Snow Leopard

Adventure

An extreme tour to photograph the elusive yet absolutely stunning snow leopard in Mongolia.

Snow Leopard Safari

Ok this is a warts and all info page on the proposed trip, no flannel. I completed a highly successful recce to Mongolia in November 2025 and because of the chance of seeing the female with full sized cubs we are going to repeat it in November 2026. Now in order to maximise chances of success we will be working in two very different areas, a snow valley and a rock valley. We will spend several days on the ground in each place. The travelling times and distances are also a factor so this cannot be a 7 day trip as we are trying to maximise our chances of success. You have to understand the animal we area dealing with, it is like no other and just doing 4/5 days is a waste of your time. Now saying that we could amend it to a 7 day trip in one location, say the rock valley, and I run the other as an extension. It’s a thought anyway, we can discuss.

Forget african leopards and how close they are, snow leopards are few and far between and really really tough. A little bit like Indian Leopards. They don’t like us. I’ve looked at many tours where they are photographed from several km away and was not interested. In the snow valley location we are using hides on fresh natural kills, so we are between 100m and 300m from the cats. The rock valley is tougher, usually 250-350m but the reward is that there is the mother and cubs there. They may not be there next year, that is the gamble, but if they are the sightings are unique and I mean unique.

So lens wise I shot with a 600mm with a 1.4 and I cropped in probably 100% more to get what you see. Sometimes I didn’t crop in so much for the habitat shots.

You will be cold for the whole time you are there. Air temperature is between -10 and -20 all the time, sometimes we will be sitting out in it for several hours without moving. We are not waiting in cars, we are out in it. We all did this last year, having 2 x 5 hour sessions on the last two days which yielded great pictures but we were freezing to the core. Really cold. I am being honest here, there are no shortcuts to getting the shots, you are either tough enough to get through this or not. It depends how much you want the snow leopards.

The guides are excellent, we have trackers working with us finding the cats. The female with the 5 month old cubs is at the rock valley, IF they stay there until next November the cubs will be 17 months and fully grown. It’s much easier to look for 4 big leopards that 1, that is the reason for the gamble. The snow valley is ace and exciting to get to via the 4x4, if they find a kill that is less than 1000ft above us (altitude at base of valley is 6000ft so not that high) they will put up hides between 150m and 300m away and we spend time in the hides. It takes several hours for the cat to come after we go into the hides, so it’s a long cold boring wait. We will try this for two days at a time. The guides walk us in and walk away so this does help fool the leopard somewhat. Everything depends on the guides finding the kill in the snowy valley, there is no other way. With the mother and cubs, or the few other individuals that are in the rock valley, they look for hunting behaviour, kills or chilling in a cave. We don’t use hides in the rock valley but the natural terrain, we approach silently and carefully, scramble if we have to and again we have to wait a long time.

There are no guarantees of success, there are very few decent non AI generated non cropped to hell snow leopard pics around. This trip is a real adventure that is so much more than the leopards, the surroundings are stunning and IF we see one it will literally take your breath away. They are simply incredible. Jaw dropping. Mind blowing and something so so special. We might get them on snow on the snow valley, we might not.

I will be leading this tour in the way that I usually do, from the front. It’s very hard and very tough, by far the most out there and demanding tour I have ever done. But IF we get lucky it’s incredible.

Accommodation

We will stay in two traditional Ger camps. Nomadic homes. Enclosed coal / wood fire for heat, single bed, toilet, basic sink with bottled water. We are very remote. The Ger can be warm when the fire is stoked, like t shirt warm, or at night it can get very cold. The camp attendants come in at night and stoke it whilst you are asleep. Food is basic, great soups, spaghetti, chili, burgers, veggie stuff, toast. Non alcoholic camp so just water and tea / coffee. Very very basic but it works. No real washing facilities although you can heat water on the fire in a bowl and have a wash - we didn’t bother. We stay in a hotel in the middle of the trip where the shower gets hammered and you can recover ahead of the next part of the trip. Like I said it’s tough.

IMG_8242.jpg
IMG_8411.jpg
IMG_8600.JPG
IMG_8751.JPG
MA1331053.jpg
MA1331675.jpg
MA1332639.jpg
MA1333133.jpg
MA1335208.jpg
MA1337591_latest.jpg
MA1338085.jpg
MA1340165b.jpg
MA1340471d.jpg
MA1342438.jpg

Working

Freezing cold like you cannot believe and long hours sitting in the cold is the best summary. You will need to be able to walk and carry everything, sometimes flat for a few km, sometimes up a snowy slope, sometimes both. Any picture taken here smiling is at the start of the session not the end. You must come with zero expectations here and be prepared to work so hard for your pictures, we might be lucky, we might not be. I think you will see snow leopards no issue, getting close enough for a shot will be in the lap of the gods. But’s a lot of waiting and a lot of long lens work, we might be sitting silently in hides for several hours or in the shadow of a rock. Tripods are essential.

No guarantees as they are elusive but they are so exciting when you see them.

Essential Information

This is going to be a tough trip, I have told you all about that. But it’s an incredible one too and I am very excited about going back as snow leopards are addictive! So here is some essential info..

So if you are interested in coming then click the button to email us, we will then get together all interested parties and work out the dates and the finer details!

Email us here

  • We are still working on this but likely dates are below. Gives us a chance of fresh snow without more brutal winter conditions!!! We could cut it short to one half only, or you could only attend one half (additional transport costs will apply) but you will be cutting down any chances of success IMHO. You need every minute you can get for success.

    Nov 17 - arrival into UlanBatur, hotel in city. Cashmere shop (essential for cold), chill, recover.

    18 - fly internally 2 hours, then 5 hour drive to first Ger camp.

    19-23 - snow valley, responding to tracker finds, daily excursions into valley as required

    24 - drive snow valley to town stay in hotel overnight (shower!!!)

    25 - drive to rock valley 5-6 hours, arrive lunchtime ish, afternoon out

    26-29 - rock valley

    30 - drive back to airport fly back to UB

    1st December - depart home

  • You need to be physically fit to do this trip and able to cope with working when you are very cold. You will need to carry your kit without assistance at all times. If I can manage it you can.

  • You need expedition standard clothing throughout, your usual down jacket will not do. I used a Bask expedition parka, others had Canada Goose. Snow trousers with down lining. Tons of layers underneath. Snow boots like Sorrel. Good gloves. I had a thermal gilet that helped. You can rent expedition clothing in the UK. Note all clothing must be muted colours.

    We will be going cashmere shopping on arrival. It’s much cheaper in Mongolia and is simply the best in the cold, I have scarves, gloves, hats and will get some thermal layers next time.

  • No closer than 150m if we can get them in a cave, usually 300m ish to a kill sometimes more.

  • Landscapes, Ibex and maybe golden eagles but leopards are the main show.

  • Same for both locations. Breakfast at sunrise, 8am, trackers depart for scouting. Leopards not active in mornings hence tracking overnight movement. We head out for the day and take packed lunch, either we are watching and waiting ( they have great telescopes for searching) or we are actively photographing. Dusk at 530pm so back in camp for warming up, dinner and sleep.

    Exception is hide, if they find an active kill then we may go out at 5am and sit until 11am to capture chance of early activity on kill. We wait we hope.

  • Hah, easy. Colder than hell. We had -25 one hide morning which was brutal, -15 most days when out. Conditions are usually bright but expect anything so snow, dull cloudy but at least no bloody rain. It might snow it might not.

  • Food is ok and basic but warming and good. Don’t be fussy is the motto. Eat anything they give u as you need the calories. We can deal with easy diets like veggie and vegan, others please ask.

  • International flights - the best service to UB is Turkish Airlines via Istanbul. Else it’s Hong Kong then China airlines.

    Domestic flights - uses MIAT, good airline and service, all booked for you and included.

  • This is a tough one as the costs of everything are very high for this multi centre remote trip. Like I said it could be reduced in length but that would reduce the chances accordingly of seeing anything. So I have taken a hit of what I usually make out of trips to run this, as I want to do it again. I have also only charged for my flight n economy as I will use miles to upgrade.

    So the price depends on how many people:

    For 3 clients - £9495

    For 5 clients - £8695

    No single supplement same for all.

  • The price includes all accommodation from arrival in UB to departure, all meals, internal domestic flights, transfers and all guiding services.

  • The price excludes your international flights, alcoholic drinks, excess baggage charges for the internal flight (very reasonable), insurance, tips and items of a personal nature.

  • The payment will be 30% now, 30% 4 months before travel and 40% 2 months before travel.

  • Don’t do this if you think you will cancel as it mess the trip for everyone, be sure. There are no refunds for this trip so make sure you have comprehensive travel insurance.