One has to be very lucky to receive the calls from the mountains; to experience the glimpses of heaven while still alive; to witness the grandeur of almighty and the serenity of nature. At the same time it leaves traces of unforgettable memories, yearning to go back in time and a craving to experience the same all over again. But as I said, one has got to wait for the calls from the mountains.
Here is an anecdote from such an experience, during my expedition to the majestic Mt. Shitidhar. It is a 5,326m (17,473ft) high peak in the mighty Pir Panjal ranges in the Upper Himalayan region. Let me share the details of the team first. There were people from Indore, Delhi, Ujjain and Bhopal. The 12 members’ team was led by Mr. Rakesh Jain, founder and managing head of Eco-Tourism award winning organization- Outdoor Adventures and Environment Institute. The 11 others were Amit Jain, Mahesh Mathur, Anurag Chhajlani, Ankita Jain, Harshal Sharaf, Aditya Kulkarni, Pooja Khandelwal, Adit Sharma, Sourav Agarwal, Divakar Sankhla and me(Anee Verma). I am sharing the pictures of individuals here. This will help reader to mentally picturize the events better.
Day 1: The group, minus me, Adit, Sourav and Diwakar, had left from Indore. I was to join them from Bhopal. I was all set to reach ‘on-time’ to station. Hence the train had already arrived before I reached. I started receiving calls from everyone. The halt was of 15 minutes. I met Sir(Rakesh Jain), Amit Bhaiyya, MMS(Mahesh Mathur Saab) and Aditya outside. Excused myself to settle the rucksack inside, looking at which sir exclaimed “Only this much!”. Well, I really am lazy with handling a lot of luggage. After my previous Himalaya treks I had learnt that one or at the most two pair of clothing is good enough to spend 8 full days in such clean, dust and pollution free terrain. Another excuse of not bathing in such ice cold, mostly frozen streams there. I am sure whether people agree with me or not reading this, but once they go to the Himalayan trek, I don’t have an ounce of doubt that they will readily agree to it. Moving back to the train episode, I met Harshal, Pooja and Ankita inside. The journey of lifetime began at 1745 hours on Oct 7, 2010.
I was hungry, after whole day’s slogging at office but found that everybody else had eaten stomach full after boarding the train. But still they got ready for dinner at 6:30pm, when I said I am hungry :P
Adi(Aditya) had brought Kaju Kari for me from Indore! So thoughtful of him, getting it despite of having to travel from Jhabua earlier in the day. Amit Bhaiyya’s Chhole and Harshal’s powder chatni, all were delicious. I was handed over shrikhand cup. I looked for spoons for all. I was then told that they had kept one aside, only for me after they all had shrikhand in the lunch. So nice of Reena Bhabhi to keep one for me with Amit Bhaiyya!
Thereafter we played Satti Center, Judgement and Black Queen, watched ‘Chambal ke beehad’ from the window. We all got down at Itarsi. Came back after buying a few things and filling water bottles. Everyone slept late. I didn’t want to, but was forced to sleep :(. Hence I slept dreaming about the forthcoming wonderful days.
Day 2: I must have been asleep when heard a voice, a familiar one but definitely not of any of us. Opened my eyes to see - Hitesh!!! I blurted out, all astonished, “You!”. So he smiled and replied, “I was in Gudgaon, started early from there to see you all in this 5 minutes halt at Ghaziabad”. Blimey, it was 7 in the morning!! The train started, he wished us all and left. Soon after I heard Sir asking everyone to take out ropes and try knots. Clove hitch, reef knot, figure of eight etc. were practiced. Sir also explained the use of Prusik knot. All the rest of the way we chatted, laughed and enjoyed. We got into a Chandigarh bus after reaching Ambala. It was one 3X2 50 seater. Few of us got seats to sit in all scattered locations. I was standing near the gate. Sir took away my sunglasses :( . So Adi gave me a pair he had in spare. We took a bus to Manali next from Chandigarh. Anurag brought sandwiches for all. I and Harshal filled up the water bottles. Then Harshal climbed up and tied the luggage on the bus.
During the journey from Chandigarh to Manali we experienced complete shift from hot to cold weather. Oh I forgot to mention about the delicious Kadhi we had on the way and the beautiful Bhakhra Nangal dam view. We also played Dumb Charades. We reached manali at 1930 hours. Walking along the Mall-road we reached our hotel. I shared room with Pooja and Ankita. Badly wanted to take a bath but was asked to meet outside at the earliest for dinner. We saw that almost every place was shut down. Sher-e-Punjab was open so we entered, however the owner closed it as soon as we entered so we had to leave from the back door. Ankita had caught cold. I was worried. I tried arranging for hot milk, went downstairs but found no one. Nobody picked up the call either. So, we slept watching television.
Day 3: I woke up at 0800 hours. I went to Sir’s room to know the plan. Adi was almost ready but Amit Bhaiyya and Sir looked still …. Lazy, is the word :P. They had a balcony too. I saw a stage just opposite side of the road. The name of hotel was Valley view but it had a comfortable stage view for the Ramleela which was played there every evening.
We got ready for breakfast outside. The famous(:P) ‘Badmash Company’ picture was taken just then. Here it is:
I and Ankita wanted to drink milk, all others, tea. We ate Aaloo Paratha. Adit, Sourav and Diwakar joined us there. We started walking towards Hidimba Devi temple. I love that place, already had been there thrice. After the Darshan and photography, Sir gave a brief about the trip and the plan ahead. 
We then left for Manu Temple. Me, Adi and Anurag tried camera tricks there. Way back, came across a school with little kids chanting the poem “Wo Kaun Hai?”. It was so melodious and lovely.
Having tea on the way, we reached our hotel where Mr. Chandan Sharma was waiting with his team for us. They had brought out mountaineering equipments. I and Ankita had hard time finding the smallest size. Similarly, for Sir, it was challenging for Chandan to get the biggest one! There were rucksacks, sleeping bags, koflachs, gaiters, carabiners, zumars, crampons, mattresses, ice-axes, harnesses and slings lying in heaps. Everybody was handed over a complete set. I took individual pictures and got the things at the end. Sir said he’ll get me a zumar. Everybody was in shopping mood. I saved my money buying nothing :P.
We came back to the lobby where Chandan was waiting for a pep-talk. He gave valuable inputs on What to take, what to wear, camp sites, camp heights, History and beauty of Himalayas, DO’s and DON’T’s etc. I wished he could join us too. I asked him but he had some other camp to take care of. We had dinner and slept. Next day was a big day, the start of EXPEDITION!
Day 4: The rucksack was heavy despite of the absence of koflachs and crampons which were to be transported on mules till Bakharthatch(our transit camp site). We loaded our rucksacks on two Trax’s which were to take us to Dhundhi.
At Dhundhi we were handed over our lunch packs. Then we started towards our destination-> Bakhar Thatch(8000 ft). Trekking ahead I saw Ankita crossing a broken bridge over a fast flowing stream. It looked hard, especially with the weight of rucksack pulling one downwards. Everybody managed safely. For some time, thereafter, it was a simple walk. We were playing guessing games on distances and altitudes but were failing miserably. Sir had an altimeter. After putting hell lot of exhaustive efforts into what seemed to be atleast 500 meters linear distance, if the height gained is found, not even 20 meters, how heart-paining it would be! Just then we came across camp-site of trainees from Manali’s Mountaineering Institute. I and Sir met and spoke to a few of the guys who were there. We walked further ahead when it started raining. Soon we saw the camp area and raced ahead. I saw a huge rock sheltering a few of our group mates. Among them was Harshal trying persistently to light up a fire from his flinters that he bought from Manali (our favorite shop). I asked everybody to look around for wood for camp fire later in night. The mules arrived and then we started setting up tents. Then we went for walk. There were millions of big small boulders. It was fun walking on them. And we were all looking for wood too.
Coming back, we had a hard time setting up fire. Most of the wood pieces were wet. Those who lost patience, left. Sir kept trying and shouting at Adi to blow hard on the sparks that were there. Poor kid, kept blowing incessantly. Later, to avoid bending, he kept his head on Amit Bhaiyya’s foot to blow on the unsteady flames. We drank soup and sang songs at the top of our voices. We had dinner. I drank hot water. It felt so good. We were served coffee too. We came back to our tents to sleep.
Day 5: Bhumi Sir(our guide) had told us that wake up time will be 0730 hours, breakfast time 0830 hours and departure will be at 0900 hours. But I woke up at 0630 hours itself. The view was breathtaking, everything around, dewy and beautiful. I asked Ankita if she would like to check the beauty around. We went upto the stream. The stream water was very cold. When we got back we noticed heaps of koflachs and crampons. This reminded me that we have to carry them ourselves now . Dismantling the tent, stuffing sleeping bag in rucksack and folding mattresses are few of the very grueling tasks, to be done every morning. Tying Iceaxe and koflachs were okay but tying crampons with sharp pointed edges such that they don’t hurt during the trek was difficult. Walking for a few steps, I started sweating, had to take off the jacket. Now this was another thing to be tied to rucksack. Suddenly felt a ton of burden on the shoulders. Then I looked at Sir. He was carrying two rucksacks! I was thinking how I could help. That’s when Adi said that he will quickly walk ahead, keep his rucksack up there, and go down and get Sir’s rucksack up.
We came across a patch where the only way to move forward was by jumping from one boulder to another. I saw Bhumi Sir sitting far ahead at a height. I was the first to reach there.
Bhumi Sir was sitting near a small tower which was a BSNL signal booster. He showed me the Base Camp far far away like a dot. I’ll share the picture too. It was important for me: The first sight of the expedition base camp. Well, it will be hard to make out from the picture. But you can try to look at the yellow dot near the water fall. Wait, I’ll mark that for you. :)
Reaching first I had a lot of idle time. I took out my camera and started photography. There was a tempting hill on the right, to climb. But it was scree mostly, so was not an easy one. I let everybody pass by. Sir was the last person. I saw him at the border line of the hill at the top.
I, Adi, Sir and Anurag ate Besan ki Chakki brought by Adi. Thanks to his Mom. I just loved it. He said, he had kept it for the summit attempt day. So we saved it for the day. After reaching campsite, saw two tents already set up. It was a beautiful camp site. There was a stream with kitchen tent on one side and other residential tents on the other. We all sat on mattresses at the stream side. We drank tea there resting in the soothing sun.
I was called by Pooja that her mattress is not opening. It was tied hard. I took Adi’s knife to cut the nylon cord. I hurt my thumb while doing so. It started bleeding so I went to sir’s tent. He nursed it and asked me to hold the cotton on it. Suddenly it started snowing. The cotton soon got soaked with blood, so he gave me another, saying that he will put a band-aid if bleeding doesn’t stop. Everybody went outside to enjoy the snow. I didn’t feel like going out so enjoyed the view holding my thumb that was paining and bleeding badly.
After the snowfall subsided, we were asked to put on our koflachs and walk around to get acquainted with those heavy shoes which are actually shoe inside shoe, complicated structure , double laces, all that gives them this heaviness. I said to Sir, “Let’s go to Beas Kund”. Sir said that it was appearing close but was too far. It’ll get dark by the time we go and return. We saw others also moving in that direction. It was a good walk among boulders. Beas Kund, the source of Beas River was beautiful. The depth of the kund isn’t yet known to any. It is considered to be a holy place. We prayed for the well being of the group and successful expedition. While returning, we noticed that the stream that we crossed while coming had widened. It took more time to cross it. It had got dark by the time we got back to our site.
We got dinner call at 6pm. It was very dark already. I wasn’t hungry but ate something, and went back to tent. We were supposed to sleep at 7pm. I wasn’t at all feeling like sleeping so went to the tent being shared by Sir, Amit Bhaiyya and Adi. We played cards. Sir was measuring the temperature outside in regular intervals. Starting from 4 degree celcius the last we checked was -12 C at around 9:30pm. I went back to my tent to sleep.
Day 6: It was supposed to be the training day. I woke up at 5am! Very unlike me. Bent over the stream to fill water in bottle but the bottle struck ice! My fingers got numb. I realized, that it was Beas Kund Base Camp at height of 10,000 ft and the temperature last night must have been below -15 C. I went back and got my camera.
The Mt. Hanuman Tibba(19,450 ft) at the back side and Seven Sisters Mountain Ranges were looking beautiful. Mt. Shitidhar in the front between Laddakhi and Friendship peaks, was looking magnificient. I went back to tent and came back after some time hearing voices. Adit, Sourav and Diwakar were there. We chatted about trekking, mountaineering and MBA. They were from IIM L and had visited NITIE. Similarly I also had been to their Institute so we shared our experiences. I heard voices from Sir’s tent, saw him coming out. Harshal, Anurag and MMS also came out. We saw that the stream ice had started to melt but the ice on the edges of the rocks set-up for crossing was dangerously slippery. So we started looking for big flat rocks. Harshal was the best in finding. He called them ‘Flatrons’. We all worked hard to place them at proper locations. We crossed and reached the kitchen tent. We had breakfast then.
Bhumi Sir and Rakesh (guide) had adjusted everybody’s crampons as per the koflachs’ sizes. They tied knots to the slings too. All were set to move towards the training area with a few carrying rucksacks for food items. I emptied mine. Me, Ankita and Pooja decided to carry it in turns. It was very cold outside so needed to wear hand gloves to hold ice-axe. Can’t forget the walk. It was endless. Behind our camp site, climbing uphill, then descending, climbing another, crossing a long patch then getting down we came across a small pond with beautiful reflection of the mountains. We halted there. Only after we climbed another from here, could we see our training area clearly. Bhumi Sir taught us about knots, How to hang zumar, attached to harness. We wore gaiters. I tied tape-knot by myself and got it checked by Bhumi Sir. Toughest of all was to wear crampons. Moreover, mine had a belt missing. So Rakesh(guide) helped me wear it with the most efficient knot – the Jugaad Knot. I was afraid, what if it got loose. It happened at one place later, during practice That’s when I asked Rakesh(guide) to either get me another or tie it to me in better fool-proof manner during the summit attempt.
Walking on half rocky, half icy path wearing crampons was tough. We had to start climbing from one point. Now we were taught about styles of climbing. My favorite were Charlie Chaplin steps. Sir asked to climb on toe. It was the toughest. It took me a lot of practice to learn that. Anchoring through ice axe is also an art. We did Zumaring and rappelling too.
On the way back saw Rakesh guide and Sir doing a dangerous ice wall climbing. It surely required skills. We ate something there and then started towards the camp.
Our camp site was visible but was very far away. We were backtracking on the same way now realizing how beautiful it was. Earlier we overlooked it due to the excitement of training.
There was a sandy patch. I, Sir and Adi halted there, did some art work on the sands, and photography.
We reached back and had lunch. Now it was leisure time. Harshal was capturing everybody’s views on training experience in his handy-cam. All were tired. I didn’t want to rest in the tent so I went away from tent area, found a nice flat rock, lied down on it looking towards the sky. It suddenly started raining, so I returned and went to sit with Sir, Adi and Amit Bhaiyya. Somebody shouted from outside. We all ran to check out. One of the guides had seen Ibexes at the ridge of the high mountains. We took out our cameras. All watched with pin drop silence, holding back our breath.
We had an early dinner. I slept early after rounds of Dehla pakad with Sir, Adi and Amit bhaiyya, where Adi had been distributing the cards mostly thanks to his commendable consistency of losing the games. Rakesh Sir being his partner, wasn’t untouched by the consequences either ;)
Day 7: I woke up early again. I had been observing a cave on the left of the camp-site, high up on the mountain, from the day we had reached there. Not many were awake and ready. I asked Anurag, if it is a good idea to go climb and reach the cave. Because there was always a chance of Sir’s scolding for certain off-the-plan actions. Anurag agreed, so I got more courage. The view from the top was brilliant. I saw Harshal also climbing. All three of us sat there at different comfortable locations enjoying the view. It’s me and Anurag in the snap below. Thanks to Harshal.
I heard that MMS wasn’t well. He was resting inside. Sir checked on him. We then dumped some of our stuff there in storage-tent including our shoes because thereafter we were to use our koflachs only. I tried folding my sleeping bag but thumb was hurting badly, so Pooja and Ankita helped. Adi, helped me with the mattress. We were handed our lunch packs. I couldn’t find a place to put apple in my rucksack so decided to eat it while walking. Sir, Adi and I were the last to leave the camp-site. We moved towards ABC (Later due to certain un-foreseen events, it had to be named ABC I). After a stretch of easy walk, there came an almost 90 degrees straight up climb. It was a difficult one. I saw Pooja struck somewhere ahead. Sir asked me to go up and help. I admit, it was very tough for me to maintain balance at that gradient and hold one hand of Pooja to climb down backwards and take another route. However, after directing her to other way, I thought I would rather take the same way than going back. There was nobody on that way. Not a single soul in sight as I had gone to the other side of the hill. There was a point where breathing became so fast that I couldn’t stand still. I sat and after few minutes, started towards the top. There I got to see Harshal and Rakesh(guide) relaxing. Looking down at other side of the hill I saw others. When I was resting there all alone, I had thought I might be the last but it wasn’t the case. The view of Beas kund from there was heavenly.
I saw Sir at the last and our camp-site in his background very far away. See, if you can figure out.
Well, we all met there did photography and started back. Sir was with Amit Bhaiyya, Ankita and Pooja, and one of the guides. All the rest were ahead of me and Adi. We both were taking snaps and walking idly. It was happy to see MMS walking ahead of all, comfortably, despite of his morning illness. The trek abruptly came to an end when I saw people sitting around and I was told that, that place was going to be our camp-site for peak attempt! I looked at Mt Shitidhar peak. It was still far. I said why not we go further ahead, still had half a day left. Bhumi Sir said that there is no site for camping going further, and also everybody was tired. I looked back, saw no traces of anybody. Waited for some time, then felt that somebody might be needing help. I kept my rucksack in Harshal’s custody and backtracked. Going some 400-500 meters far, I saw Sir, Amit Bhaiyya, Ankita, Pooja and Adi. Sir asked how far the camp-site was. I told him it wasn’t far and that I wanted to help. He asked me to carry one of the rucksacks. We all walked to the camp site. We had plenty of idle time. I had another round of discussion with Rakesh Sir and Bhumi Sir, that peak attempt from that point will be a long distance to cover. But Sir also said that we can’t trek more since everybody was tired. Controlling my rage, I asked Adi that we will go trek to some place. I used my old trick. I started collecting water bottles and told Sir that I and Adi are going to stream to fill them. From what I could make from his face, he had understood my intention. However, he nodded. I and Adi, went far from the camp but not far from Sir’s sight. We rested on a huge flat rock near the stream, singing songs and discussing the chain of events. There was one Italian couple coming from the peak side. I saw Sir speaking to them. I later learnt that, they had gone to climb Mt Laddakhi but encountered snowfall and couldn’t succeed.
We had hardly spent 15 minutes when Sir called us aloud, so we had to return. It was a soothing sun gleaming at the top. We took off our koflachs and socks and lied down on the hill slope in the open. It felt heavenly. I lost all my anger. In the evening we had soya biryani, if I could call it that. Soya is rich in protein. We were handed over a set of biscuits, chocolate and toffees, each. It was for the peak attempt day, the next day. It was then that I felt the nervousness of whether we’ll be able to do it or not. We were asked to wake up at 0400 hours and be ready with torches, as it was going to be dark. We were to start at 0500 hours. We didn’t play cards that night.
Day 8 & Day 9: Oh, it was a damn cold morning at the height of 12000ft. We packed our rucksacks with bare minimum items, mostly including food items and mountaineering gear. I don’t like wearing handgloves. But it was damn cold and I had to hold Ice-axe in hand. Therefore, I wore them. Torch in one hand, we started moving up ahead. Bhumi Sir said some encouraging words and wished us all the best. Sir once again reminded us all that, we have to be positive mentally and strong internally as it’s going to be a test of endurance and undoubtedly, an experience of life time. With the chants of ‘Ganpati Bappa Morya’, ‘Bharat Mata ki Jai’ :) etc. we went ahead.
Unfortunately, just then, I heard that MMS got sprain in foot and was not able to walk. He also wasn’t feeling well in the morning. So, at first we decided to wait for him. Then he said, he would like to return to camp and that, we should go ahead. I felt sad. Sir also tried his best to find a way that we could all go together but then the decision was taken. Going ahead by the side of a glacier, came a point where we had to cross it. It was slippery. It started dawning just then. I took my camera out. That is Anurag, in all white in the glacier, walking like an astronaut. I always liked the way Ankita and Anurag carried themselves, all alert and enthusiastic. :)
It was an exhaustive walk, the peak still stood far far away. We were all walking with different paces, scattered all over the mountain range. Walking further, I heard some discussion between Sir, Bhumi Sir and Pooja. Later I learnt that Pooja had difficulty in breathing so wasn’t coming further. She sat there with one of the guides. It was already 0900 hours. We should have started climbing the real peak patch by that time. When Sir came up, I and Adi, were getting restless, what are we gonna do. It was a comparatively smaller and inclined site. There were few tents of IIT-Kanpur guys. I met their college professor. He told me that 5 out of the 12 members were attempting the peak that day. Others weren’t well. I saw little dots moving up the peak. They had started at 0500 hours and had yet not reached anywhere near the peak. I felt sick in the stomach. I tried to calculate, if we start at 10, it will be night by the time we return. Just then, heard Bhumi Sir saying that we’ll go as far as we can, till 11am and start returning after that, as the weather gets worsening after 2pm, mostly. We can’t risk ourselves during that time. I felt the rage once again. I asked him why was he saying that the ABC site where we camped was the only one from where we can attempt for the peak. That location was surely not the right one. We could have attempted from the point where we standing and having this conversation. We wasted whole of the previous day. Those were strong words coming from me, however I knew that his arguments weren’t baseless either, owing to everybody’s condition the previous day. But starting peak attempt at 5am surely didn’t work for us.
Besides, that location wasn’t very ideal for laying a camp. Strong breeze with no cover of mountains from any side, no water as every drop was frozen and slant surface, artificially maintained to set up tent by IIT Kanpur guys.
I heard what Bhumi Sir was saying. He said “Today was day, meant for peak attempt and return to ABC. Tomorrow we have to leave for Base Camp. And the day after, to Dhundhi. All the ration and arrangements are only for these 3 days. We can’t change the plan”. I had intense discussion with Adi about it. We evaluated options, that if we ask Sir that we both can go down to ABC, get the tent and ration from there, establish camp here, attempt peak, the next day and return to Base Camp directly skipping the ABC, so we will practically save a day and thus atleast, will be able to give a serious try to climb the peak. I don’t know how it sounds to you, but it was a very tough call. Adi said, that Sir might listen to me if I tell him about this plan. Sir seemed to be deep in discussion with Bhumi Sir and Delhi guys who were apparently very unhappy. Hearing my idea, Bhumi Sir uprightly rejected, telling that it’s a very hard task to go back and get the things up here. He also said that, the idea of doing a 3 days trek in one day after peak attempt, the next day was foolhardy. I remained adamant, pleading Sir again and again. I said if we try today, the chances of success are there, but feeble. But if we try the next day, we might succeed. He however, had something else in mind. He said, he will attempt it today alone and is ready to bear the consequences of bad weather, late evening or whatever. I found it very unlike him. He is pretty cautious always. But I guess that’s for others not for himself. I said, why not give me and Adi a chance. We will both be there with him for the attempt next day. We can ask others also, if they want to accompany us. After much persuasion he agreed. For me and Adi, it was an achievement like climbing the peak itself. We both started emptying our rucksack and dumping them under a rainsheet. Just then Harshal came to us, saying that he also wanted to be with us in the plan. I can’t really remember what I felt then. Probably I first quickly calculated, if we would need to bring an additional tent :P. But since we had 4 men tent being used by 3 only so far in our camps, it wasn’t a problem, plus ‘that’ thinking of mine was mean. We were supposed to bring 2 tents, one for us, one for the guides. We also had to bring sleeping bags and food for 2 days. Since, Sir had got to remain there with others, we had to bring Sir’s rucksack also with his mattress and sleeping bag and other things. Without wasting any time, I, Adi and Harshal started back with instructions from Sir. He said that we might have to bring a third tent for the Delhi guys. But later heard that they did not want to attempt. Good, that we had to bring 2 tents only. ‘Only’ shouldn’t be the word however. We three descended as fast as we could. I don’t remember having rested anywhere. I was extremely happy that we succeeded in winning this chance. Adi reminded that we might have to set up landmarks to return through the same path otherwise we might be lost. We made landmarks of stones, which could be visible from distance.
We met Bhumi Sir sitting with Pooja. He said discouragingly, that we won’t be able to climb up all the distance again. I wanted to give him a strong reply but Harshal held me back. I still told Bhumi Sir, “We’ll see what happens. Atleaast don’t discourage us”. We raced and reached in about an hour and a half! We first met MMS. Told him everything and asked him if he wants to come with us, give it a try. He was not well so he refused. I had almost forgotten that we hadn’t eaten anything. Harshal gave Parle-G. We hurriedly distributed all the stuff. I had 2 sleeping bags, mattresses and Sir’s clothes as well as mine. I kept food also with me. Adi and Harshal carried a tent each. Just then saw Pooja returning with Bhumi Sir. She had started feeling well owing to the decrease in altitude. She still kept the liquid oxygen with her, in case there was any need. We met, talked and left our own ways.
The ascent was very exhaustive. Despite of having gone the same way earlier in the morning, we felt everything new, trying to figure out if we are going the right way. Far away, we saw that all others had started descending towards the ABC I. Aditya’s rucksack was the heaviest, I guess. He was taking frequent resting halts. Saw Rakesh guide coming, he took tent from Harshal. He asked me too, if I would like to transfer some of my stuff. I think mine wasn’t that heavy so I refused.
All three of us were walking with different paces, being far from each other. I gained energy as soon as I saw Rakesh Sir, waiting all alone. I increased my pace, I saw him climbing down a bit. He found a rock for himself and sat there. He welcomed me cheerfully.
I really can’t remember if there was any body part that wasn’t aching. I was damn hungry, wanted to eat or drink something but then Sir said that the guide (We were supposed to be six people camping there. 4 of us and 2 guides) might like to save fuel for melting water and cooking. So better I wait for all to arrive and then let the tea be prepared for all at once. I understood the criticality. It started getting dark. Wind was blowing hard. We set up our tent. We had to place rocks at places to save the tent from blowing away with the wind. We ate maggi heartily, inside the tent as it was terribly cold outside. Harshal took video of us all. We had all our belongings jumbled in 4 rucksacks. So I took the responsibility of handing over the right stuff to right owner. Only those who were there will be able to understand how tiring each movement was, at that height. We were all exhausted. We decided to start for peak attempt at 4am next day, which meant we had to wake up at 3am. Well, it wasn’t a comfortable night. I woke up many times hearing the loud sound of the winds. Finally when I decided to get up, I saw Harshal also getting up. We both woke the other two up. All geared up. We started towards the peak in the dark. I didn’t have the energy to hold the torch even; so kept it back after some time, depending solely on the person ahead and his footsteps which I was following. Thank God that we cleared the glacier in the darkness before the dawn because when I looked at it in the light of the dawn, I gaped. Had I been able to see what I was climbing I might have lost confidence and failed. It was a steep, slippery (I slipped once for some distance, Sir and Harshal helped me), high gradient glacier patch. We climbed that without crampons, on our koflachs. Others agreed that we were lucky to climb it in the dark, staying ignorant. ;) That is me at the dawn (picture below)
It was a lovely morning. We were looking at the shadow line to vanish, and waiting for the sun rays to reach us. But it was approaching from down and we were moving up.
We put our crampons on. From there onwards, every step ahead sucked whole of our oxygen from the lungs. We were panting profusely. For the first time I felt the lack of oxygen. I was able to see the ridge ahead which connected to the peak, but was resting after every two steps movement. It seemed like an herculean task to bend and take out camera, anchoring with one hand with the ice-axe, at that gradient, but what I saw ahead was so beautiful that I had to. Ice bars, crevasses and milk white snow!
We reached the top at the ridge. Now it was a simple gradual walk at a low gradient towards peak. I started feeling terribly thirsty. We didn’t have much water left. I started eating snow from the ridge. To melt it and drink as water, body uses a lot of energy but I couldn’t help it. I knew the peak isn’t very far now. However, I did the same mistake again. Never judge distances in mountains, just by the view of them. It was a long long walk. But finally, reaching the top was an incredible feeling! We were actually at the top of the world. My all time favorite peak-The Friendship peak was visible and guess what, it was below us (Height of Friendship peak is 5289m). Sir took out his altimeter cum GPS device. It showed 5326m. I cannot explain the feeling which we had there. Emotions were flowing in whatever we spoke there. We felt that, to experience this feeling was worth all the efforts we had put in. We prayed on the behalf of all our team-mates. It was the combined efforts of all of us that our expedition succeeded. We put all our equipments, prayed and offered coconut to the Mountain Gods. Harshal took out the Tricolour and we all had snaps with our national flag waving high at the peak. We ate whatever was left with us. The clock showed 0930 hours. Our base camp was still visible appearing as a tiny dot. We decided to descend. Even the descend and our way back, was an amazing experience in itself. But I see that it’s already been a long narration. So would end it here with the snaps which we took at the peak. If you are planning for an expedition, mark my words, you will be returning with memories embedded deep in your heart and the thirst for more. All you need to do is, wait for the call from the Himalayas. :)
