How to check if a Himalayan pass is open before you drive, step by step

The short answer: no single government page will tell you "Kunzum La is open today". You have to stack four sources, in this order, and the whole check takes about five minutes once you have the links saved. Weather first, then the district administration's order, then a phone call to a police control room, then the people actually on the road that morning.

Step 1: read IMD's district warning, not a weather app

Start at IMD's district-wise warning page. It carries five days of warnings for every district in the country, so on 30 October 2026 it was showing 30 October to 3 November. IMD's own page labels the four levels No warning, Watch, Alert and Warning, which is the same ladder people call green, yellow, orange and red. Look up the districts your route actually crosses, not just your destination. For a Manali to Kaza run that means Kullu and Lahaul and Spiti. For Leh it means Leh and Kargil.

Then open the state met centre. Met Centre Leh and Met Centre Shimla both publish daily, weekly and seasonal bulletins, subdivision and district warnings, and a nowcast at district and station level, plus radar and satellite imagery. The nowcast is the one that matters on the morning you drive. Met Centre Leh was showing Leh at 12 degrees Celsius at 13:30 IST on 30 October, which tells you how fast the numbers move up there in autumn.

Two IMD definitions are worth memorising. In hilly regions a cold wave is declared when the minimum temperature is 0 degrees Celsius or less, or the departure from normal is 5 degrees or more below. A severe cold wave is minus 2 degrees or less. Ground frost is defined as a minimum of 0 degrees or less measured 5 cm above the ground. If frost is in the bulletin, treat shaded corners and bridge decks as ice and start late, after the sun has been on the tarmac.

Step 2: the district order, then the control room

Road closures are ordered locally, not centrally. The Kullu district administration site is where Rohtang permits are linked from, through the Himachal government's rohtangpermits.hp.gov.in portal, and where district orders appear. Do not rely on the Himachal PWD news page for live road status. When I checked it on 30 October 2026, the most recent press note was dated 15 May 2026.

That is why the phone still beats the browser. Ladakh Police list emergency numbers 112 and 100, the Police Headquarters control room at 01982-260887, the Leh district control room at 01982-258880 and 6006028084, and Kargil at 01985-232275. In Kullu district the published helplines are 108 for emergency, 1098 and 1091. Call the control room nearest the pass, ask whether light motor vehicles are being allowed through that day, and ask what time the gate shuts.

Step 3: plan the body, not only the vehicle

Ladakh Tourism's own travel advisory asks for 48 hours of rest in Leh before going higher, a maximum gain of 500 metres a day above 3,000 metres, and 3 to 4 litres of water a day. It puts Leh at 3,500 metres and warns that temperatures fall to minus 30 degrees Celsius between October and March. It lists SNM Hospital Leh at 01982-252014. It also mentions Diamox 250 mg twice daily starting two days before arrival, which is a prescription decision for your doctor, not a packing list item.

Carry what the cold needs: a full fuel tank, chains that you have fitted at least once in your driveway, a shovel, a tow strap, warm layers for everyone and a sleeping bag. Turn back when the warning says Alert and you are still two hours from the pass. The road will be there next week.

Sources

• IMD district-wise warnings
• IMD FAQ on cold wave and frost definitions
• IMD Meteorological Centre Leh
• Ladakh Tourism travel advisory
• Ladakh Police press and contact numbers
• District Administration Kullu
• Himachal Pradesh PWD news and press releases