The Frozen River Seeking Silence in the Himalaya

Consider the impact on your mind and thinking if your family had resided in the mountains for a millennium or more. In 1976, James Crowden abandoned his British army career and ventured to Ladakh in the Northern Himalayas, an exceptionally isolated region. The Frozen River chronicles his extraordinary experience living among the Zangskari people prior to the advent of roads and mass tourism.

James fully embraces the Zangskari way of life, where meditation and week-long mountain festivities go hand in hand, and stillness and solitude define existence. Upon receiving an invitation from butter merchants to accompany them on their trek down the frozen river Leh, he promptly realizes that this centuries-old way of life comes at a human cost.

In poetic prose, James captures a pivotal moment in time for this Himalayan community, as their Buddhist customs and traditions are in flux, and the economic influence of a world beyond their valley is increasingly challenging to ignore.