India, April 11 -- Heated vests, gloves and socks. Trapper hat, puffer jacket and thermals.

I had packed for the harshest winter Ladakh might spring on me in March, which is typically one of the coldest months of the year - and one of the best times to catch the ghost of the mountains, the Shaan or snow leopard, the main attraction in my journey to the top of the world.

As it turned out, I could have packed lighter. "In my lifetime, I have not seen a March as warm as this," said 62-year-old Tsering Dolker, sitting in a sunny courtyard in the union territory's capital city of Leh. "And yet, it is good to not wear heavy winter clothes," she added with a smile, as she guided younger colleagues weaving a woollen rug.

Dolker recently moved ...