Ladakh Disko ’23
Felt like home in the high altitude air of Ladakh, after a month long escapade through the region with my Canadian buddy Malcolm McLaws. A master photographer, a world traveller, Malcolm and I wandered through the mega mountains capturing some amazing shots, collecting some awesome moments. That’ll be shared soon in the coming months.
After I completed that trip I decided to stay back in Leh at Disko Valley Bike Park with buddies and build, ride, shoot, help a bit with organizing the Ladakh MTB Fest in August. With the sun heating up our tents by 7am, longer days were rising. Longer days meant more riding hours!
Staying at Disko Valley Bike Park I’d wake up to the sight of jumps, rock slab lines, clear skies and stoked rider buddies. Being located right on the outskirts of Leh City, quite a few of my motorcycle buddies, filmmaker pals who frequent Ladakh, managed to drop by at Disko. Good times playing bikes and documenting the action was rendered.
Through the weeks, extremely hot noons, unusual rains, cloudbursts moved through Leh town.
This summer, Disko was also ground zero for Asia’s highest altitude land art festival – sā Ladakh. Several local and international artists created some very unique artwork incorporating the topography available inside the Disko Valley Bike Park. Was a wonderful experience seeing the artists up close in their element. What better way to celebrate their creativity than adding a tinge of mountain biking fun into it, after all we’re at the Disko Valley Bike Park!
The highlight event at Disko is the Ladakh MTB Festival. 2023 marked the 5th consecutive year of this annual event. The LMF includes Downhill races, Jump sessions and Cross Country races. More than simply racing for the big win, LMF is about celebrating the high altitude paradise of mountain biking. Bigger descents, larger jumps, beautiful mountain-scape is unlike any other place in India!
Contributing Photographers: Rahul Gautam, Boney Panicker, Pushpaneesh M, Sagar Pandey
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