rapidly went overboard when a number of news sites dubbed it “ the worlds longest highway tunnel”. This resulted in a measure of amusement among those who remember that it was only three years ago that Narendra Modi inaugurated another tunnel , also on the route to Leh , that is longer : the 9.3 kilometer Mookerje Tunnel , on the Jammu-Srinagar-Leh route. Others that will raise their eyebrows at this claim include :
* the Swiss , home of the 16.9 kilometer Gotthard Tunnel in the Alps
* the Japanese , with the Yamate tunnel : 18.2 kilometers
The actual claim from Border Roads the “longest road tunnel above 3000 meters “. Many will cite the Salang tunnel in Afghanistan , and Eisenhoover tunnel in the US , both at 3400 meters and under three kilometers long , as closest comparison. Unpacking this claim is more convoluted , but the first obvious point that there are a number of a lot higher tunnels . A few years back I went over the 5050 meter Cho La pass in the Tibetan Kham region , now bypassed with the Queershan tunnel : seven kilometers , highest point 4380 meters. The Mi La tunnel , linking Lhasa with Nyingchi , is shorter ( 5,7 klicks ) but higher : 4752 meters.
* Norway , home of the Laerdal tunnel : 24.5 kilometers
Regardless if this claim is true ( the long tunnels in China Wikipedia article lists twelve tunnels between ten and eighteen kilometers , many in the Tibetan regions & Xinjiang ) , it won’t hold long. The Zoji La tunnel on the Srinagar-Leh route , same altitude as the Atal , is under construction and will be fourteen kilometers. The thirteen klick Guigal tunnel , which will run higher , is projected to be finished in 2013. The Tianshan Shengli , twenty two klicks on the route to Urumchi @ 3200 meters , in 2025.
WINTER ACCESS TO LEH ?
Removal of the largest winter obstacle has resulted in speculations , often posing as fact , that this now means all year access to Leh. Border Roads Organisation has zero confidence in this. The Baralacha & Tanglang La passes at around five thousand meters still means dealing with meters of snow in the winter . The long term plan here is rerouting from Darcha to Padum , and a new tunnel under the 5100-ish Shingo La pass. The first step here is the newly finished 360 meter long bridge at Darcha.
SPITI ACCESS ?
Bypassing the Rohtang La will shave off hours on the Manali-Kaza route as well . It won’t change the open road period – one still have to deal with the Kunzum La pass @ 4551 meters. This road is not a military or tourist priority like Manali-Leh , so this remains bring your own kidney belt territory.
ALTITUDE ISSUES
Rapid access to Lahaul comes with a few choices that leads to better acclimatization, and a number that can be catastrophic. Ideal acclimatization starts with night(s) at two thousand plus meters , and/or hours near four thousand. The traditional stop in Manali , and the slow progress over the Rohtang actually meant that everyone had at least one of these advantages before taking on the the second high leg of the Manali-Leh road. New options now opening are concerning in varying degrees :
* Going for a first night @ 3100-ish meters is a borderline case for medicating in advance ( CDC guidelines : “ beneficial and should be considered “ at 2750 + meters ) . Most will cope more or less ok with this , and gain an important edge before taking on extreme altitude in the next step.
* the Manali-Kaza run , under ideal conditions, still means a full day with substantial time around 4000+ , and ending marginally higher than Leh . No medical support enroute , and very basic in Kaza.
* with poor planning or when the weather turns all Manali-Kaza runs means the risk of spending the first night really high : first option before the Kunzum La is Batal camp , after the pass Losar – both at 4000 meters. This will be comparable to my visit to Larung Gar , the first time in the Himalayas I met a group where everyone was sick , coming directly from Chengdu.
Manali-Leh : bypassing both the night in Manali and the hours spent around the Rohtang La now means there will be large groups starting the Manali-Leh run with next to zero basic acclimatization. If this new rapid access is used to make preferably two nights stay down at 3000-ish meters it will be an advantage over many of the old style runs. Other options are a lot more troubling: by accident or poor planning it is now becomes possible to spend the first night any where between :
* The Vomit Hilton/Sarchu @ 4253 meters
* Pang @ 4600
… or anywhere in between : after the first “low” stretch in Lahaul ( Sissu , Keylong , Jispa or Darcha – the last one at 3360 ) everything from Patseo to Lato is between 3825 and 5328 meters . Steep drop from Lato ( 4000-ish ) the last fifty klicks down to Leh.
The end result of this will probably be similar to the short lived experiment with scrapped Inner Line Permits , which also allowed people to go way too high , too fast. This not only resulted in more work for the army medics in Sarchu & Pang and the Sonam Norbu hospital in Leh , but also some deaths.
Related posts :
https://vistet.wordpress.com/2010/10/24/rothang-whiteout/
Handkerchief Parachutes
See also upcoming post , Mgoser @ Instagram