Photi La is a climb of 27.0 kilometers (hors catégorie). The climb finishes at 5,504 m above sea level. It is located in Nyoma, Ladakh, India. The average gradient is 4.3% with a maximum of 15.3%. The climb has 1166 meters of elevation gain.
Difficulty analysis: This hors catégorie climb covers 27 km for 1166 m of elevation gain, with an average gradient of 4.3%. Its difficulty comes mainly from the length and the sustained effort, since the road almost never drops before the final kilometre. The steepest sections are km 2.0-3.0 and km 13.0-14.0, both at 9%, while km 8.0-9.0 (1%) and km 10.0-11.0 (2%) offer a bit of respite. From km 20.0-21.0 to km 26.0-27.0, the terrain stays steady at 2-3%, before a slight descent at -1% over the last kilometre.
Tips for managing your effort:
1. Pace the start. Don't get carried away by the moderate 4% gradient of km 0.0-1.0, and keep a steady cadence so you reach km 2.0-3.0 with something left in the tank.
2. Ride the 9% ramps smoothly. On km 2.0-3.0 as well as km 13.0-14.0, shift down one or two sprockets, stay seated and keep a high cadence.
3. Recover on the easier stretches. Use km 8.0-9.0 and km 10.0-11.0 to drink, eat and get your legs turning again, as these are your best chances to recover before the second half of the climb.
Accounts describe a climb starting from Hanle, about 30 km to the top. The hairpins come one after another on both sides of the pass, with constant ups and downs. Several riders find Photi La harder than Umling La, and one motorcyclist says the road wears out your bike and leaves you knackered.
On the road, reports match up. One rider noted the tarmac has been fully black since October 2022 and that the BRO has finished the roadworks. Another, who went through earlier, describes a road under construction and much tougher going. A post in Arabic warns of falling rocks on the surface and advises riding with great caution.
At the top, there's almost nothing to see. There's no shop and no house on the pass, and the icy wind drives everyone off quickly. One rider could only stay a few minutes, with frozen hands and feet. Acute mountain sickness is also mentioned. Several people advise topping up on fuel beforehand, since Umling La comes straight after.
The scenery comes up again and again in the write-ups. The view back over Hanle during the climb is judged very beautiful, and the view from the summit is called superb by several people. One rider says the pass is quieter than Umling La, without the crowd of motorbikes fighting over photo spots. Some ride both passes in the same day, and one of them has done three passes in 200 km from Hanle.
27.0 km • 1166 m D+
VAM: average climbing speed, based on elevation gain
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