A model of the environmental and climatic conditions in the Ladakh Himalaya is presented by studying the lake sedimentation records preserved in the Shey area of Leh, India. The different layers of the paleolacustrine section were sampled and analyzed for sedimentological, petrological, and magnetic characteristics. The study indicates that a separate lake-damming event, favored by topography, granite bedrock, and moraine and debris material, deposited the 16-m thick sediments. This and similar other past lakes were formed due to the coalescing of southern fan deposits with granite spurs. Locally transported sediments were deposited in three major fluctuating climate and environmental phases. The lower coarser sandy unit represents a fluvial-lacustrine high-energy environment. The middle, thinly laminated clayey unit with uniform characteristics, represents a calm lacustrine and a reducing environment. The topmost 7 m consist of alternating sandy and clayey layers representing an intermittent climate in the catchment. Petrography and magnetic data of the sandy and clayey layers of the section suggest different climates, environments, and mineral assemblages. The average magnetic susceptibility is χ = 0.1 to < 2.9 × 10–3and 2.9 to 5.7 × 10–3for the clayey and sandy layers, respectively. Magnetic hysteresis indicates wider loops in clayey layers and thinner loops in sandy layers with saturation fields up to 3000 Oe, whereas thermomagnetic curves show a Curie temperature of 580 °C in most the samples. The hysteresis and K-T curves infer that the clayey layers have a predominance of paramagnetic silicate minerals like haematite, maghemite, ilmenite, goethite, and pyrrhotite and a higher concentration of ferrimagnetic magnetic minerals i.e., magnetite, in the sandy layers. The sandy layers represent a warm and humid climate and a good amount of vegetation cover in the catchment. The sediments were generally transported from variable rock types from the nearby glaciated terrain. The clayey layers represent cooler events. The study indicates that warm and moist conditions occurred at around ca. ~ 100 ka BP that coincided with the intensified Indian Summer Monsoon during the warm interstadial MIS 5c event. The event is attributed to increased glacial melting and intense precipitation in the Ladakh region during the warm interstadial period.