Required / Must Haves

Backpack (55 - 65 L) with sturdy straps and supporting frame to carry your entire luggage.

Daypack (20 Ltr) is required if you wish to avail our porter service and offload your main luggage to our
support team. If you are availing porter service from us then inform us 15 days before and charges will
be Rs. 600/- per day per bag and maximum weight limit is 10 KG.

Trekking shoes (Sports shoes are not allowed.)

Good standard trekking shoes are sufficient for the trek. The trek route is covered with solid ice or bit
slippery ice covered over snows. Trekkers have found to their amazement that a simple gumboot is
finally the best for Chadar Trek. Most of the outside agencies in order to impress tell about crampons. In
my years of experience in Ladakh and on Chadar too, I can absolutely say that crampons are quite dicey
and quite a few trekkers have injured themselves or worse broken their ankle while a crampon gets
stuck on the fine cracks in the ice.

Gumboot (must required)

If you are not bringing Gumboot from your city then it is available in Leh hardware shops and can be
purchased here itself. If your shoe size is 9-10, getting a pair might be tough. So start searching as soon
as you land in Leh.

Carry 2 pair of trekking pants suitable for cold weather.

Carry 2 Full sleeve tees with collar.

Light weight Fleece Inners.

A full sleeve thick jacket (down jacket is preferable).

Get 2 pairs of thermal inners.

Carry 2 pairs of trekking socks. 2 pairs of woolen socks preferably knee length.

Woolen monkey cap/balaclava that cover the ear.

Cold and wind preventing trekking gloves 1 pair and 1 pair of glove inners

Water proof hot water bottle/Bag - available at any medical store.

Sun glasses, with 100% UV protection. Sunglasses prevent snow blindness. Sunglasses are mandatory
for this trek.

A woolen head-scarf or muffler.

Trekking pole is mandatory.

Light weight towel (should be thin, quick drying kind).

Lip balm.

Cold cream and sun screen lotion (SPF 50+).

2 Water bottles (1 Liters each). The insulated water bottles are good but even normal water bottles
will be sufficient.

Personal medicine kit (Crocin , Avomine, Avil 25mg, Combiflam, Disprin, Norflox, Crepe bandage, Band
aid, Digene , Gauze cloth, Leukoplast , Cotton, ORS, Betadine or any antiseptic cream , Volini or any
other pain relief spray, Diamox (to be taken only if required and but not as preventive medicine).

Personal toilet kit (minimal) and toilet paper.

LED Torch with extra set of cells (head lamps are much more preferable).

Small repair kit consisting of safety pins, needle, thread and string (mandatory).

Camera, memory-cards, batteries etc (carry enough spare batteries. Electricity is not available
throughout trek).

While packing, use plastic bags to compartmentalize things and carry few extra plastic bags for wet
clothes.

Not Required
No denim or jeans – not suited for this trek.

Do not carry any disposable plastic bottles like (bottled water), plastic wrapped/packaged items. Do
not bring any non bio degradable material.

After packing, weigh your gear. It should be in the range of 8-10 kg – preferably on the lighter side.
Anything heavier, you will need to iterate and remove what is not essential.

Carry light and what is essential.

Some general advice about clothing. To protect you from cold, dressing in layers is the mantra. Thermal
inner then a T-Shirt, a light weight fleece or another T-Shirt and Down Jacket will be sufficient. This is
just a guideline. If you are prone to cold carry extra warm clothing.

Along with the above list, please ensure you also carry the following documents:

An identification card (like driving license, voters ID card, Passport etc), along with a photocopy.

6 passport size photos.