Storage Solutions Laptop HDD reliability at high altitudes

[dpacmittal]

^ Yep, I thought so.

Thanks, anyways.

 

[tkin]

I am planning a trip to Leh and will carry my laptop along. I am in a 4 wheeler, so protection from the elements is not an issue.
However I am told HDD can fail at high altitudes(15000 feet).,
I wanted to ask what if I always keep laptop in shut down condition, and only operate it in places where we do hotel stay(around 10000-11000 feet max)
Is there a risk to HDD at altitudes of 11000 feet etc., or only when one goes higher?

The main issue is, as you might know that in HDDs(not SSDs) the platters rotate and the head floats on a air cushion, at high altitude as the pressure drops the cushion is weakened so the head may scratch the surface and kill the disk, so don't boot up at high altitudes, use SSDs.