Himalayan Passes

Cycling Passes

Name of Pass/High point we took our bikes over	Height	Date
Kozur La, Ladakh, India (trekking pass)	5,626m	2/9/12
Yalung Nyau La, Ladakh, India (trekking pass)	5,446m	6/9/12
Kaksang La, Ladakh, India	5,438m	22/8/12
Kostse La, Ladakh, India (trekking pass)	5,398m	5/9/12
Chang La, Ladakh, India	5,381m	16/8/12
Khardung La, Ladakh, India	5,359m*/5,368m	14/8/12
Taglang La, Ladakh, India	5,344m	24/8/12
Wari La, Ladakh, India	5,312m	15/8/12
Shingo La, Himachal Pradesh, India (trekking pass)	5,058m	19/7/12
Rusi La, Ladakh, India (trekking pass)	4,988m	4/8/12
Pologongka La, Ladakh, India	4,972m	23/8/12
Kongka La, Ladakh, India (trekking pass)	4,969m	31/8/12
Hor La, Ladakh, India	4,936m	21-22/8/12
Nusgur La, Ladakh, India	4,859m	8/9/12
Parma checkpoint, Ladakh, India	4,630m	18/8/12
Penzi La, Zanskar, India	4,502m	31/7/12
Sapi La, Ladakh, India	4,397m	5/8/12
Fotu La, Ladakh, India	4,106m	7/8/12

Some of the lower passes we cycled over in the Himalaya:

Other Passes we cycled over	Altitude	Co-ordinates	Date
Rohtang La, Himachal Pradesh, India	3,979m	32.371 N, 77.246 E	13/7/12
Namika La, Ladakh, India	3,838m	34.383 N, 76.460 E	7/8/12
Daran Ghati, Himachal Pradesh, India	2,894m	31.444 N, 77.755 E	24/9/12
Kalamuni, Uttarakhand, India	2,763m	30.038 N, 80.200 E	3/10/12
Sungri Pass, Himachal Pradesh, India	2,618m	31.309 N, 77.702 E	25/9/12
Chaurangi Khal, Uttarakhand, India	2,324m	30.645 N,78.489 E	28/9/12
Bahtkada Pass, Nepal	2,263m	29.200 N, 80.610 E	11/10/12
Radi Top, Uttarakhand, India	2,256m	30.771 N, 78.255 E	27/9/12
Chirbatia Khal, Uttarakhand, India	2,200m	30.391 N, 78.836 E	30/9/12
Kemunda Khal, Uttarakhand, India	2,126m	30.522 N, 78.552 E	29/9/12
Jopara, Uttarakhand, India	2,123m	29.959 N, 80.000 E	2/10/12
Binaek Pass, Nepal	2,093m	29.117 N, 81.305 E	14/10/12
Gwaldam Khal, Uttarakhand, India	1,946m	30.017 N, 79.534 E	1/10/12
Jarmola Dhar, Uttarakhand, India	1,933m	30.950 N, 78.098 E	26/9/12
Duni Pass, Nepal	1,887m	29.260 N, 81.100 E	13/10/12
Kanalichhina Pass, Uttrarakhand, India	1,860m	29.665 N, 80.270 E	6/10/12
Maroda Khan, Uttarakhand, India	1,839m	29.430 N, 80.100 E	6/10/12
Silgadhi Pass, Nepal	1,574m	29.272 N, 81.014 E	12/10/12
Pass 1,386m, Nepal	1,386m	29.200 N, 81.276 E	13/10/12
Lipna Pass, Nepal	1,223m	29.053 N, 80.333 E	10/10/12
Tanakpur Pass, Uttarakhand, India	1,123m	29.168 N, 80.089 E	7/10/12

* This indicates the correct altitude of the pass. All altitudes without asterisks are those given by my Garmin eTrex 10 GPS, which generally seems to overestimate the higher passes by about 10-20m.

Hiking Passes

Pass Name	Region	Country	Height (m)	Date
Tashi Labsta	Rolwaling/Everest	Nepal	5,768	13/01/2013
Parang La	Rupshu/Spiti	India	5,589	13/09/2012
Jungben La	Dolpa/Annapurna	Nepal	5,575	14/11/2012
Kongma La	Everest	Nepal	5,510	24/01/2013
Mesokanto La North	Annapurna	Nepal	5,452	20/11/2012
Renjo La	Everest	Nepal	5,406	18/01/2013
Chan La	Dolpa	Nepal	5,398	11/11/2012
Eastern Pass	Annapurna	Nepal	5,379	20/11/2012
Cho La	Everest	Nepal	5,356	22/01/2013
Numa La South	Dolpa	Nepal	5,321	10/11/2012
Baga La	Dolpa	Nepal	5,174	09/11/2012
Larke La	Manaslu	Nepal	5,160	25/11/2012
Lauribina Pass	Helambu	Nepal	4,660	16/12/2012
Zatrwa La	Everest/Makalu	Nepal	4,616	29/01/2013
Bhima Lojun La	Annapurna	Nepal	4,480	16/11/2012
Panch Pokhari Pass	Makalu	Nepal	4,453	31/01/2013
Maure Lagna	Jumla/Dolpa	Nepal	3,910	02/11/2012
Pansan Pass	Ganesh Himal	Nepal	3,840	04/12/2012
Balangra Lagna	Dolpa	Nepal	3,832	04/11/2012
Khurpudada Pass	Ganesh Himal	Nepal	3,731	05/12/2012
Tinsang La	Rolwaling	Nepal	3,423	05/01/2013
Salpa Pass	Makalu	Nepal	3,364	02/02/2013
Chiya Bhanjyang	Kanchenjunga	Nepal	3,114	14/02/2013
Myangal Bhanjyang North	Ganesh Himal	Nepal	3,094	02/12/2012
Gothichaur La	Jumla	Nepal	2,994	01/11/2012
Milke Danda Bhanjyang	Kanchenjunga	Nepal	2,934	09/02/2013
Deurali	Kanchenjunga	Nepal	2,634	11/02/2013
Deorali	Rolwaling	Nepal	2,349	03/01/2013
Khande Bhanjyang	Kanchenjunga	Nepal	2,127	12/02/2013
Sablakhu Bhanjyang	Kanchenjunga	Nepal	1,595	12/02/2013

Hills Climbed

Hill/Mountain	Region	Country	Height (m)	Date
Spangnak Ri	Rupshu, Ladakh	India	6,391	04/09/2012
Kala Pathar	Everest	Nepal	5,642	23/01/2013
Gokyo Ri	Everest	Nepal	5,362	20/01/2013
Cherko Ri	Langtang	Nepal	4,993	10/12/2012

Map of Himalayan Cycling Passes

View Cycling Passes - Himalayas 2012-13 in a larger map


Map of Himalayan Hiking Passes

View Himalaya 2012-13 - Trekking Passes in a larger map

Kozur La

Name of Pass	Kozur La
Altitude	5,626m
Type of pass	Trekking route - pushing/cycling
Where	Between the herder settlement of Rajun Karu (11km, 4,950m), and Gyamabarma
GPS Co-ords	33.130 N, 78.099 E
Climb	750m from Rajun Karu in 3 hours

This pass is the highest point on the trekking route from Tso Kar to Tso Moriri. We were only able to ride a small part of the climb, but could ride the majority of the descent to Gyamabarma.

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Yalung Nyau La

Name of Pass	Yalung Nyau La
Altitude	5,446m
Type of pass	Trekking route - pushing/cycling
Where	Between the herder settlement of Sherma (9km, 5,160m), and Korzog (11km, 4,580m)
GPS Co-ords	33.017 N, 78.179 E
Climb	300m from Sherma in 3 hours

This pass is on the trekking route from Tso Kar to Tso Moriri. We were able to cycle some of the climb, and almost all of the descent. At the top of the pass, Tso Moriri comes into view.


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Kaksang La

Name of Pass	Kaksang La
Altitude	5,438m
Type of pass	Cycle
Where	Between Mahe (40km, 4,200m) and Chushul
GPS Co-ords	33.435 N, 78.559 E
Climb	600m from Hor La Dett. in 2 1/2 hours (1,400m from Mahe in 5 hours)

As far as we know, this is the highest pass you can cycle up to in India. (The Marsimik La is higher, but we tried getting permission for that by writing to and then meeting the DC in Leh, but he told us it was beyond his authority and that we had to contact the Ministry of Home Affairs in Delhi, which we couldn't be bothered to. So if you're desperate to get there, try that bureaucratic route.)

We're not sure if officially foreigners are allowed to the Kaksang La either, so it's best not to run into any border police en route, but there are no checkposts between Mahe and the pass. The cycle up from Mahe, over the Hor La and then up to the Kaksang La is fantastic. The scenery is wonderful, the only traffic is from roadworkers improving the top section of the road, and the surface is fine except for where it's being worked on. The gradients are often so gentle that on the descent it makes much more sense to just fly down the shortcuts. One of our favourite passes in India.

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Kostse La

Name of Pass	Kostse La
Altitude	5,398m
Type of pass	Trekking route - pushing/cycling
Where	Between Gyamabarma (1.5km, 5,200m), and Sherma (2.5km, 5,160m)
GPS Co-ords	33.089 N, 78.122 E
Climb	200m from Gyamabarma in 1 hour

This pass is another on the trekking route from Tso Kar to Tso Moriri. It's a short push up from Gyamabarma, and the descent to Sherma is all rideable.

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Chang La

Name of Pass	Chang La
Altitude	5,381m
Type of pass	Cycle
Where	Between Shakti crossroads (33km, 3,750m) and Durbok (31km, 3,900m)
GPS Co-ords	34.047 N, 77.930 E
Climb	1,670m in 5 hours from Shakti

This must be one of the busiest passes of its altitude in the world. We lost count at 300 vehicles passing us as we climbed up from Shakti - mostly tourists on their way to Pangong Tso. Despite this we still quite liked this pass as the scenery is nice and it's an enjoyable climb. Most of the time the gradients are gentle, but on the unpaved kms at the top there are some steep sections. Pity the army boys who get stationed on the pass for a month at a time, but make sure you take advantage of their complimentary tea!

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Khardung La

Name of Pass	Khardung La
Altitude	5,359m/5,368m
Type of pass	Cycle
Where	Between Leh (37km, 3,550m) and Khardung (33km, ~4,100m)
GPS Co-ords	34.279 N, 77.605 E
Climb	1,830m in 5 hours from Leh

We won't lie, we're not huge fans of the climb to this pass. The two times we've been up here there hasn't been much snow around, so the scenery isn't very exciting, but there are always plenty of people and vehicles on the road. It is however one of the best engineered mountain roads we came across in India - the climb is easy as it stays at 5% virtually the whole way. The highlights were the fantastically informative and entertaining signs at the top, and the pleasant descent to the Shyok river on the north side. Don't forget to buy your "World's Highest Motorable Road - 18,380ft/5,602m" fleece at the top!

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Taglang La

Name of Pass	Taglang La
Altitude	5,344m
Type of pass	Cycle
Where	Between turn-off to Tso Kar (23km, 4,640m) and Rumtse (31km, ~4,100m)
GPS Co-ords	33.508 N, 77.770 E
Climb	700m in 2 1/2 hours from Tso Kar turn-off

Another high pass that we weren't huge fans of. The scenery is nice, but the climb from Tso Kar was spoilt by the fact that for about 20kms we were passing through road works and workers' camp after workers' camp. Most of these guys were friendly enough, but there were a significant number of menacing characters. Cycling up here as a single female could be quite unpleasant. The whole climb was unpaved, but there was plenty of good tarmac on the switchback descent.

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Wari La

Name of Pass	Wari La
Altitude	5,312m
Type of pass	Cycle
Where	Between Agham (34km, 3,320m) and Shakti village (26km, 3,850m)
GPS Co-ords	34.108 N, 77.834 E
Climb	2,000m from Agham in 6 hours

Now here's a good pass to cycle, and the hardest of the 5,000ers we crossed in India. The climb up from Agham has plenty of steep sections and we were grinding up in our lowest gear for quite a few hours. Only some tourist vehicles use the road, so after all the busy mountain roads in Ladakh it was refreshingly quiet. The zigzags on the south side of the pass lose height tortuously slowly (as we descended it seemed like a few of them went uphill) so it's much quicker and more fun to bomb down the shortcuts, cutting out a good few kms to Shakti.

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Shingo La

Name of Pass	Shingo La
Altitude	5,058m
Type of pass	Trek - pushing bikes
Where	Between Zanskar Sumdo (3,930m, 22km) and Kargyak (4,150m, 22km)
GPS Co-ords	32.909 N, 77.200 E
Climb	1,370m push in 2 1/2 days from Zanskar Sumdo

This is a beautiful pass, but there is a lot more trekking than cycling between Zanskar Sumdo and Dorzong. Many cyclists take this route and put their bikes on horses, but we fancied a challenge so pushed from Zanskar Sumdo to Lakang, then occasionally cycled (but mostly pushed) from there to the road at Dorzong. A road is slowly being built along the route so maybe it'll be possible to cycle it in a few decades.

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Rusi La

Name of Pass	Rusi La
Altitude	4,988m
Type of pass	Trek - carried bikes, porters took luggage
Where	Between Tikat (3,340m, 12km) and Sapi (3,780m, 9km)
GPS Co-ords	34.308 N, 76.113 E
Climb	1,800m carry/push 1 1/2 days from Tikat

This is a tough trekking pass to take your bike over. We hired porters to carry our equipment and took our bikes ourselves, carrying them as often as we were pushing. It was a day and a half walking up from Tikat to the Rusi La, then a couple of hours descending to Sapi. We didn't have good weather, but have heard the views are excellent if it's clear. We though it was worth heading this way to cycle to the nice road from Sapi to Shergol, which also means avoiding a few hours on the busy Kargil - Shergol road.

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Pologongka La

Name of Pass	Pologongka La
Altitude	4,972m
Type of pass	Cycle
Where	Between Mahe Bridge (4,150m, 33km) and Thugle (4,570m, 22km)
GPS Co-ords	33.262 N, 78.182 E
Climb	850m in 3 hours from Mahe Bridge

We liked this pass a lot, not least because it reminded us of the Andean Puna. Pastel coloured rolling mountains, wide open spaces and virtually no traffic. Descending to Tso Kar was a real highlight.

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Kongka La

Name of Pass	Kongka La
Altitude	4,969m
Type of pass	Trekking route - cycling/pushing
Where	11km from Tso Kar (4,560m)
GPS Co-ords	33.201 N, 78.002 E
Climb	400m in 2 hours from Tso Kar village

This pass near Tso Kar is on the trekking route to Tso Moriri. As the path is good we were able to cycle almost all the way up to the pass, and all the descent.

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Hor La

Name of Pass	Hor La
Altitude	4,936m
Type of pass	Cycle
Where	Between Mahe (20km, 4,200m) and Horla Dett. workers' camp(4km, 4,840m)
GPS Co-ords	33.339 N, 78.487 E
Climb	800m in 2 1/2 hours from Mahe. 100m in 1/2 hour from Horla Dett.

This is a great little climb, up from the Indus at Mahe, past Nungompa and the spectacular Yaya (Toure) Tso. We wouldn't really count it as a pass as it's really just a little bump on the way to the much higher Kaksang La, but have included it here as there's a pass sign at the top. Like with the Kaksang La, we're not sure if foreigners are officially allowed here, but if there's no-one to stop you...
Between Mahe and the Horla workers' camp we saw exactly zero vehicles - always a bonus.

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Nusgur La

Name of Pass	Nusgur La
Altitude	4,859m
Type of pass	Cycle
Where	Between Korzog (28km, 4,580m) and Mahe (4,150m)
GPS Co-ords	33.144 N, 78.357 E
Climb	400m in 3 hours from Korzog.

This pass is the high point on the road from Mahe on the Indus, to Korzog on the shores of Tso Moriri. Coming from Korzog the road is very bumpy for most of the climb, though the top few kms are paved.
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Parma Checkpoint

Name of High Point	Parma Checkpoint
Altitude	4,630m
Type of pass	Cycle
Where	47km from Tangtse (3,950m) on the Harong road to Chushul
GPS Co-ords	?
Climb	750m in 4 hours from Tangtse

We were hoping to cycle up the Harong valley, over the Kongla La, past Chushul and then over the Kaksang La, and had been told there were no checkpoints en route. So it was a bit annoying to come across a detachment of Sikh Army boys at Parma. They were nice and friendly but wouldn't let us continue, so we had to backtrack over the Chang La.

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Penzi La

Name of Pass	Penzi La
Altitude	4,502m
Type of pass	Cycle
Where	Between Padum (3,600m, 80km) and Rangdum (4,020m, 31km)
GPS Co-ords	33.873 N, 76.350 E
Climb	1,320m in 1 day 2 hours from Padum

Beat Heim lists this as one of his favourite passes, and as he knows a thing or two about cycling high roads, who are we to argue? The scenery on this road in Zanskar is fantastic and there is very little traffic. The surface isn't always great, but if that keeps the trucks away, who cares? This pass is definitely one of the best.

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Sapi La

Name of Pass	Sapi La
Altitude	4,397m
Type of pass	Cycle
Where	Between Sapi (3,780m, 15km) and main road at Shergol (3,190m, 25km)
GPS Co-ords	34.372 N, 76.198 E
Climb	620m in 2 1/2 hours from Sapi

This road from Shergol to Sapi has a good surface and is totally traffic free, so it's great to cycle. Unfortunately it's currently a dead end, so unless you want to cycle it both ways, you'll have to do as we did and trek in via the Rusi La.

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Fotu La

Name of Pass	Fotu La
Altitude	4,106m
Type of pass	Cycle
Where	Between Heniskot (3,650m, 12km) and Lamayuru (3,550m, 14km)
GPS Co-ords	34.289 N, 76.702 E
Climb	760m from low point after Namika La (Khangral) in 1/2 day

This pass is the highest point on the busy Kargil - Leh road. Didn't like cycling the road, but at least there's the lovely old town of Lamayuru waiting for you halfway into the descent to the Indus.

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Rohtang La

Name of Pass	Rohtang La
Altitude	3,979m
Type of pass	Cycle
Where	Between Manali (2,000m, xxkm) and Keylong (3,140m, xxkm)
GPS Co-ords	32.371 N, 77.246 E
Climb	2,000m in 1 1/2 days from Padum

Not your everyday mountain pass. The top is a veritable circus, with Indian tourists skiing, taking yak, donkey and skidoo rides and generally having a great time. It's a long, easy climb up from Manali, but the road is quite busy. To get away from the madness at the top, move a few metres into Lahaul and enjoy the wonderful scenery.

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Namika La

Name of Pass	Namika La
Altitude	3,838m
Type of pass	Cycle
Where	Between Mulbekh (3,300m, 16km) and Khangral (3,470m, 9km)
GPS Co-ords	34.383 N, 76.460 E
Climb	530m in 2 hours from Mulbekh

This pass is the second highest point on the busy Kargil - Leh road. Lots of trucks, very arid scenery, didn't enjoy it.

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