What to pack for a winter Spiti expedition

Think in layers

You will go from a heated room to −15 °C outside to a warm vehicle and back again, many times a day. One heavy coat is too hot in the car and not enough on a windy ridge. Three thin layers do both jobs: a base layer against the skin, a warm mid-layer, and a shell that stops the wind. Avoid cotton next to the skin — once it is damp it stays cold.

Warm layers

• Thermal base layers, two sets. One to wear, one drying. Wool or synthetic.
• A fleece or down mid-layer. Down is warmer for its weight; a fleece copes better with being damp.
• A windproof, waterproof outer jacket. The wind on the high villages is what makes −10 °C feel like −20.
• A warm hat, gloves, a buff and thick socks. Most heat is lost from the extremities. Gloves you can use a camera in are worth having as a second pair.
• Waterproof boots with a good grip. Packed snow and ice in the villages, and slush at the roadside. Wear them in before the trip.

For the drive

• Sunglasses. The glare off snow at altitude is strong enough to hurt your eyes in an hour.
• A small daypack to keep in the vehicle, for the layers you take off and put on all day. The main bags travel on the roof, so keep what you need during the day with you.
• A one-litre water bottle. Drinking enough is one of the simplest things you can do for the altitude; an insulated bottle stops it freezing.
• A power bank and charging cables. Cold drains batteries fast; keep phones and spares in an inside pocket.
• Snacks you like for the long stretches between villages.

Documents

• Photo ID — your passport if you are an overseas guest; Aadhaar or passport for Indian guests.
• Six passport photographs for the permits and checkposts.
• Your travel and medical insurance certificate. It is required, and we ask to see it. More on who needs which permit in Inner Line Permits for Spiti.

Personal

• Any prescription medicine, in its original packaging, with enough for a day or two longer than the trip in case the weather holds us.
• High-SPF sun cream and lip balm. The sun at 4,500 metres is brutal, even when the air is freezing.
• Motion-sickness tablets, if hill roads bother you — there are a great many hairpins.
• Moisturiser. The air is very dry; hands and faces crack in a couple of days.

Money and phones

• Carry some cash. Card machines and cash machines become few and far between above Reckong Peo, and a village shop or a roadside tea stall will want cash.
• An Indian SIM on BSNL or Jio has the widest coverage in Spiti. Expect long stretches with no signal at all between towns; the convoy carries a satellite phone for those.
• Download maps and music before you leave Shimla. Mobile data up the valley is slow when it is there.

What you can leave at home

• A tent, sleeping mat or stove. Every night is booked and heated: camps and family homestays chosen and checked by us.
• Crampons, ice axes and technical kit. This is a driving expedition, with short walks around monasteries and villages.
• A hard suitcase. A soft bag packs onto a roof rack far better, and survives it.

Going in summer instead?

The same list works for the summer circuit, lighter: nights in Kaza and Komic still come close to freezing, so keep the fleece, the hat and the shell, and swap the snow boots for trail shoes. The list for your own departure is always on the Next Departure page.