Chumser & Lungser: Part 1 (Leh - Churchu - Chumser Kangri)

Part 1 


Tso Moriri from Chumser High Camp

 

This year, right from the beginning, Ladakh was a pot pouri of uncertainties. I should not have even gone to Ladakh in the first place.

 

I had planned a climb in Kyrgyztan (Lenin or Khan Tengri) and I had to call that off because a friend invited me to climb MK4 and the peaks in its vicinity with him in HP. While we were planning on that, IMF detailed me for an expedition in Bataal (CB9, 10 etc). There is a certain Wg Cdr Chaudhury with the IMF who was supposed to lead the climb. He came across as an eccentric and "Do I care?" kind of a person to me. IMF called off the climb on two occasions; and on both occasaions causing immense monetary loss and logistical inconvenience to the participants. I spoke to the Wg Cdr and he sounded  unapologetic and carefree. I had resolved in my mind that this was the last time I would let IMF ruin my plans, even if it meant spending out of my own pocket. 

Because IMF ruined my climbing calender (well almost), I decided to go to Jaipur and work some more on my riding. My last trip to Jaipur was smashing and I was hoping Vishal and Ajay will make this one worthwhile too. This would keep me fit and give me some time to sort out a new plan. 

So I decided to climb peaks higher than those planned by my friend and IMF. And to soup things up, I decided to climb two such peaks for good measure. The icing on the cake was to do all this in a two week window (including acclimatisation). The two peaks that came to my mind were Chumser and Lungser in Ladakh. Chumser is 6625m tall while Lungser is 6666m tall. Climbing even one of these bulbous objectives can be a handful, not to mention two. Doing that in 10 climbing days is another matter altogether. I have heard of so many people gloating over the fact that Chumser is a "trekking" peak and come back empty handed and a truck load of cold injuries and high alt illnesses to add insult to injury. True - sections of Chumser can be classified as "trekking" peak. But there are some sections that we did which were quite steep especially just short of "our" summit which @ 6635m was 10m higher than the main summit.

A few reasons why I feel expeditions to Chumser fail are (Not even talking about Lungser now)

1. The mountain is humongous. People underestimate the magnitude of the climb. The base camp is at an altitude of 5688m which is higher than the everest base camp

 

2. The tree line in Ladakh is low (very low) sometimes even non existent. Oxygen levels are lower than in other parts of the Himalayas. Climbing 22000 ft in Ladakh is not the same as climbing 22000 ft say in Himachal, Uttaranchal or even Sikkim.

3. For anyone serious about summiting Chumser, one must consider a high camp at 6100m. The downside is that the weather is very fickle at this point and it is perpetually cold. We experienced this bitter coldness (we climbed in september) but the reward was sweet - "summit".

 

So much for planning. But I was a lone climber. Not that that was going to deter me. But that just meant more funds and better logistical support. I had made an enquiry with a couple of logistics agencies in Leh. One of these agencies, put me in touch with Nabarun Ghosh, an aspiring climber from Kolkata. He too had aimed to climb chumser and lungser in a very small window (timeframe); what are the odds? Without wasting much time, We got down to the finances and logistics. Nabarun was more than willing to let me manage the climb and I obliged. We planned the climb between the 8th and 20th of Sep with a days rest between the two summits and a reserve day which turned out as good as non existent.

 

Mistake - 12 days is just about enough for ONE peak measuring well over 6500m, let alone two, to be summited in a period of 72 hours. We realised the magnitude of the task only one day before attempting Chumser. That is when Nabarun my new friend suggested that we concentrate on one objective as opposed to two. I said that we should believe in our plan. We were the ones who made the plan, and of all the people we should show faith in it. More on this episode later.

 

I reached Delhi on the 7th of Sep. I had a flight for Leh the following day. I picked up a pair of CAMP G-Shell lite+ from Munesh, my acquaintance in Delhi. I didnt use the gloves though. My Millet Ice Fall did stellar duty on the arduous ridges of Chumser and Lungser.

 

September 8th  - Day 1 Leh

48 hours in Leh was what I had planned for acclimatisation. Sam, who helped organise KY1 for me in 2010, picked me up from the airport around 10. Rudra the Manager of Hotel Mansarovar on Fort Road was delighted to have me as his guest. I quickly settled into a sedentary mode for the next few hours. On my back, on the bed was the preferred course of action, apparently. The sudden difference in altitude from around zero in Delhi to 3500m in Leh is bound to affect the most hardcore outdoor junkie and I wasnt willing to take my chances.

I had to meet Sam sometime in the evening. So after a nice heavy lunch and a nap, I walked up Fort Road towards Raku Complex to visit Sams new office. I spent some time at his desk discussing the trip and also met with Deepak, my mountain guide, a native of Manali. He appeared to be a very "crisp" fellow and has somekind of a reputation among his clientele. A reputation for being forthright, which I thought was good. We didnt need someone who would beat around the bush either. After meeting with Sam and Deepak, I spent sometime lazing around the main bazaar in Leh, especially near the Masjid, where native Kashmiris sell delightful meaty delicacies on skews called sheekh. There was also Rista, a spicy meatball cooked in soupy stew; a mouthwatering affair. After hanging around the town, I headed towards Mansarovar. Rudra told me that someone had been meaning to meet me while I was gone. I assumed it was Nabarun. We had agreed to meet the following day, but 8th was not totally ruled out. Nabarun had made it to Leh a week earlier, since he intended to climb Stok Kangri before attempting Chumser and Lungser with me. I was keen to find out if the gentleman was Nabarun. I had to wait a few more hours until the next morning to learn about the mysterious visitor.

 

September 9th  - Day 2 Leh

The next morning after breakfast, I was hanging around the lawn, testing the GPS and altimeter on my N8. The altimeter was about 40m off. The positioning was pretty accurate though. While I was busy testing my device, Nabarun walked into the entrance towards the hotel lobby. We shook hands and it turned out that the mysterious visitor from last evening was him indeed.

 Nabarun told me about his stok expedition; how he just about managed to scrape through a summit at the last moment due to bad weather. They stayed put at the base camp for 5 days due to incessant weather. The weather only just about cleared up late on the 7th. So the leader suggested that they venture into the mountain as far as possible. By the time they left the base camp, it was 10. They somehow made it to the summit by 1730. The string of events on stok sounded like a satirical imitation of a laurel and hardy episode. Well! to me. :)

 After a brief chat, Nabarun and I walked to his guest house, to pick his pack. By proportion, his daypack was comparatively heavier than his rucksack. His guest house was somewhere on the upper tukcha road. What better way to home in to Mansarovar, than to backtrack on my N8 GPS. The positioning worked like a charm. Nabarun was carrying his own Garmin eTrek Vista. With two GPS sets, we felt secure like a swiss locker on our forthcoming adventure.

 After dumping Nabaruns luggage in our room we went to have lunch. Cant quite remember what was for lunch. Sometime in the evening, we walked to Sams office to check the paperwork and equipment. We also met with Thundup, the cook and Tenzin, Deepaks assistant. We agreed to depart from Mansarovar the following day at 0800 and went out to my favourite place in Leh, the courtyard of the Masjid, to try the sheekh kabab of course. Well I "tried" the meats, Nabarun actually "feasted" on it. It was good nonetheless.

We went back to the hotel and began packing our stuff for the expedition.

 

 September 10th - Day 3 Drive to Tso Moriri/Churchu

We were both up by 0600. Sam caught us in the Hotel Restaurant @ 0800 and was quick to point out that he was not late. I requested for 15 minutes. After a heavy breakfast, we stuffed our packs in the vehicle and headed out towards Tsomoriri. Deepak had about only 3 million anecdotes to tell us, and at times we would wonder if he was ever gonna cease talking.

We made it to Churchu by about 4 in the evening, dumped our luggage and drove to the other side of Tsomoriri, towards Korzok. I showed Nabarun around the village (I climbed the Mentok range from here last year) while Deepak went to arrange for the ponies. We made it back to Churchuk by about 6 in the evening, just in time for supper. The guys seemed to be having a good time; I on the other hand had to retire into my tent to deal with an embarassing bowel condition.

 

September 11th - Day 4 Hike to Base Camp

This was the most crucial day of all as far as the expedition was concerned. Churchu was at 4700m, 300m higher than Tsomoriri in the backdrop. The base camp was at 5650m (thereabouts). Thats a humongous 1000m height gain right in the beginning. We hiked the distance in about 7 hours, good timing, considering Nabarun and I were carrying really heavy packs.

 

We stopped at a couple of places to try out the packed lunch that Thundup had prepared for us. While Deepak and Nabarun seemed to relish the offering, I couldnt even manage a bite. I never seemed to like the concept of a packed lunch. cheesy sandwich, boiled potato and hardboiled egg; always gave me a feeling that I was being punished for something. I somehow managed to stay on my feet, sipping my carefully concocted Tang; thats 5 parts water, 2 parts tang, 1 part love --- I am kidding. I like Tang though; no two ways about that.

 I requested Thundup to make some Khichdi for supper. His Khichdi seemed more like Pulao, but it was definitely more palatable than his sandwich. I felt a slight headache and thought it wise to keep Nabarun informed. He suggested that we stay at the base the following day rather than setting up a higher camp.

 

 September 12th - Day 5 Base Camp

Tenzin was not very well (so was I). The altitude had got the best of him. Deepak suggested that he descend immediately, while he can do it on his own. If he delayed then the whole team might have had to accompany him, till he was at a safe altitude. Tenzin agreed. Sometimes valor is in saying "I cant".

 After lunch we hiked to the high camp for acclimatisation. Since my pack was over 20 kilos, I felt a little load ferry would do no harm. I carried some of my heavy stuff, crampons, harness, gauntlets etc to be left at the ABC. Because Tenzin didnt acclimatise well, we thought We should take Thundup along so that he was reasonably well acclimatised by the time we establish the high camp the following day. There were two possible locations for a high camp. One at 5950 and another at 6100. The one at 5950 was a proper camp site while the one at 6100 was a little difficult for the ponies to reach. Since this bunch had more insane people than sane, we agreed to camp at 6100m. Too bad for the ponies was the general concensus. Sorry Menaka Gandhi! Thundup had to return to the BC from 5950m because he showed symptoms of AMS, plus we thought by the time we got back we would be hungry, so we might as well let the cook do his job.

 We returned to base with a spring in our strides and sleet in our faces. Spring in our strides because setting up a high camp at 6100m increased our chances of summit manifold, sleet in our faces, because there was severe precipitation. LOL

 

September 13th - Day 6 High Camp

Sometimes I wonder, if I could eat like Nabarun (in the mountains of course; I eat well in the plains) or sleep like Deepak, I would be the perfect mountaineer. It turns out I cant eat or sleep well, and most of the climbing is done out of sheer will, or whatever is left of it.

 After a very slight breakfast (Nabarun ate well, thank God), Nabarun and I started off to the ABC. Deepak, Thundup and the Pony guy took their sweet time loading up the ponies (and a couple of donkeys too). By now I have been in a state of heavy headedness for about 48 hours. The only good thing about the whole thing was that the pain was at least shifting from behind my skull to forward and back. Everytime Nabarun would enquire about my condition, I would say "I would like to think I am fine". I have felt better during climbs though. So this was not very encouraging, with the summit attempt just about 36 hours away. Nabarun and I maintained a leisurely pace. We made it to the high camp in well under three hours. We laid out our tent while Deepak got busy with the Dining tent. By 1400 or so we had established base at the high camp.

 I was glad at least Deepak and Nabarun were enjoying their meals. I on the other hand had to do with black tea and more black tea. I am not even a tea drinker and was craving for food, but for the loss of appetite. At 6100m, Thundup was beginning to feel the effects of altitude. Deepak helped him with the cooking. Nabarun, Deepak and I agreed that if Thundup was still not acclimatised by morning, we would send him back, albeit there was another person who for some strange reason was not acclimatising well in this expedition and was still hanging around. For dinner we had Khichdi, and tonight was probably the only night during the expedition when I actually ate well.

 

September 14th - Day 7 High Camp

Our worst fears had come true. Thundup was not doing too well. He had thrown up more than once last night and felt a severe pounding in his head. Deepak and Nabarun insisted that he climb down to a safe altitude. Although I agreed with them in words, I was really hoping that Thundup stayed; may be he would acclimatise eventually. Who was I kidding. We all knew that his situation was only going one way- from bad to worse. He hung around till about 1100. Deepak suggested that he would accompany Thundup till halfway between the BC and Churchu. Although that was the right thing to do, we had planned to leave for the summit attempt on Chumser by 0100 the following morning. If Deepak went with Thundup, he will be spent by the time he got back. We sent Thundup and Deepak on their way with some juice and chocolates. We had some stale Khichdi and soupy noodles for lunch. I suggested to Nabarun that we go for the summit without Deepak. He just wouldnt have the strength to climb after today, besides I thought he would slow us down. Boy was I wrong?

 Deepak was back by 1600, and seemed in high spirits. I suggested that he take some rest and forget about Chumser. Perhaps he could guide us to the top of Lungser. "No way" was his response. He said he was being paid to guide us, and he was not gonna sit back. It was hard to reason with him, so Nabarun suggested that he at least take some rest. I told him I will gear up and wake him at quarter to 1 in the morning. By the time we went to our tent, it was 2000. Nabarun slept and I played owl. 

 

September 15  - Day 8 Summit Chumser

The day began early. I stayed awake all night and developed a slight headache. Woke Nabarun at midnight. We took our time gearing up. I woke up Deepak by 0045. He was fast. We had some black tea and left by 0130. The initial ascent to the snowline was slow. It took us about 100 minutes to hit 6300m. This is where Nabarun put on his plastic boots. I was trying out my Forclaz 900 boots. My feet were freezing in them. The boots are good for hiking till about 5500m. They are definitely not suited to climbing/hiking in snow. (My feet are still numb from the cold injury, and its been about 10 days since I came back from Leh). Anyways, after wearing our crampons, the gradient increased and so did the volume of snow and ice. Deepak could barely stand on his feet, but he somehow managed.

In another hour we reached fork from where one could go to the false summits. From here there was a straight forward 40 deg climb for about 40 odd minutes leading to a sharp ridge which was quite steep. It was this steep ridge measuring only little less than a 100m, which would lead us to the summit. After this ridge, climbers are exposed and it begins to get extremely windy and cold. By 0540 we were at the summit. Nabaruns Garmin Vista was reading 6635 while my N8 was reading 6595m. I would say the Garmin reading was correct, since my N8 was off by about 40m since Leh.

We snapped the surrounding peaks (mainly Lungser - our next objective) and Tsomoriri beneath us. Also the Mentok range on the other side of Tsomoriri and the peaks either side of the Mentok range. Since Nabarun was busy with his GPS receiver and Deepaks digicam had conked, photoevidence was now my department, but only just. In about 90 seconds my fingers were frozen and I had to pass on my phone to Deepak to be turned off. Since we were beginning to feel the chill, we decided to headback. The jubiliation was short and would only be complete once we made it back safe. On our way back, Deepak found a strange place to check his boots and feet for comfort; the point where we began climbing the steep ridge towards the summit. We waited for him on that exposed part of the mountain for about 15 minutes. Although he seemed to be enjoying the brief halt, I was feeling like throwing him down the slope. Of course I managed to keep a smile on my face, afterall this was the guy who was going to guide us to the top of Lungser in a couple of days.  

We made it back to the camp in a couple of hours but not without any misadventures. While Deepak decided to take a different route to the camp, Nabarun and I backtracked the same route we took to the summit. Nabarun almost got into a crevasse. I used my Ice Axe (and his) to anchor and and he somehow managed to push himself to the surface. We just thanked heavens, and continued towards the camp, wishing this was the last of our woes. It was - at least for the day. Since the cook was gone, there was no hot cup of tea or breakfast or snack. Deepak went to the dining tent. Nabarun and I went to our tent. I had some cold water, dispirin and went to sleep, hoping that the headache would be gone when I woke up. It had only aggravated by the time I woke up. I had very little lunch and dinner. I was in so much discomfort that I hardly remember anything from the rest of that day.

Part 2 continued here

 

Gulmarg 12

Gulmarg was terrific this year (Although the post is a month too late). It was nothing like last year. There were no bans on routes from the top of Afarwat and on a personal front, I was feeling really fit in a long time. The operated foot last year left a sour taste in my mouth and although I was able to try a few things especially routes down Kongdoori, it wasn't quite satisfying. Especially not being able to ski down G4 was painful. 

This year however, G4, Mary's Shoulder, Kongdoori and Monkey Hill were all done on more occasions than one. I got my equipment from JIM & WS. Rossignol Alpine Ski's, 48" Kerma Poles and and Salomon boots. Maj. Mahajan had accommodated me in Mount View; a decent place to nestle for two,  may be three weeks. The staff at Mount View is brilliant. Tariq, the Manager is thoughtful while Adil, the help, always exceeds ones expectations.  

I had not skied for about 10, may be 11 months. So revisiting the skills on the many beaten slopes around Gulmarg seemed like a wise idea. Slopes like "Highland" and "85" are especially popular with professionals and novices alike. The Army Skiing Team and the HAWS (High Alt Warfare School) Skiers practice in and around the Highland Slope and are always willing to lend advise, point errors or correct ones technique. I was practicing with Hazari and Mangal, instructors with JIM & WS; brilliant skiers and excellent teachers.

Kongdoori & Mary's Shoulder

Between Mary's Shoulder and
Kongdoori

After about 5 days in Gulmarg (last week of feb), I felt confident of being able to face the natural slopes. G4 (The top of Afarwat) was not operational for some reason. So we took the "Gondola" (Telecabine System) till Kongdoori and hiked about a Km towards Mary's Shoulder. Surprisingly, most part of our hike was beaten earlier in the morning. A little off piste slope joined this beaten route to form a ski run leading to Kongdoori roughly about 2 miles long . Excellent fun, especially the beaten part of the track was extremely fast. On the way back we followed the beaten  track  from Kongdoori to Gulmarg which was by now a regulation route, with varying degrees of descents and sudden curves thrown in for good measure.

Kongdoori & G4  

The next couple of days, I went back to the slopes in the resort with some guys who had enrolled for the advanced course @ JIM. We practiced edging, waddling and other turns. In the meanwhile, Sqn Ldr Pramod, Mahajans course mate, was in the institute for a couple of days. He expressed his desire to ski down from Kongdoori to Gulmarg. Pramod practiced some basic skills at a resort while Hazari's team and I refreshed some advanced skills. When Pramod felt like he was ready, Younis (another instructor at JIM) and I accompanied him to Kongdoori. We took a day pass on the Gondola and did a couple of runs to Gulmarg from Kongdoori. On the third trip to Kongdoori, I requested Pramod to wait while Younis and I went to G4 and skied down the top of Afarwat. The next 90 minutes were the most exhilarating moments to begin this year. 

Pramod and I @ Kongdoori

Younis and I had a drink and left Pramod with his camera at Kongdoori. In about 15 minutes we were at the top of Afarwat at 13000+ feet. I had no time for sightseeing and just got on with the business. We negotiated the steep slopes with a combination of jumpy stem and dynamic turns. Younis was obviously more fluent of the two since he had been on these mountains earlier this year. This was the first time for me this year. I was more deliberate and meticulous in my approach. By the time we made it to Kongdoori, it was time for lunch. We met with Pramod, skied down to Gulmarg and returned to Kongdoori for lunch - Chicken Mughlai, Chicken Masala, Naan and Rice. 

With that scrumptious meal, we had enough energy to do a few more rounds to Gulmarg. The ride to G4 was again blocked for some reason. I left Pramod with Younis for guidance and went ahead exploring new routes from Kongdoori to Gulmarg, on  my own. Quite a hectic day this one.

Solo - G4 and Mary's Shoulder

By now I had had enough opportunities to ski down so many mountains and slopes. This year was exceptionally good in that regard. Very few bad weather, no activity days. In fact even on bad weather days, I was able to get some sort of mileage on the skis. So the logical progression would have been to go solo, which I did. 2 days after Pramod left, I was on my way to G4 via Kongdoori with Mr. Reshi, my old friend from Gulmarg, employed with the youth services dept in Gulmarg. A genuinely good person and excellent instructor, Reshi has known these mountains for 23 years. He was on his way to Kongdoori to help with the management and administration of a tournament called Gondola Cup being conducted between Mary's shoulder and Kongdoori. I saw him off at Kongdoori and headed off to G4. The descent was quite emphatic, although I did see a few snow boarders and skiers overtaking me, thanks to better equipment and exposure, I believe I was doing alright, considering the fact that I have been to the top of Afarwat on fewer occasions. I even managed to ski down Mary's shoulder towards Kongdoori a couple of times. Wow! G4 and Mary's shoulder on the same day. Quite an exceptional day. 

On my way down from Mary's shoulder I ran into Hadee. The day before I came across this inquisitive little girl at the highland slope. We had a little chat while waiting our respective turns at the lift. Sometime during  our conversation I shared the gospel with the young lady. She never told me that she was going to the mountains as well. She had somehow managed to get facedown, out of exhaustion, I think. She asked me for some water. I offered her some juice and chocolate (which I always carry handy). I suggested that she follow my lead. She did. Once in Kongdoori, at the site of the competition, I politely implied that she shouldn't be skiing on the mountains without a guide. Not at her age and skill level. The lady smiled. I said good bye to her, and did another round of Mary's shoulder before heading back home.

Monkey Hill

Pradeep & Wg Co Padda

With just two more days left for my return flight, Pradeep (and Wing Co Padda) my new friends, asked me  if they could ski down from Kongdoori. Since there are a few straightforward tracks between Kongdoori and Gulmarg, I suggested it was plausible and offered to be their guide. I checked with Mangal and he was willing to go too. Unfortunately, the Gondola was halted for the day due to strong winds. Pradeep and Padda Sir had to go the slopes with a sullen face. Mangal, his friend and I instead headed off on the trail towards Monkey hill. Deep woods with tall trees and chilly winds; stuff from the movies. Anyways, we were at the top in about half an hour. The ski descent was pretty boring to be honest. Too many trees for my liking. Mangal and his friend landed on their butt a coupl of times. I was more deliberate and careful. Especially because of the number of trees on the route. We hit the road connecting Gulmarg with Tangmarg in about 15 minutes. A newly wed couple were generous enough to offer us a ride to Gulmarg. They were in some sort of mischievous mood, which was apparent from the place where they were seated, right on top of the Sumo. Can't complain though! they offered us a ride. We handed the skis to them for safekeeping and got into the vehicle. It was really comfortable in there. Why would they sit on top? Beats me. I presume, when you are in love, the wires in the top floor go all wrong. We got off at the bus stop and thanked the couple. Lunch at Yemberzal was .... what can I say? Vegetarian. :(

Mentok I & II - Climb

A brief intro to the climb

We had about 48 hours to acclimatise in Leh. A drive to Shanti Stupa, Shankar Monastery and Leh Palace followed by brisk walks from the Hotel to the town did help somewhat. On the 11th, Ram and Shiva picked up liners for their sleeping bags and weatherproof clothing for the climb. We had to leave for Korzok the next day and so we stayed up late packing our gear.

Day 1 - Jul, 12

We had an early breakfast on 12th and waited for Rigzin and the MUV. They were there by 9. John the mountain guide was also traveling with us. In about half an hour we were on our way. I had a red eye so we stopped at Choglamser (or some similar sounding place) to pick eye drops for me. The drive along Indus was beautiful. We crossed the river at least at three places. Hats off to Himank for maintaining the roads in these conditions and in such inhospitable terrain. We had lunch at a restaurant along the way and made it to Korzok by about 4 in the evening and set camp away from the crowd (yes oddly Korzok is really crowded – Tsomoriri is quite an attraction in the summers).

Day 2 - Jul, 13

We hardly got any sleep. The ground beneath was at a slight incline and it was all wrong. Siva and I woke up with a headache, Siva's headache was also accompanied by slight temperature. We had to go to the base camp in order to get acclimatised and check the conditions up there. I didn't think it wise for Siva to join us. I left some Paracetamol and Diamox with him and advised him ample rest outside the tent since it would get really hot inside the tent and that could dehydrate him. It is amazing that when the instructions are specific, the execution tends to be the exact opposite. When I got back I was told that Siva got a good rest “inside the tent”. Anyways, John and I had a good chat about some doctrines from the Bible. I was able to convince him (from the scriptures) that Jesus is the ONLY way to God. So after our chat, John, Ram and I headed out to explore the Base Camp. The initial ascent was gradual. But remember we were starting at an altitude of 4600m, which itself is quite high. The base camp is at 5100 or 5200m. The terrain was OK initially but slowly it began to get steep and kind of difficult. After covering about three fifth of the distance, there were at least 3 stretches where we had to walk on rocks and boulders which required balance and agility. Ram was doing well till here. Since we had covered enough distance and gained some height, I advised him to put on his down and wait at a cleft, while John and I went to the base camp. I requested him not to get adventurous, and he assured that he will be OK. We made it to the base camp well within an hour from where we left Ram. The conditions were perfect. There was water and the campsite was not as bad as some made it to be. And then there was the view of Tsomoriri in front of us and the Mentok Range behind us - Beautiful. The base camp was the place to be. We had a drink and some chocolate. It began to drizzle, so we rushed to pick Ram. We made it to where he was in about 15 min and in an hour we were at Korzok. Siva had recovered from his headache and gone for a walk. His headache seemed to have relayed to me. (Pun intended). After an early supper we headed to our tents. I could hardly get any sleep; the noise from the stream nearby just kept me awake all night. May be they should make soundproof tents.

Day 3 - Jul, 14

We woke up early. Siva woke up with a severe headache again. It was disturbing, but I was hoping that the ache would be gone in an hour or so. After breakfast we packed up. Decided to move base. Siva suggested that his head hurt, every time he stepped up. The hike was supposed to be gruelling, and even if he made it to the base camp, his condition would only get worse because of the gain in height and lack of acclimatisation. So I suggested that he stayed at the village and recover. John found him a nice hotel in the village. Ram and I continued towards the base camp. I was constantly checking on him till I saw that John had caught up with him. I was then able to rush to the base camp and with help from the cook and the pony guy, we were able to set up the base camp. At about 1300 Hrs, it began to pour down rain and sleet. I was concerned about Ram and John and just when I decided to go check on them, the pony guy told me that they had weatherproof clothing. They arrived in about an hour and we warmed ourselves in the mess tent. We stayed in the mess chatting about everything under the sun, Goa, Everest, Nepal, Mountaineering, Skiing .. anything at all.

Day 4 - Jul, 15

Acclimatisation hike to the advance camp. John, Ram and I took some gear along with us so I could demonstrate some basic climbing and rescue techniques to Ram. The plan was also to dump the gear at the advance camp site, something like a load ferry. John and I made it to the advance camp site in about 2 hours. Ram was slow but steady. We waited for about an hour at the advance camp site, but it didn't look like he was going to reach there soon. Since the weather seemed to be packing up again, we had a drink and some chocolate and started to head back down but not before discussing the route of ascent. We left the gear that we brought along under a boulder and caught up with Ram in about 10 minutes. He was just 15 or 20 minutes short of the advance camp, but it was not safe to go back to the ABC since we could feel the precipitation slowly coming down. So sanity prevailed and we returned to the base in about an hour. In the evening we had supper and John and I discussed the gear we might need in order to ascend.

There was a vertical ice wall right from the advance camp to a point about 20 or so meters short of the summit of Mentok 2. But instead of climbing with our front points we agreed that we would do a zig – zag traverse. The wall was really steep and tall at about 400+m and “traversing” is usually done on 60 – 70 degree slopes. So this was something new that we intended to try.

Day 5 - Jul, 16

I slept with a slight fever and woke up with a headache. Headaches seemed to be in fashion during this expedition. John did his best to keep my mind focused on the climb and in hindsight, how grateful I am.

We had a light breakfast and spoke for a long time every once in a while turning around to get a glimpse of the two peaks. The weather was terrific and we were hoping it stayed that way for the next 24 hours. Ram was busy snapping the lake, the mountains, the flowers, the streams and just about everything under the sun. We had an early lunch and got down to check our gear one last time. We packed some boiled eggs, potatoes, chocolates and juice. At about 1500 we began the ascent to the advance camp site. We intended to camp there till about 0100 the next morning, so technically this wasn't a campsite, just a bivy site really. The climb was lot quicker since there was just John and me. John reached in about 90 minutes and I made it in about 110 minutes to the advance cam. We set up the tent and gazed around us for a while. The lake was something else .. so beautiful. I just couldn't get enough of the wall though. It was tall, really tall and steep. Most of the 350+ meters of the wall was steeper than 75 degrees and some sections were even 85+ degrees. There was a route over the rocks too, but I am not a big fan of moraines and scree. I don't mind rock climbing, but scrambling makes me feel like an amateur. So I offered a couple of choices to John – Ice wall or Ice wall and He said may be we will do the ice wall, and I agreed that he had made the right choice. (Pun Intended). By now we both admitted that Mentok was as technical as it got especially Mentok 2, thanks to the ice wall.

John is from Nepal, and in the tent he told me interesting anecdotes about climbing in Nepal. Sometime during the chat he fell asleep leaving me awake with his rhythmic snores. Since “sleep” and I are sworn enemies I kept myself busy admiring my newly acquired gear and after a while I slipped into my sleeping bag. I could hardly get any sleep. I think I barely fell asleep at 2230 or something like that and the alarm went off at about 0030. We lazily woke up and began to gear up. Harness, Down, Boots, Crampons and headgear. I wasn't feeling too well. Headache and may be temperature too. But I didn't tell John, which was not right. Never hide any condition from the team no matter how good you are or you think you are. Anyways; we headed out to the wall at about 0100.

Day 6 - Jul, 17

Summit - Mentok 2

In about 10 minutes we reached the wall and began the ascent. John asked me if I was ok minus the rope, I nodded to affirm. So we tried to ascend using a strange traversing technique. It felt awkward traversing such a steep wall (about 75 Degrees), but the positive is that it was not as exhausting as front point climbing tends to be. On really steep sections, I would do the conventional front point climb and even 40 – 50 m would really take a toll. In about 65 minutes we reached a ledge located at about 60 % of the wall. John suggested that we were gaining height at an exceptional rate (did I mention that John has climbed Mentok before). We had a drink and that is when He mentioned that the last time he climbed Mentok II, it was with a Polish team which had attempted K2 and they had a tough time climbing Mentok. Which is why Kaushal's description of Mentok as “Interesting” and not as “tough or somewhat challenging“ surprised me. Anyways, we got off the ledge and resumed the ascent on the vertical wall. The section above the ledge was extremely steep. John was comfortable traversing, but although tiresome, I found the front point style to be much more convenient, in that it felt right to employ the technique, after all, what is the point in knowing something and not trying it at all. Plus with under 150m to go, I felt I could pull it off, although I wished I had two Ice Axes. So in about half an hour we reached the top of the ice wall. I was ecstatic when John showed me the summit over the rock face that was above us. Since there was lot of verglas formation, it made sense to climb the rocks with the crampons on. After some rock climbing and bouldering, we reached the summit. We shook hands and I think may be even embraced one another. We took some snaps. I thought about a drink, but the chill was really “cutting” (I think it must have been -20 something) and the best thing to do was to march to the next objective. At about 0300 it was extremely dark, so we couldn't snap the surrounding peaks. Therefore, we just took some snaps on the summit and headed out to Mentok 1.

Summit - Mentok 1

The route to Mentok is not very technical, it is the cold and the gradient which could get to you. At places the scree slope was over 70 degrees and with the verglas it was trying ones resolve. I don't remember taking any breaks or halting for a drink or to gasp since the ridge was exposed and it was extremely windy and chilly. In about 140 minutes we got to a place about 50m short of the summit (vertically) from where the slope was gradual, but still extremely cold. From here it takes about 5 minutes to identify the true summit of Mentok 1 which we did. At 0527 we were on the summit of Mentok 1. John took some snaps of the surrounding peaks including Mentok 2 and of the lake. I prayed to the Lord God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, the True Living God. I thanked him for his Christ, the success of the expedition, and I thanked him for a new found friend in John and I thanked him for everything that I don't see right now, which he has planned for worthless people like me.

So we slowly started climbing down to the col between Mentok 1 and 2. We reached there in an hour. We had a drink and just short of the summit of Mentok 2 we began the descent. John suggested we climb down the same ice wall we climbed earlier in the morning. I thought he was out of his mind. He casually said, “You can do it.” and I was like, “Yeah Right”. We didn't even rope up. I still can't believe that we actually accomplished the task. We descended facing downhill which can be extremely scary and at  times implausible. Word of caution - those short on climbing experience must refrain from this technique. It is better to be safe than to be sorry. Rope up and use a front point technique "facing the slope" or a traversing technique with your weight towards the slope.

John was smashing quick. He made it to the ABC in 20 odd minutes. Since this was the first time I descended  using this “strange” technique, it took me about 35 may be 40 minutes to get there. We just sat there for an hour or so, sipping some much deserved juice, and letting the whole thing sink in. Both the summits in well under 5 hours and back to ABC by about 0800. Thats just 7 hours since we started early in the morning. Splendid work. We took some snaps of the surroundings. the tent, the campsite, the lake and the wall (somehow couldn't get enough of the wall). By 0900 we were packed up and all set to head back to the base camp. The descent from ABC to BC was fairly uneventful. Got there in an hour my be 70 minutes and since the climb was out of the way, it was time to tend to useless things like headache and sprains and sundry. We packed up and cleaned the camp site. Headed out to Korzok at about 1400. Since the climb was behind us and the only important thing to do at Korzok was “eat and sleep”, we were very slow in our descent. A snap here, a chat there, and a drinks break every now and then. We even got shots of some really cute marmots. In a couple of hours we made it to the lake, We lazed around a bit. I even managed a dip in the lake. Ram exhausted all the settings and angles on his camera. And when we had had enough of the lake, we headed towards the village. At one of the viewpoints along the lake, we were intercepted by a couple of Ladies, tourists perhaps, who were kind enough to offer us a ride till the village. Being in the “Mountaineering” mode, I politely refused and we continued our hike on the final stretch to the village, not before we showed those inquisitive ladies the peaks that we conquered just a few hours ago. We reached Korzok at about 1700. We set up the camp and I was eager to meet Siva, to let him know that the expedition was a success. At about 1830 Ram and I reached the hotel which was Lord Siva's abode. Knock Knock .. and there he was, his usual gleeful self. I have seldom come across people as polite and as warm as Siva, not to mention gentle and generous. A real Gentleman. Enough superlatives I guess.

So we went back to the campsite. Coke, snacks, supper and sleep, just as planned. Ram and Siva went to the Hotel. I had to be in the tent, may be to reflect on things and consider how things had transpired over the last few days .. NONSENSE. I fell asleep in 5 minutes which is unlike me. I guess it was the sleep deprivation over the last few days and the sedatives too. But who was complaining, as long as I got some sleep.

Day 7 - Jul, 18

Wow! I didn't wake up with a headache. It was about 0600. At about 0630 I went back to the place where I met those two ladies yesterday; not to meet them, of course. The view of Mentok 1 and 2 from that view point is really nice and before leaving Korzok, I had to be there. Besides, Chumser Kangri, on the Eastern  side of the lake looked good too, and from that place I could plan a route; who knows, may be some day I will climb Chumser too. It was a 20 minute hike. Stayed there for about 5 minutes. I thanked my God once more and headed back to the village. I thought of going to the Monastery which was en route, but  gave up the thought, wondering about the point in visiting the place. Once back, I fried some eggs for the whole team. They seemed to like it.

By 1000 or so we began the long arduous drive to leh. We halted at Thadsang Tharu a much smaller lake than Tsomoriri, but just as beautiful. We halted at some place midway, I keep forgetting the name of that place, for lunch – Dal Rice and Pickle. We reached Leh at about 1800, Hotel Khasdan again. Freshened up and headed out to town to EAT. Chicken and Coke had to top the list. It was some restaurant in a complex called Mentok Lin, nicely laid out in a lawn. The restaurant plays movies on a big screen. They were playing "Catch me if you can" that night. Good movie, good food. Nice way to end an expedition.

Mentok (Chennai to Leh)

Mentok 1 & 2 - Click here for the day by day synopsis

Its been a year since Kang Yatze and the disaster at Leh. No serious climbs since. I did do some off piste and cross country skiing in and around Gulmarg earlier this year but that doesn't constitute “mountaineering” by any stretch of the imagination.

And so it was time to decide on a peak to climb. I started with Kun and at least a dozen people showed interest in the project. I sat down to fix the budget – And its funny how in a matter of two weeks, the people “who loved the mountains” and “lived to climb”, found it hard either to manage leave from work or were "unwell". So I had to scrap the plan. I was now looking to do something smaller and manageable financially, since I had almost made up my mind that “solo” was the way to go. In the nick of time Ram, a trekker from Chennai buzzed saying he would love to climb, no matter what the cost. I also checked with Siva, a colleague from where I used to work. He did exhibit interest in photography at high altitudes earlier when we were in Gulmarg. In a couple of days he confirmed he would like to be a part of the team. We decided on the Mentok massif, particularly Mentok 1 and 2, the highest summits in the Mentok range of peaks. I read somewhere on the internet that Mentok is a trekking peak (if only I ever meet the guy who called this a trekking peak .. Ahem!!), so I was hesitant initially, since I have always been interested in technical climbs (and NO, having to ascend a peak with crampons doesn't qualify it as a technical peak). But Kaushal (an acquaintance), a mountaineer suggested that some sections of Mentok are “interesting”. That coupled with the fact that both the other members of the team are not trained mountaineers drove me to decide on Mentok. Something reasonably trying and easy enough to ascend would be the ideal peak for this team. The mistake I made was I did not ask Kaushal to elaborate on “interesting”, and this I realized at the Advance Camp when I saw a 400+m vertical ice wall right from the base of Mentok 2 till about 20m short of the summit. More on that later.

So it was July and we boarded the train to Delhi on the 8th, where I had to pick some gear. The journey was uneventful and fast thanks to Duronto Express taking less than 30 hours to reach Delhi. Ram tried his swanky new DSLR when the train halted near the bridge on River Krishna. On the 9th, we visited Protos Adventures and I picked up a CAMP Arctic Plus Sleeping bag, Snugpak gloves, a liner by Trekmates and a balaclava by OR. We had a flight to Leh early next morning, so we quickly met with Sid (an ex-colleague), grabbed a bite at McD and said our goodbyes, but not before a round of Aloo Paratha at an eatery near Rivoli and a walk around India Gate. 'Twas nice to catch up with Sid after a really long time.

A Striking Face

Although we just had about 5 hours at the hotel, Siva and Ram slept like there was no tomorrow, and I stayed awake till about 2 in the morning gazing at the newly acquired gear. We drove to the airport at about 6, had breakfast at the terminal and boarded the flight at about 8. We reached Leh at about 10 and were received by Lungden who works for Summit Adventures, the agency which provided the logistical support for the expedition. We drove to Hotel Khasdan which is near Zoravar Fort. A nice place to retreat if you don't mind the absence of wi-fi and having to walk half an hour to reach the town. In the evening we met with Rigzin, who runs Summit, and discussed the itinerary and the possible route of ascent. The whole team was reacting well to the altitude at Leh and there seemed to be no issues with acclimatization. The perfect start I would say to an expedition to an “interesting” peak.

A synopsis of the climb

Gulmarg '11

So far so good this year. No disasters as yet like the debacle last year at HAWS and I hope there is nothing in store, Lord willing.

I arrived at Gulmarg on the 19th hoping to ski down the Afarwat at least a couple of times. But injuries compel me to postpone it for a few days. The highest point on the Afarwat is about 4200 m and a 1500 odd meter drop has some really steep slopes. Powder, often crusty snow is characteristic of the mountain and this makes for some awesome runs.

I have not been skiing for a while now, so I thought it best to spend some time familiarizing with my gear and practice on the slopes within Gulmarg before skiing down the imposing Afarwat. 3rd may be the 4th of March may be the day to head out to the top.

Siva, a colleague from my former work place was keeping me company this winter. I got him to learn the basics of skiing. Capt. Mahajan, the VP at JIM & WS was kind enough to enroll Siva to the Basic Course at his institute.



In the evenings we would head out for a stroll around Gulmarg. This would involve a short hike to Khilanmarg or to The HAWS via BSF Bn 4. The hikes were an opportune moment for Siva to try out his Nikon SLR and the swanky new Samsung Galaxy. Or we would head out to Tangmarg or to the market place or to a local restaurant to try out the local cuisine. Rista easily makes it to my favourites list. The days were spent honing ones skills on the numerous slopes that Gulmarg had to offer. 

KY1 - Taming The Eastern Summit

KY-1 (Eastern Summit) The Easier Western Summit (Not Seen) Is To The Right

KY1 has always captured the imagination of many a climber. There are 2 known routes. One from the East-South Eastern front along a rocky ridge to the summit where the height gain is a humongous 1400m and the other a knife edge ridge from the easier western summit to the main summit.

This latter route from the western summit is a taboo among the guiding community. “I don't want to chance my fortune”, is what Kamal my guide politely told me in Hindi. About the eastern summit, unfortunately most climbers fail to document the route, conditions and tactics to negotiate the almost inhospitable terrain of the peak. The former route is a rocky terrain and needs an early start and after a couple of hours from the base camp to the eastern ridge one is unfortunately still at ground zero trying to make an ascent of this bulbous 2 summit peak.

Arpit (Left) & Jitu (Right) - Snap Is From Day 3 Leaving Nimaling For Base Camp

We initially intended to do this eastern route which seemed relatively achievable. We wanted to do a semi technical route. We, as in Jitendra, Arpit and “Yours Sincerely”. Did I say Semi technical? Well the human mind is fickle at best and we will see evidence of that towards the 4th day of this alpine style ascent of the Kang Yatse.

We arrived at Leh on the 26th of July, in high spirits. Arpit, an avid trekker was seemingly excited because of the prospect of being at heights he had never been to before. I had promised that we would take him to the base camp and may be even an advanced camp. Jitendra an old buddy and an alumni of NIM and HMI, 2 of the worlds best mountain schools. And I was excited about the ascent, more so because our intention was to be at the summit in 5 days against the 12 that people usually plan for a peak like the Kang.

5 days as opposed to the usual 12. Boy! Did we regret that. Most of 27th was spent visiting the monastries and palaces in and around Leh. My eyes were always on the team, more so on Arpit. Leh was at 3500m and we were only going higher. He seemed to be reacting well. Jitu had just completed a high altitude trek in Manali. So he was best acclimatized of the lot. We stayed at the Mansarovar. Nice place to relax. And relax we did; for some reallylong  difficult days that were fast approaching.

Day 1 – 28 July 2010

Leh to the roadhead at Shang Sumdo was an uneventful drive. We had to trek for a couple of hours to Chuskarma. The object of my observation was Arpit. He is really fit but this was perhaps his first stint at high altitude. Ladakh is a terrible place for a beginner to foray into mountain sports because of the dry air and inhospitable terrain; and the total lack of vegetation only makes things worse. Seemingly, he was coping well. Jitu was his usual self; slow and steady. I know him from my days in HMI and this was like a dream come true. Climbing together in Ladakh was something we had spoken of in Sikkim about a year ago. We reached Chuskarma at about half past five and after some tea we set up our camp. We knew we had a big day ahead. A really long arduous trek through rocky gorges, steep terrain and a really high Gongmaru-La pass to the Nimaling plateau.

Day 2 – 29 July 2010

We were still in high spirits. We headed out to Nimaling via Gongmaru-La at about 0700 after a light breakfast. The first half of the trek was through a rocky gorge. Climbing, descending and crossing an ever present stream which ran alongside. After may be 3 hours, we reached a place where we had to climb a steep slope for about 90 min to reach the top of Gongmaru-La sitting pretty at 5200m. We had some lunch at the pass which Bhim our cook meticulously packed in an aluminium foil. Nobody had any inclination whatsoever to eat; we just stuffed in some food in our mouths; believing it was necessary if we had to have any chance at the summit. So we ate. Boiled eggs, potatoes and chocolates and whatever we could. While we ate, Jitu and I discussed the route we would take for the summit. By now we were sure that we were not doing the knife edge ridge from the western summit to the the eastern summit. We thought we should do the ridge from the eastern side of the mountain which was quite rocky. There was nothing very technical about this. Just being able to evade loose rocks would take us to 6000m and the final 4200m was purely dependent on adrenalin, stamina and JOSH. This route was still not final and for good reason. For in a day we were about to discover a hitherto unheard of route. A steep 1500 ft ice wall on the north western side of the mountain. This was the wall Jitu and I decided to climb to reach an advanced base camp. However, this was still a couple of days away so we will spare the details for now.

Staying at the pass for long was a bad idea. So after a thirst quenching drink, and one more look at the evasive KY-1 we headed south/south west to reach the Nimaling plateau which was on the Merkha river bed. We all showed obvious signs of AMS. A heavy head, loss of appetite, yawns etc. A diamox as always did the trick. By 5 in the evening we were sipping hot tea and savoring salted Pistachio. Arpit had recovered from a headache by now and I could breathe a sigh of relief. Jitu was cheerful and warm having changed into his down jacket. We followed suit. The wind was gusty and the chill was pinching at times. So we thought it wise to change into something warmer. I changed into fleece under my windcheater and Arpit changed into his down. After a sumptuous meal we slept.

Day 3 – 30 July 2010

The next day Jitu, who didnt sleep well, complained about the surface being uneven. I reminded him that we were clibing; not holidaying in hawaii. So we laughed. We headed south to climb and cross a hill to reach the base camp. Usually the base camp is set near the base of the western summit. I rejected the idea outright. We needed the base camp as near to the eastern summit as possible. This was a really big day for us. Finalising the route, the location of the Advanced camp and load ferry the tent and most of the equipment was to be done today. All this depended on the location of the base camp. The guides and porters of some of the trekkers tried to convince me that the camp near the base of the western summit was the place to be. But we had to ensure the success of our expedition at any cost. Time was at a premium and I didnt want to trek a couple of hours to still be at the base of the eastern summit. So I insisted on the base camp being near the base of the eastern summit. My guide and cook reluctantly but surely followed my instructions.

The Vertical Ice Wall - With The Rock Face To Its Left (Place For Just A Tent)

After a quick lunch we took a few ropes, ice axes and basic climbing equipment to be left at the advanced base camp. The top of the rocky slope that was under the eastern summit on the north side had about a 40 or 50 sqft spot which we thought was ideal for an advanced camp. Our plan was to stay here for just 6 or 7 hours before attempting the summit. We sent Kamal, the guide with the ropes to the spot which was about 2000 ft high. This is when we noticed a glaciated ice wall about 1500 ft high to the west/north west side of this rocky north face. It was steep and it was exciting. He suggested we climb this route to reach the advanced base camp. I had climbed vertical ice walls before but never higher than 200 ft at a time. 1500 ft was pushing it too far. I didnt want my buddy to doubt my climbing skills. So I reluctantly said, “Lets do it.” I am older than Jitu; perhaps the wise thing would have been to check if he was sure about this. I realised the next day that he may have been sure but he was in no shape to tackle the obstacle.

Anyways, our minds were now set on this steep slope as if the summit of the KY-1 depended on reaching the top of this steep wall. Kamal was not sure if he could do this. He suggested that he would join us to the summit from the Advanced base camp and wanted to opt out of the ice wall. We thought it was a brave thing on his part to admit that he wont be able to do it. So we respected his call. We advised him to wait for us at the advanced camp site while Jitu and I negotiated the glaciated wall. We climbed down and all the while I was trying to read Jitus body language, trying to see if he showed any signs of doubt. He seemed his usual confident self. Arpit was busy with his camera. This was as far high as he was going on this trip. I had promised him the base camp but he was easily a 200-300 m higher than that and seemed to be in high spirits. The next day he was coming back to the base of the ice wall to see us off. I jocularly urged Dorjey the assistant cook to take care of Arpit on his way down to the base camp having seen us off and every body laughed.

Day 4 – 31 July 2010 (Conquering The WALL)

We woke up late. Rest was good. The day gone by had taken a toll on Kamal and I, for we had worked the most for ferrying the load and setting up the camp. We had hiked the most to check the base campsite and to decide the advanced camp. And we even argued at times about getting things done our own way. But I wanted us to be on the same page before the big day and so I took the initiative to call it truce. Kamal obliged. This was the big day for us; perhaps bigger than the summit day itself. At about 1000 we started checking our equipment. Boots, crampons, tubulars, carabiners, jumars all and sundry. In an hour the equipment was ready and we lay under the sun for an hour or so. We had an early lunch and then packed our sacks. At about 1 PM we departed from the base camp. Kamal headed to the east/north east side to climb the rocky slope. We headed south to climb from the base camp to the North western side of the summit to reach the base of the imposing ice wall. We wore all the safety equipment and roped up to overcome the obstacle. I asked Jitu one last time, do you wanna do this, and he looked me in the eye and said; do you? I said, “Lets do it”. Remember!! we were climbing this alpine style with just one rope, a few tubulars, carabiners and one jumar. Our sacks weighed about 10 kgs. “Up” was the only way we could go. Jitu seemed pretty unperturbed by the obstacle. He was pretty confident. So we said our good byes to Arpit and Dorjey and set out to climb the ice wall at about half past 3. Since my buddy from HMI was beaming with confidence, I let him lead. We didnt need belaying for the first couple hundred feet. Then I started to notice the first signs. Jitu kind of politely inquired if I wanted to lead and I obliged. We still thought we didnt need belaying and climbed about 50 feet. This is when the wall was getting really steep. So he urged that I plant a tubular, and I agreed. He used the ascender to get to me. We did this for about a hundred feet. Jitu with a deep sigh told me that he is kind of not sure about this whole thing. I was dumbfound. “Don't say that. Now now”, I thought to myself. Obviously I had the wisdom to check my emotions and was composed in my conversation with Jitu.

The Gospel at 19000 ft.

At times such as these one would wish that he were alone; 'cause if one dies, he dies alone. But when you place someone else along, one kind of HAS TO assume the responsibility for the other person too, which is unfair. I called on my Lord to tell him I didnt think this was fair. I knew that if I died I would see him and be with him. That is my inheritance in him. But I couldn't possibly belay this guy for the rest of this really tall wall; what with about 1000 ft still to be climbed. It is difficult to climb such routes on ones own let alone with someone piggy backing you.

Mid Way Through The Ice Wall (Setting Up Systems For Jitu To Ascend)

Jitu was exhausted from ascending with the Jumar. I wasnt sure if this was the right time for the Gospel of My Jesus Christ. But Everything in the scriptures screamed that it is never the wrong time to preach. Paul told Timothy to preach the word; to be instant in season; out of season. And Having received the gift of teaching/preaching the scriptures from the Lord, I of all people knew that this was as good a time as any to preach. So I called on the name of him who had saved me 4 odd years ago. I made sure Jitu heard me call on his name. I was careful not to use the word "god", lest he thought I was calling on one of the gods of this world. I made sure I called on the name of the Living God. I made sure he knew that Jesus was the Only Way. I made sure … I made sure. I called on the God who answers by fire. I told him that when Jitu makes it to the top, he must know that it was the Only True Living God, The Lord God of Israel who saved him. I thanked Him. And every time I belayed Jitu, I thanked Him. Every time I set up the tubular for him to ascend on a slightly slopy surface, I thanked Him. And every once in a while I prayed that He save me from shame, for if Jitu didnt make it, it would be a shame and the very existence of my God would be questioned. Whether I made it or not made no difference to me. But for Jitu to believe he had to see deliverance from this wall. He was as good as dead by now. It was getting dark and really cold. Ice had started to seep into our boots. I was shivering from the cold. Jitus equipment was in much better shape than mine. I was carrying some glucose and offered some to him hoping it would make some difference. It didnt. I got all the tubulars from him; for who knew how many systems I might have to set up in order to get him to ascend. It had been a couple of hours since we did this. Every once in a while, I kept checking if he was alright and kept reminding him that I was calling on the name of Jesus for His sake and that he was going to make it. He seemed indifferent most times and loosely interested at others.

The Good 'Ol Tubular & Clove - Ice Was Not Always Hard Enough For Tubulars

The rucksack on my shoulders now seemed like a boulder. I didnt have the strength to hold the ice axe and wished that my hands just fell off the sockets. My calf muscles were tearing from my weight constantly being on the front points and the shoulders were sore from belaying Jitu. I was really hoping that the worst was behind me; so I wished. I climbed a few meters to notice that there was a deep 2 feet wide crevasse on our way. We were still a good 100 meters from the top. One might think that when you are as good as dead and exhausted and call on the name of the Lord, he would make things easy for you. In that context the crevasse was a terrible surprise. But the lord teaches Isaiah otherwise. He says his ways are higher and cannot be fathomed. That was just a thought. So instead of pondering on the useless, I thanked him for showing me the crevasse and traversed to the right where the width of the crevasse was least. I struck the ice axe as far to the other side as possible and pulled myself and then continued climbing to a safe place where I had at least a foot of space to belay Jitu. In about 5 minutes I reached a convenient place. Before I told Jitu about the crevasse, I prepared him by speaking about the Cross.

Setting Up A System For Jitu To Jumar Or To Belay Him Depended On What The Wall Offered

I spoke about how good and loving my God is. And I told him that he alone is the almighty. Jitu seemed to be taking this well. And when I told him about the crevasse he seemed to receive it well. He followed my directions to the place where the crevasse was the narrowest. I asked him to strike the axe as far high as possible and asked him jump on my count and I pulled him with the belay the moment he jumped. A little victory there.

I continued the climb, constantly thanking HIM and there it was; another crevasse. This time with softer snow which made it even more risky. Because jumping off soft snow is virtually impossible. I traversed right and left to find a place where the place for my foot and the place to strike the axe was hard enough. And in a couple of minutes I found a place. While I was giving directions to Jitu, we noticed Kamal to my right and Jitus left. About 50 m higher and 200m to my right. Jitu for the first time in the last 3 hours seemed hopeful. But I knew that the last 1000-1200 feet; it was my Lord who carried Jitu; not Me, not Kamal, not the gods of this world; But my Jesus alone. I sternly told Jitu to follow my directions and to ignore Kamal. So we continued the climb. The last 50 m were slopy and relatively easy. By the time we reached the top of the ice wall, Kamal had traversed to where we were. It was quarter past 9 and we were sapped of all our energy. Even the thought of attempting the summit in a few hours made us sick. In about 30 minutes we made it to our tent. Kamal and Jitu didnt speak much. They just entered the tent and were in their sleeping bags. How could I get into that tent without properly thanking my Lord who has always been more faithful to me than I have been to him. I thanked him for Jitu.

Will he believe? Wont he believe? Will he think that Jesus is just one among the gods of this world? Will he ever know that Jesus is the only way that God has ordained? Or will he think that Jesus is just one in the multitude of the gods of this world? These are the questions I took with me into the tent. Then I rested in the fact that the God who saved a pig headed, arrogant, good for nothing idiot like me through Jesus Christ is mighty to save a humble man like Jitu. So I wept. I slept.

Later we regretted taking the route of the north western ice wall, but in my heart I was grateful we took that route, because it was on that wall on the night of 31 July 2010; that I told Jitu about the greatest truth and perhaps the only truth worth mentioning. I pray one day he can see the one I wanted him to see.

(PS: In a few days I did get to explain the gist of The Bible, The 2 covenants and about the True Living God to Jitu. This was a day after a flash flood caused havoc in Leh)

Day 5 – 1 Aug 2010 (Summit Day)

We hadnt slept at all since 10 last night. Our scheduled time of departure was 0200 but I told Kamal that we would leave at 0300. Having placed the advanced camp at 5900m gave us the advantage of time. People usually start at 1200 AM from the base of the mountain which is at 5000 to 5100m and at about 0300 they struggle to make it to even to 5400m. But being at 5900m already gave us that added edge and so we could afford the luxury of starting late. I had a bar of chocolate and some liquid glucose. We encouraged one another. I prayed (Jitu knelt with me - Was I reaping; having sowed just a few hours ago) and then we set off. It took us an hour to climb a steep, narrow 100m slope. Jitu refused to climb further for his legs had given way. We had been in freezing cold for about 6 hours on that wall last night and I didnt want him to push himself. Kamal and I advised Jitu to return to the advanced camp. We endeavored to reach the summit. We had some liquid glucose and resumed. The climb only got steeper and narrower. We had to climb up snow and do some rock climbing. At about 6250 m still 150m short of the summit, we reached a forked path. We chose the lower slope with the lesser gradient (however it was really narrow and steep our right, i.e. the North side) and climbed another 40 or 50 odd meters. The slope on our right was about 45-50 degrees and there was a steep fall to contend with. Kamal looked at me with intriguing eyes, his piercing eyes checking if I had exhausted all I had. I returned a glare, Saying “I will do it; With or without you". These guys from Nepal have a client policy that harm comes to the clients over the guides dead body. So he said, I am not leaving you. I felt for him, but I had to do this. I was not going to give up. Kamal now told me he was tired. I asked him to switch places so that I could guide him. The 45 degree slope had to be prepared with ice axe for an adult to stand. So we dug the slope for a few meters. And there it was. A 10 ft wide crevasse.

THE CREVASSE (Probably @ 6250/6300M) I Considered Jumping But The Ground Beneath Wouldn't Allow Us

Even if this was a full scale expedition, where people carry really long ladders to negotiate crevasses, the snow was too soft so that it would be virtually impossible to anchor the ladder. I even gave a sparing thought to the idea of jumping across the crevasse with ice axes. But the 45 degree slope under us was too steep to even stand on for one person, let alone running or even walking. Besides the loose and now fast melting snow would make it impossible to perform this superhuman feet. I wished for the snow to freeze or some sort of a miracle. But thats the thing about climbing, it doesnt work on wishful thinking or even recognize bravery, courage or skill. The Himalayas have humbled the greatest of climbers. Kamals requests were now turning into stern urges. It was half past 6 and he suggested that there was no way to summit the KY-1 from this really technical route, definitely not this year. The crevasse was too wide and probably extended upwards to block other routes as well.

Highest Pt - Probably 6300 M Or So (This one Is On The Steep Route Above The Bi Fork)

I could only find solace in the fact that we were 100m or so higher than the western summit. The thought of missing the mark by just a 100m made me feel incompetent; especially after we had overcome the toughest part of the route just a few hours ago. With the hot glaring sun on the eastern side of the moutain, Kamal urged me to rush back to safety as soon as possible because the bulky ice walls which were like a overhang above us ran the risk of melting and washing us away down the steep fall on the northern side of the mountain. So we took a few snaps of the crevasse and rushed back to the bi fork.

Here I halfheartedly enquired with Kamal if he would come with me on the upper route from the bi fork. His eyes said NO but his heart probably saw the immature little boy in me and probably made him decide otherwise. We knew the crevasse might in all probability have extended to the route above. But I didnt want to leave any stone unturned. So we climbed the steep upper route from the bi fork. It was half past 7 now and the snow was getting slushy. It was waist deep and even preparing the route with ice axes as in the earlier route was not working. We probably went a little higher than what we accomplished on the earlier route but Kamal just sat and said, “Sir! Ab wapas jaana hi hoga”. Meaning, “We have to return NOW, or we wont make it.” All my courage, skills, intellect, composure and everything within me seemed to belittle me. This was no way to return. 100M!! Ouch. It hurt. “I will come back”, I told Kamal. “I will get you”, I told the Kang.

Kamal Snaps The Eastern Summit Behind Me - So Near So Far

I took some snaps of the surrounding peaks for proof of how high we had gone. And so I returned with Kamal with a heavy heart. We had a terrible time on our way down to the advanced camp. On more than a few occasions we sank waste deep in the snow. We halted at a couple of places where Kamal told me some funny anecdotes to keep my mind from off the summit. I knew what he was upto. However, I played along. He was being nice and I didnt want to spoil that. The snow was soft, slushy and unforgiving. By 10 AM we made it to the advanced camp. We had some boiled eggs which Bhim had packed the previous day. Had some water and headed back to the base camp with all our equipment. The sack now seemed like a ton. Jitu by now had had some rest, having returned form about 6000m. I felt like I would fall anytime from insomnia and stress. 5 days against 12. That was suicidal. What were we thinking?

Then it hit me. What if this whole expedition was never about the summit. What if it was about Jitu and the Lords love for him which I shared with him for about 4 hours the previous night and which I was easily forgetting. I saw how selfish I was being. So I thanked HIM for what he had done for us and this time I climbed down with Jitu with a smile on my face. Somehow even in this loss of mine I felt like a winner. Perhaps we will climb a higher, more technical peak. But it wont be as sweet as sharing the Gospel of the one who gave his everything for me. This time Jitu was more important because when he turns to the living God; the heavens will rejoice and I will also rejoice with the angels of God.

By 12 we reached the base camp. The tents, the kitchen, our camp clothing and equipment were sent to Nimaling earlier this morning. Arpit was nice enough to wait to receive us. Dorjey stood by his side. We did a slow leisurely hike to Nimaling. By 3 in the afternoon we made it to the Nimaling campsite. I looked at the Kang behind me and fell by the river on my face. Bhim served me some hot tea. We washed up and let everything sink into our system. Things had been happening too fast and as if all that was not enough, we had to trek about 44 km the following day.

So we lazed along the Merkha river and after a satisfying meal we slept.

Day 6 – 2 Aug 2010

We started late. An 0800 departure with some of the other trekkers having left at 0700. We caught up with them midway and made it to the Gongmaru-La by 0910. Had a light snack. Looked at our peak one last time before descending to head for the gorge that leads to Chus Karma our camp site on day 1. In a couple of hours or so after weathering a demanding terrain and evading the mobbing locals we made it to the little kitchen at Chuskarma which was run by an old man. We had some soupy noodles and relaxed for an hour before almost trotting to Shang Sumdo. We made it to Shang Sumdo by 1400 and waited for the ponies, Kamal and Bhim. We had a nice cold soft drink and lay on the green grass for about half hour before Kamal arrived with all and sundry. We drove back to Hotel Holiday Ladakh, where we were received by a clueless staff who were uninformed about our arrival. On realising that we were to be their guests, they were apologetic and received us with warmth. We had a nice hot bath and headed to the centre of the town to pounce on some juicy Kebabs. We headed back to the hotel for dinner and slept like babies after leeching on the free internet at The Holiday Ladakh which was made available to us through the hotels Wi-Fi.

Day 7 – 3 Aug 2010

Visit to the Pangong lake. Sam our organizer had managed an innerline permit for us to visit the lake which lies on the Sino-Indian border. It was a long winding 4 hour drive through Chang La, the worlds third highest motorable pass. We stayed at the beautiful spot for an hour or so. Arpit as usual was inseparable from his digicam. Jitu couldnt resist his gastrointestinal urges and headed to the nearest restaurant. We chanced on some hot noodles at the tented restaurant and had some terrible hot salted tea. The locals seem to like it for odd reasons. At about 1230 we headed back to Leh and made it to the town by 1700 or so. This brought an end to our Expedition and acclimatory (if at all that is a word) visits to places around Leh. There were still a lot many adventures or should I say terrible “Misadventures” awaiting us in Leh. The return from Pang about 190 km on the way to Manali on the 4th - 5th and the flash floods in Leh on the 6th of Aug. But that is another long dreary tale.