Glacier Safety and monitoring training on Drang Drung Glacier, India

About the expedition

Glacier safety and monitoring workshop on Drang Drung Glacier in Zanskar, India will cover essential glacier safety protocols, basic techniques for snow, ice, and rock terrain, crevasse negotiation, and first aid on glaciers.

Drang Drung Glacier was selected as the training site due to its convenient access, just a one-day drive from Manali in Himachal Pradesh, with the base camp located only 500 meters from the roadhead. As a moderately sized glacier with varied surface conditions, including debris-covered areas, clean ice, and crevassed zones, Drang Drung provides an ideal environment for hands-on safety training.

The glacier is also part of the integrated catchment monitoring system managed by the Indian Institute of Technology Indore, India. IIT Indore has been monitoring the glacier since 2021 and will be conducting their own research expedition during this period. IIT team will demonstrate glacier monitoring techniques, the setup of high-altitude meteorological stations, snout monitoring, and other field methods as support for the training.

Participants will include principal investigators of field glaciology and students from institution across India.

Objectives

• Provide the hands-on training on the basic glacier safety protocols and basics of ice, snow and rock crafts.
• Crevasse negotiation and crossing training, and first aid on the glacier.
• Demonstrate the state-of-the-art methodology for glacier mass balance monitoring, setting up the automatic weather stations (AWS) and data collection from AWS.

Background

There are approximately 54,000 glaciers in the Hindu Kush Himalaya (HKH) region, but only 38 of them have been monitored through on-ground observations so far. Among these, long-term monitoring was discontinued on 20 glaciers after fewer than 10 years, and currently, only 18 glaciers remain under observation in the HKH. Of these, 13 are located in the Indian Himalayan region. According to ICIMOD’s HiWISE report, accumulation measurements are often compromised due to technical challenges in accessing high-altitude sites. Additionally, many principal investigators lack formal training in mountaineering or field safety protocols. This Training of Teachers workshop aims to address these gaps by providing essential safety training. It will cover basic and intermediate-level safety protocols, along with fundamental techniques for crevasse negotiation and glacier crossing. The training will take place in natural field conditions on the Drang Drung Glacier in Zanskar, India.