What&rsquos the one thing that evaporates quickly at the sight of steep snow-stuffed hills and horses wading through knee-deep powder Thoughts of the 6,150m Stok Kangri being a trekking peak in summer.

As we found out over seven days in February, winter in this valley of Ladakh is a very different beast, especially when there are unusually high levels of snowfall.

Our journey, like so many others, began with support from hardy horses and maintained momentum on the shoulders of an exceptional crew, tenacious team, and a friendly Mama-dog that saw us off at the first high camp.

Walking, eating, sleeping and chatting about walking, eating, sleeping, was all we did&ndashthrough ever deeper drifts of snow, which, at as much as three feet thick meant that failure would always be an option. But in the same frosty breath, it meant bad photography was not.