How Ladakh’s Mountains Became a Sporting Economic Engine

Chewang Motup Goba grew up among Ladakh’s high mountains.

He later became a mountaineer and helped start a company that organizes difficult mountain trips.

He and Yangdu Tshering also helped bring better equipment and organized ice hockey to local children.

After floods hurt tourism in 2010, Motup helped launch the Ladakh Marathon in 2012.

Runners must arrive early to get used to the high altitude.

This means they stay longer, use hotels, taxis, restaurants and guides, and spend more money locally.

Motup says many thousands of livelihoods now depend directly or indirectly on outdoor activities.

However, changing glaciers, melting snow and extreme floods could damage the environment and the economy.

The challenge is to grow tourism while protecting Ladakh’s mountains.