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| Camp 1 - Nun in the Background |
It’s one of the highest peaks in kashmir and a fascinating objective for someone wanting to delve in to Himalayan Big Mountain climbing. I’ve been obsessing
with Nun for a few years now; especially after having heard of horror stories on
the mountain; stories about the near and dear ones of my climbing partners;
incidents and anecdotes that they would share with me in the tent after a hard
days work, about how one’s friend lost his life on Nun, or how one’s father or
brother lost a limb or was almost washed away in an avalanche. True! These occurrences
are a feature on any Himalayan peak, but I just happen to have heard more about
Nun, than other peaks. Nun is not a K2 or a Nanga Parbat by any stretch of
imagination. Even in the Indian Himalayas there are peaks which are a lot tougher
than Nun. May be, my obsession for Nun, cannot be explained. May be its not
supposed to be explained. Regardless of the fascination, those stories seldom
managed to steer me away from wanting to climb Nun. The desire to attempt Nun
was constant and I trained really hard and with single minded dedication to
prepare for it.
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| Kids at Tongol |
I have been in touch with Kevin
for over a year and quite often Nun would be the subject of our discussion.
Kevin is a seasoned climber, with good experience in South America, Alaska,
Kazakhstan, Nepal and India of course. I
love climbing in Ladakh (Nun is in Kargil) and prefer climbing in July, but we
agreed on a September ascent because Kevin had a big project to finish by
August. Nabarun, with whom I climbed Chumser and Lungser last year, also signed
up. He was bringing a friend of his, Abhijit, who he assured me is an excellent
climber.
The task of managing permits and
logistics was more arduous than the climb itself; and since this was my
project, I opted to liaise with IMF and Sam (my Logistics guy) to have things
in order. Barring some minor hiccups, the permits and logistics were eventually
pretty much sorted out just in time.
02 Sep 13 - I met with Kevin in
Delhi near Venkateshwara College, quite close to IMF. The first thing he told me was, "you are a f***ing young guy; my kids look older than you"; and I was on cloud nine. We had a drink and spoke
at length about Nun, the logistics, gear and especially my boots (Nepal
Extreme), which I requested Kevin to bring from London. In an hour or so, we
met with Nabarun and Abhijit and we sorted out the paperwork at IMF by 1700. I
picked some apparel after the briefing at IMF. Kevin had to sort some stuff at
the Hotel and I was getting restless; because I have a tendency to obsess with
any new purchase. Rushing back to my room and staring at the boots for a few
hours was what I had in mind. One of the channels in the Hotel was playing The
Practice (my favourite show while I was younger, a lot younger). So, The
Practice and time alone with my new boots; my idea of a perfect evening. Kevin
sent me a text requesting me to wake him up at 5; and I was like; tell the
Hotel guys man. Just kidding.
03 Sep 13 – I was up by 4. I
think I only slept around 1. I called Kevin around 5 to check if he was up. He
was. We had a flight for Leh at half past 8. Kevin and I met at the airport. He
had upgraded to business class because that would allow him extra baggage
allowance. He has a tendency to carry all the stuff in his bedroom and garage
and if you carefully look in his kit, you might even find a queen size cot and mattress
with cushions and matching sheets. He just doesn’t leave anything behind. And
the stupid airline even gave him a
little cushion; over the course of the next fortnight, Kevin showed me that
cushion a 150 times. Yes! He actually brought that cushion to the base camp. Apparently
he was pulling my leg. No offence, he is a witty guy with a sense of humor;
and it didn't take me long to get used to it.
Anyways, we were at Leh by 10. Sam was there to
receive us. We were put up at a nice Hotel on Fort Rd.
Sam stayed with us for a while;
we had some tea, had a little chat and then Sam had to leave to meet some of
his clients. We agreed to meet post lunch to discuss the itinerary. Sam was to
bring the Sherpas with him. The rest of us retired to our rooms. Kevin and I
were together while the boys from Bengal made themselves comfortable in the
adjacent room. We spoke at length about our gear and the drive to Tongol. We
also compared our respective gear and apparel; it was interesting stuff. Of
course, most of Kevins gear was heavy duty. Mine was more lightweight alpine
stuff. We had lunch and met with Sam and the sherpas, Nima and Pemba. We spoke
at length about the itinerary and the equipment that we would require. We
allotted the least number of days for transportation to the roadhead and hike
to the base camp and back. This would allow us maximum climbing days and
sufficient contingency days in case of inclement weather. The team seemed to be
on board with the idea. After the meeting, Sam and the boys were off to pick
the rations where as the team and I decided to rest a while before meeting with
Sam at his office to take a look at the central equipment. We were at his
office by 4 pm, and the tents, ropes, pitons, screws etc looked in order. We
lazed around the town till late in the evening. Nabarun, Abhijit and I feasted
on the sheekh kebabs while Kevin was watching us treat ourselves. He hates
mutton. I felt sorry for him. I had resolved that the following day I wouldn’t
bring him to the joint. We returned to the hotel by 8. Kevin went to the room
after dinner, while the boys from Kolkata walked with me to the taxi stand. It
was terribly cold and Leh is just at 11000’. I was anxious about how cold it
would be at the base camp and beyond. We walked for half an hour perhaps and
then returned to our rooms; Kevin was already asleep by then. I struggled till
about 3 am before falling asleep, but only just.
05 Sep 13 – I woke up quite
early. I checked with Sam if the transportation was in order. He assured me
that we would be on our way as soon as possible. We were all set in a jiffy;
ready by 0630. Sam and his boys were there by then. It took us just about 10
minutes to load our stuff on to the bus. Just when we were about to leave, Sam
whispered something into my ears. Something he tells me before every trip;
Jerry, Listen to the guide. I smiled at him, we hugged and then we were off.
Apart from Nima and Pemba, our team also comprised of the cook Sidar and his
helper, Sumpa. There was also a scrawny guy called Navoy who was sent by Sam to
learn the ropes of mountaineering. Kevin made himself comfortable right next to
the driver in the front. It was a pretty comfortable ride till Kargil and even
upto an hour past Kargil, after which the roads were non-existent and the ride
was pretty nasty. We halted at Kargil for about an hour in order to pick some
vegetables. On our way out of Kargil, we also picked some beef. We made it to
Tongol by 6 in the evening; Impressive, considering we left Leh only by about
7. Sridharan was pretty impressed too. He was confident we wouldn’t make it in
one day. I was glad we did.
After setting up camp, I visited
the leader of the porters with Nima and Pemba. The porters are a very
hospitable bunch, especially their leader. Since we had no movement planned the
following day, we asked the porters to visit us on the morrow post lunch. Back
at the campsite, I was with Kevin while Nabarun was with Abhijit and the LO was
in a separate tent. After dinner I took a stroll around the village. It was
pretty nippy and the thoughts of the temperatures at BC and beyond did cross my
mind more than once.
06 Sep 13 – Not much was planned
for today since we had to sort out the weights. Apparently the porters wouldn’t
carry over 20 kilos per person and they were pretty stiff about it. After
breakfast we decided to acclimatise on a nearby feature. The idea was to gain
as much altitude as possible at a leisurely pace. Tongol was at an altitude of
3400m while the feature we climbed was at 4200m. Kevin and I were there in just
about an hour and a half, along with Nima and Pemba,. Nabarun and Abhijit were
there not too far behind us. We decided to stay on top for some time. Nima and
Pemba had to go in order to sort out the stuff. We stayed for about an hour
after they left. Kevin spotted a thistle and told me that it was the national flower
of Scotland. So I had to snap it up. Who knows when I’ll see my next thistle?
Abhijit had his iPod on; which seemed pretty much glued to his ears all the
time. They were virtually inseparable, but it didn’t seem to affect his
performance. He is a pretty fit guy. Nabarun was acclimatising well too,
although he seemed to be a bit slower than last year; but with still over two
weeks to go for the expedition, I didn’t concern myself too much with it; the
team looked just fine for now.
It took us about an hour to climb
down to the village. Sidar and the boys were waiting for us with some hot
lunch. During lunch a couple of gentlemen paid us a visit. They were handling
the logistics for a team from Bombay, who were also attempting Nun. They said
that the team were at least two days away yet. I was a little concerned with
this piece of information. There were two teams at the base camp already; an
Indo Polish Army Team and a Belgian team. The team from Bombay would make it 4
camps at the base including ours; and my concern – I was just hoping we didn’t
get in each others way. Sridharan assured me that it was too soon to worry
about that. Besides, I figured that the Belgians would be on their way down when we’d
be at Camp2 and the team from Bombay would in all likelihood be behind us
throughout the expedition, cause theirs was a big team and it would take them longer
than us to establish high camps. After meals the boys took a nap, while I was
busy snapping a sad looking yak; also took a short hike away from the village.
The boys were up by the time I was back. It was windy and a lot of sand had
managed to find way into our tent, sleeping bags and sacks. Sridharan, Nabarun
and Abhijit had kept their tents zipped, so they were OK. While we were getting
rid of the dust, Kevin and I spoke at length about the agenda during the
expedition and the following day in particular. Post supper, Kevin and I walked
a bit into the village.
07 Sep 13 – It was an early day
for Pemba. He had to lead the porters to the BC before the team reached there.
He was up by 1 in the morning I presume, ‘cause the porters were gone by half
past one. The rest of the team were all set to leave by eight. Kevin and I were
right in front with a second set of porters who were helping us transport the
kitchen tent and rations. Abhijit, Nabarun and Sridharan had formed a team and
were together behind the porters. It took us well under a couple of hours to
make it to an Intermediate camp. This is where most teams establish a camp for
at least one night before moving on to the base camp. I would have considered
it too but we were acclimatising pretty well. It took us another hour to get to
the glacier. We lost way for about 40 minutes and so had to return to the
glacier, where we met with Nima and Sidar. We just followed them to the BC.
Tongol to BC in well under 5 hours (could have been done in under 4 had we not
lost those 40 minutes); was a good effort. Sridharan and the boys were there by
2. Our spot in the BC was nicely perched between the Army and Belgian camps
with a good view of the climb to the Advanced camp. Both Kevin and I were a
little dazed and rightly chose to sit down and relax. I offered him some Almond
candy which he seemed to like.
Sidar had the lunch served in a
little while. Nice and hot. Sridharan and boys had lunch at the army camp. The
Belgians had established camps 1 and 2 and were at the base camp to recuperate
before going for the summit. They advised us that bad weather was forecast for
the following day. After lunch, I visited the army camp. A few friends of one
of my acquaintance were climbing and I met with them. I also met with the
doctor of the Polish contingent and the leader of the Indo Polish joint
expedition. They looked like a happy bunch. After the brief visit I returned to
our camp. Sidar had prepared some delicious food; what stood out was some spicy
hot soup and chilly beef. After that tasty meal we went to our tents and Kevin
pretended to read for 5 minutes and then gave up. I think he must have read
something like 5 pages from that book during the 3 week expedition; it was a
book that had something to do with Everest. I would just laugh everytime he
picked that book.
08 Sep 13 – We woke up to clear
skies; no sign of any rain for miles. Guess the Belgians were wrong. They were
on their way up to Camp1 for their summit attempt. After breakfast Nima and
Pemba were off to Camp1 to drop some equipment. The rest of the team and I were
off to ABC to drop off our boots and apparel. Of course the aim was to just
acclimatise, but dropping off some load slightly higher made sense. The route
to the ABC is a rocky moraine which is an extension of the sentik glacier. Just
like the intermediate camp between Tongol and Base, we decided to miss the ABC
too. So the next camp after BC for us was Camp1 since we were all acclimatising
pretty well, yet. Kevin and I were at the ABC in about 70 minutes while
Sridharan, Nabarun and Abhijit were there soon. We hung around for a while,
stowed our stuff under a rock and took some pictures. Sridharan, who has been
to Nun before, described the route we should take to Camp1 the following day.
Obviously he made it sound like it was the easiest thing in the world; of
course it wasn’t. ABC had a pretty good campsite, but we just decided to give
it a miss. After about an hour at ABC, we decided to head back to base for some
nice hot lunch. Nima and Pemba were back by tea time and we rehashed the
itinerary. We had planned for 4 more load ferries over the next 5 days. Of
course, if we shared the ropes that the Army were to fix, that would bring down
the number of ferries to 1. For now we were prepared to fix our own ropes for
the ascent. The rest of the day was pretty uneventful. In the evenings we would
exchange banter over tea and carry it on till dinner. Sridharan would tell us
of anecdotes from his youth in the British Raj; Bad humor; actually Sridharan
has a lot of insight and since he has been doing LO duties for a while, he had
a lot of interesting experiences to share. Kevin would never miss a chance to pull his leg though. We were in our tents
by 8. Kevin tried to play the intellectual climber by pretending to read while
I tried my best not to giggle. Him reading a book is a joke. On a serious note,
in my opinion, Kevin was doing exceptionally well. He was right up there with
me as far as gaining altitude was concerned (sometimes even better) and he did
it with ease. He never showed signs of fatigue, he was sleeping well and was
pretty composed mostly, except the times when he would have to pick on Sridharan;
at those times he would not hold back. It was hilarious watching Sridharan and
Kevin take a jab at each other. Of course all this augured well for the team
‘cause it meant that we were in high spirits.
10 Sep 13. I could hear a
commotion early in the morning. I guessed it was the army guys on their way to
Camp1. We woke up around 0800. The army guys were gone by then. Nima and Pemba
were still around. I had advised them to leave around noon time. After
breakfast Kevin and Sridhar spent some time with army team, the folks who were
not planned to reach camp1 until the next few days. I hung around with Nabarun
and Abhijit discussing our apparel. They both had picked a lot of new stuff and
most of it was interesting. Especially, Abhijits Fischer skiing jacket and
Nabaruns OR gauntlets. Good stuff. My Simond sleeping bag was not so great
though. The down was clumping in the baffles and I was a bit concerned about
how it would perform in the higher camps. Still a day to go though.
Just before lunch, Nima and Pemba
decided to leave for Camp1. We did a check on the stuff that they were gonna
carry and the stuff that we were to carry the following day. After some time
they set out and were out of sight in about an hour. We had lunch and a chat in
the dining tent where Sridhar shared some anecdotes from his Air Force days.
Once in a while we would discuss Nun too. Soon it was time for the boys to take
a nap and for me to laze around for a while, lie down and perhaps gaze at the
tent fabric while Kevin had a symphonic nap. The rest of the day was pretty
uneventful; Tea in the evening followed by soup and supper. Sridhar and Kevin
had invited a gentleman from the Belgian camp. He had decided to stay back
because he realised Nun was not his cup. The rest of the Belgian team were due
to attempt summit in a few hours. The Belgians did send a word over the
wireless that the temperatures at Camp2 were -22 (-8 in the tent). We were a
little perturbed, especially me since I was giving the down layer a miss, and
suddenly it didn’t seem like such a great idea. But it was too late now. Besides
I could try this now when I am conditioned. Moreover, If I could pull it off,
it would be a terrific achievement. These are things I told myself to get in
the right frame of mind. Kevin was not too sure if mine was a great idea. I
agreed with him that of course it was not a great idea; It was a test and I
would try my hardest to pass. He on the other hand had a fantastic piece of Rab
Expedition Down Jacket, and he was going to bring it with him to the higher
camps.
11 Sep 13. Big day. We were
moving to camp1. Sridhar was going to keep us company till Camp1. Everyone was
in high spirits. We were on our way after breakfast. Nawoy was with us too,
till the ABC of course. Kevin and I made it to the ABC in under an hour.
Nabarun and Abhijit were not far behind. Kevin was off in a flash since his
crampons were quiet near the fixed rope. Nabarun, Abhijit and I had to fetch
our crampons which we had deposited under a rock quite some distance from the
fixed rope. I shook hands with Sridhar before setting off. I was about 10
minutes behind Kevin and Nabarun and Abhijit were 10 minutes behind me. I was
on top of the ice fall in about 30 minutes. Sridharan was still hanging around
with Nawoy. I didn’t think waving at them was any use since they appeared no
more than a speck and I was sure I seemed the same to them. Nabarun and Abhijit
were not far behind. En route I met with a few Poles. They were on their way
down from Camp1 and I could make out from their faces that they were not too
thrilled about the whole affair. I was told by the Indian contingent of the
Army expedition that the Poles were actually part of a joint exercise at HAWS
and the expedition was a culmination of the joint exercise, but they were not
prepared for the rigours of a Himalayan expedition.
After saying bye to the Polish
soldiers, I was on my way to Camp1. I met with Kevin in about an hour. Nabarun
and Abhijit made it in an hour later. Nima and Pemba were out to fix the route
to Camp2 with the Army guys. We were also expecting the Belgians to go past us
on their way down from the summit. Just after lunch our worst fears came true.
It started to come down heavily and this was the trend for the next 5 days.
Nima and the rest of the boys made it back sometime in the afternoon, closely
followed by the Belgians. Apparently 5 of them had made it to the summit and
one had suffered serious cold injuries. Kevin met with them and they were off
as soon as they arrived. The precipitation was not helping either and they had
a good couple of hours, may be more, in order to climb down to the Base camp.
We had an early dinner, which Kevin hated, and we went to bed hoping the
blizzard and snow fall would stop and we could get on with the climb. Boy! Were
we wrong?
12 Sep 13. It was still pouring
down. To make matters worse the wind was gusty, it was overcast and Nun was
totally hidden in the whiteout. Kevin seemed to have slept well. I was on and
off. But we were all feeling ok. Our rations were clearly marked out. We were
hoping to summit in 3 days and had rations for 4 or 5 days. We decided to hang
around, and if the weather didn’t clear up, Nima and Pemba would head to the
base till the weather cleared up. That way we would save on rations and even
get a better, more recent forecast. The weather didn’t clear up in deed and
around supper time Nima and Pemba suggested that they would climb down to base
around noon the following day. All of us spent the day on our backs, in our
tents. The snow did stop for a few minutes in the afternoon, but it was more of
the same in the evening. The winds were always persistent and at times even
threatened to blow the tents away. I did spend some time with Nabarun and
Abhijit during lunch, but that was all. The order of the day was pretty much
“each in his own tent”.
13 Sep 13. Nothing had changed.
By now, the precipitation was beginning to demoralise us. We were really
hopeful when we had saved a couple of days getting to the base camp. We drove
to Tongol in a day as opposed to two and then hiked to the base camp in one
day, now all of a sudden, we lost two days and were not sure when the weather
pattern would change. After breakfast, Nima and Pemba were on their way down.
Nima had left his crampons at the slope leading to camp 2 about an hours hike
from where we were camping. So he took my crampons. Kevin moved into Nimas tent
because he hated the smell in my breath. I am kidding. He is really tall and
therefore felt cramped in a shared tent. He figured, since he would be alone in
Nimas tent, he could sleep diagonally and therefore wouldn’t be as cramped. His
supposed luxury was only meant to last a day though. In all probability Nima
and Pemba would return the following day.
Of course Kevin played the good
neighbour by visiting me during lunch and dinner. The burner, fuel and boil in
bags were all in my tent. Nabarun and Abhijit were relatively lethargic during
the day, but apart from the general disgust at the weather staying bad, the
spirits were alright otherwise.
14 Sep 13. Snow fall was
incessant the previous night and the winds were howling. Things did get a
little better though. The sun was out at about 10, but only for a few moments.
We just had tea for breakfast. Kevin and I would try to make conversation from
our respective tents. But it wasn’t working out too well. The precipitation was
beginning to annoy us, especially Kevin and I. We had noodles for lunch and
that is when we decided that if the weather was not so bad the following day,
we would establish Camp2. The idea behind the decision was that if the weather
did clear up on the 16th or 17th, we would be at a higher
altitude, would have slept at that altitude for a day or two and we could use
that good weather day to move to camp3 rather than 2. Kevin seemed alright with
the idea, but Nabarun seemed a little apprehensive although he was not
vehemently opposing. Abhijit was neutral about the idea.
Nima and Pemba returned as
predicted around tea time and Kevin was kicked out of his temporary luxurious
dwelling place. At supper time I shared my intention about moving to Camp2 the following
day with Nima and he was neutral too. We both agreed that we should wait until
sunrise (if there was one) and then see how things pan out weatherwise. I just
reiterated that if the weather was too bad, of course, no body was going to
move. But if it wasn’t so bad, perhaps we could establish a higher camp if we
moved swiftly. We didn’t argue, but he understood the logic. Since our Nannies
were back, I was relieved of the duty of preparing the meals and stuff. After
supper we went to our tents in anticipation of a bright sunny day to follow.
Nima did have a forecast from the army team at base camp, but it was
inconclusive at best. What they said was that 18th would definitely
be a good weather day and it would continue to be good for a week or so. But
the forecast was kind of iffy for the next 3 days. Intermittent precipitation
was what was predicted; which was way off as we were to find out.
15 Sep 13. I slept really late. I
think I only fell asleep at about 4 in the morning. The snowfall and the winds
and the tents flapping just didn’t let me sleep. Kevin woke me up at about 7 to
check if we were set to go. Nun was hidden behind the clouds, winds were strong
and there was still a little snowfall. There was no activity in Nimas and
Nabaruns tents, so I assumed they were still asleep. I suggested that we wait
for a while till the others wake up and also for the weather to clear up. We
both hit the sack again. At about half past eight, Nima yelled from his tent
that in his opinion we should stay put at Camp 1. I just replied stating, “lets
wait and watch”. The sun did come out briefly, but most of the sky was clouded.
About 9 o’clock, I spoke with Nabarun and Abhijit. Nabarun didn’t say anything,
but to me it seemed like he wanted to stay. I reasoned with him. I advised him
that we had spent 4 days at camp1 doing nothing. We were using up precious high
altitude rations and most importantly, if the weather holds up reasonably long
enough, and if we moved to Camp2 that day, then when the weather does clear up
for good, we would be acclimatised at a higher altitude and in a position to
move to camp3 instead of wasting that good weather day in establishing camp2.
The route to Camp2 was pretty steep. We had to traverse to the base of the
feature on which camp2 was perched by hiking for an hour on the snow plateau,
in the middle of which we had been camping the last 4 days. Apart from the
weather, steep terrain probably concerned Nabarun, but we had fixed that part
of the route and so it was a straightforward climb. One only needed to brave
the elements for a few hours, if at all it got bad once we were on our way.
Since the sun was still out,
Kevin and I began packing. Nima and Pemba were in still their tents, and I gave
a shout that we were moving. Nima didn’t seem too pleased, but played along.
The Army team, that had moved to Camp1 on the 10th, seemed puzzled
at the activity in our camp. On 12th, a team from Bombay had arrived
at Camp1 too, and they were intrigued too. I spoke with JP, the leader of the
army expedition, and he expressed concern at our departure to C2. I assured him
that we would be alright. This was our best chance at summit. We didn’t have
the logistical luxury like they did and most importantly, they had time till at
least one of their 3 summit teams conquered the peak. We didn’t have that
luxury. It was a 3 week expedition for us (Delhi – Nun - Leh); no more. Hence
we had to exhibit some urgency in our intent. But at no point was any one
rushed or did I consider the movement to Camp2 unsafe. In hindsight, if anyone
including Nima the guide was not confident about moving in bad weather, he
always had the option of staying at Camp1 and catching up when the weather did
clear up. The route to Camp2 was fixed and both camps were in a line of sight. Since
everyone packed up to move, it was assumed that they understood the logic
behind moving on the 15th. The sun was out (albeit for a brief
while) and bad weather was predicted for the next day or two. So if we were
gonna sleep in our tents, why not sleep at a higher altitude, was my idea.
So we packed up; I shook hands
with JP and then we set out. We were deliberate and were warmed up in about 15
minutes. The traverse to the bottom of the feature was pretty fast. Till this
point we were pretty much together. It took us just over an hour to get to this
point. Nima, Kevin and I were together. Pemba, Nabarun and Abhijit were not far
behind. It was beginning to snow a bit so we put on our shell layers. Kevin is
pretty much used to cold conditions, whereas Nabarun, Abhijit and I are not. I
only had three layers on; the base layer, a t shirt and a wind proof fleece. So
the hardshell was only acting as a protection from the precipitation and was
not offering any warmth, which I didn’t need at the moment, but did need over
the course of the ascent to camp 2.
So we were talking for a while
and Kevin managed a little nap again. I just lay there with my eyes open,
waiting for the rest of the team top appear. The winds had slowed down a bit
and the precipitation too, but every once in a while I would hear snow falling
on the tent intermittently. After an hour and a half I could hear feeble voices
and that’s when I began feeling good. I though of what I should say, but I
could just scream Nabaruns name. He replied “Jerry”. We both managed to wake up
Kevin, and I am sure he didn’t mind. I quickly unzipped the tent entry and made
way for Nabarun to come in. Nima helped him undo the harness and his pack. He
was stiff and couldn’t move or make movements. Nima and I helped him with his
boots. It took him over 10 minutes to get in the tent. We first hugged for a
minute and then I helped him get inside the sleeping bag. Abhijit was in Nimas
tent. I assumed Pemba was helping him out. I offered some water and peanut
candy to Nabarun. Nabarun had lost his sleeping bag in the storm so Nima gave
his sleeping bag to Nabarun. I presume Nima and Pemba shared a sleeping bag
that night.
After Nima went to his tent,
Kevin, Nabarun and I spoke for half an hour. Apparently Nabarun had given up
due to exhaustion and Abhijit was stranded with him even though he was fit
enough to make it to the camp. They decided to bivvy in the open and in the
process lost Nabaruns sleeping bag. I asked them if they considered returning
to Camp1 since we had left a tent behind with some food and he said it didn’t
occur to him. I just told him that I was glad to see him again. After a while
Kevin fell asleep. Nabarun showed me his toes and I showed him my fingers. His
toes were numb and blistered. My fingers were blistered and numb too but I felt
a sting once in a while. Of course it was too soon to tell how serious the
frostbite or chilblain was, but it was definitely not good. After a while we
were all quiet, but I was glad that the team was together finally.
16 Sep 13. There were occasional
winds and not much precipitation but it was still overcast. Visibility was
quite low. We had not had dinner and were still weak so we decided to stay in
the tent. I think we just had tea and some biscuits in the morning. Nabarun and
I had a chat about our injuries. I took a good look at his feet and the blister
on his toe had gotten bigger since last
night. My toes too were numb and three of my fingers (all on the right hand)
were giving me a stingy feel. They were blistered too and the middle finger was
even turning dark. While we were talking,
Kevin went out to have a chat with Abhijit. I couldn’t go out yet because I was
feeling very weak. Kevin was back in a few minutes and told me that Abhijit was
fine; a bit in shock still, but fine. I was glad. Kevin asked me to visit
Abhijit; and I told him I wasn’t feeling too good at that moment and suggested
that may be I would meet him after lunch.
Nabarun was asleep while Kevin
and I were talking. I waited for Nabarun to wake up to discuss stuff with him.
He woke up around 4, just in time for tea. He took it well. I told him if the
weather was good the following day, Pemba would escort him and Abhijit down to
base. Of course I felt sorry for him. The reason for establishing camp2 in
adverse weather was to increase our chances at the summit, and now it seemed like
that very purpose was being defeated. We had a lot of time and nothing to do,
so we spoke about a lot of stuff. My plans for the future, his plans for the
future, equipment, apparel, the night just gone by etc. Soon it was dinner time
and we had more of the same. Boil in the bag stuff. We had a good laugh about
things during dinner and it was all good for the moment.
We had our breakfast and were
busy chatting, waiting to receive the army blokes. By 10, I advised Nabarun and
Abhijit to depart so that they could make it to base, just in time for lunch.
Base camp would be a comfortable place for them and there were two army doctors
too in case of an emergency. We shook hands and they were off to base in a few
minutes, Pemba escorting them. In a about an hour after Nabarun and Abhijit had
departed, the army blokes began arriving at our campsite. We received them with
tea and biscuits. They had already had a long day by now, and had aimed to
reach camp3, which made me think they would be spent by the time they made it
to camp3. I suggested that they camp in the bowl about a 100m under camp2. It
was an easy descent and considering the fact that almost 80% of their team was
at least a couple of hours away, it would give them a much needed break and
they could start stronger the following day. I also advised that our team could
open the route to camp3. They seemed to take it well. So we descended to the
bowl together and the army team stayed behind while Nima, Kevin and I set out
towards camp3. Hav. (Sgt) Namgyal, one of the swiftest members of the army
expedition was sent with us. From the bowl, we had a gradual climb for about an
hour, may be 90 minutes. From this spot we had two options to make it to camp3.
Namgyal and Nima were leading while Kevin and I were following. The shorter
route seemed to be heavily crevassed. Namgyal was trying to fix the line while
I was belaying him. After about 30 minutes of exploration it became apparent
that the route was too risky. We spent about 2 hours around that spot. I
suggested if the route makes us explore for half an hour and ponder for a
couple, then it cant be too good, considering there were at least two, may be
three army batches to climb the same route. Both Nima and Namgyal agreed that
we take the longer route. But by now it was too late. We descended a bit
towards where the Army team were camped. We set up an intermediate camp and
decided that we could start early the following day in order to open the route,
before the army team moved to camp3.
Namgyal made a quick trip to his
camp, to report to his officer. We had a small tent with just enough room for
three, but I was more than glad to accommodate Namgyal. Kevin and I had a good
chat about the proceedings that day. It seemed like a wasted day, but there was
nothing that we didn’t try that day. In hindsight, if we had gone through with
the decision to establish camp3 through that route, there was a high chance of
some incident occurring. Nima was still not in very good talking terms with me
since 15th because of my decision to establish camp2. I made small
talk with him and we were ok in a while. The sunset in front of our tent was
symbolic of any bad blood vanishing away. Namgyal was back in a couple of
hours, just in time of dinner. We had noodles, tea and some boil in the bag
stuff. We were pretty cramped in the tent; 4 grown men stuffed in a 40 sq ft
space. But it was fun.
18 Sep 13. I had no sleep at all,
which is a feature while I am on the mountains. Kevin seemed to be ok. I was
feeling terrible after so many sleepless nights. After tea, Kevin and I stayed
back while Nima and Namgyal were off to explore the route to camp 3. By 10, the
army blokes started appearing at our campsite. As the day passed on, my
condition improved slowly. Kevin wanted to move to camp3. I decided to hang on
a little more. I asked him to move on. He seemed a bit concerned but I assured
him that I would be fine. In any case I was gonna follow him an hour later. We
cleaned up the tent and left it pitched, since Nima and Namgyal had left some
of their stuff behind. Kevin was gone in about 10 minutes and a couple of the
polish soldiers passed our tent a little later; there were still a few soldiers
camped at the bowl. Apparently they were moving out in batches. Slowly I
started winding up. Kevin was not visible anymore, while I could see the polish
chaps. I moved slowly and deliberately, tracing the poles for an hour, which is
when I reached the fixed line. This is when Nima and Namgyal passed me on their
way to the campsite to pick their stuff. I think the fixed line was wasted
because the terrain was not so steep and it didn’t seem crevassed too. But I
guess the army had so much equipment, they could afford to waste it.
The route was not very steep, but
there were sections where one had to cross a number of crevassed and it was
definitely long. Besides climbing at 6300 – 6400m Is bound to take a toll on
anybody. About 90 minutes later I passed the polish soldiers, who were relaxing
a bit. They started moving a little after I passed them. In about an hour I was
able to see some tents, and the awesome Nun in the background. It was a
fantastic sight. The Poles were still tailing me, which was good. 15 minutes
later I reached the site and our tent was not pitched yet. Kevin and I pitched
the tent and the army guys brought us some tea. Nima and Namgyal and a couple
of the army soldiers went about 100 m higher to explore the route to the
summit. We were at 6507m and the summit was still 628m away. The route that
they had taken gave me an impression that the army team was thinking of the
south face. I had the west ridge in mind. Nima was back by 6, and we had some
tea and then dinner. It was going to be an early start for us, so we were in
the sack by 9.
19 Sep 13. I had still not had
any sleep. The last time I slept was a few hours at camp2. So well over 30 hours
of insomnia for me. Kevin and Nima did manage a quick nap. I was feeling the
worst I could possibly feel; Headache, cold, breathlessness and not to mention
the fingers and toes having worsened because of the continued ascent. On the
flipside, it was a conscious decision for me to continue and Kevin did ask me
to descend from Camp2. So I was responsible for the situation.
We slowly geared up for the
summit attempt. Nima made us some tea and we also had some biscuits to get us
going. Nima had to help me wear the crampons, the fingers were that bad. The
feeling was a mixture of numbness and extreme stinging pain. The toes had
little to no sensation. The worst part was my killer layer system that I was
trying; a base layer, a thin fleece, a windproof shell and a hardshell. That’s
it. May be this was the wrong peak and the wrong time to try it out, but it was
too late to ponder over that. Kevin was very concerned. I assured him that I
would return if I couldn’t continue. A few members of the army team were on
their way by 1. We followed them in 10 minutes. I was between Nima and Kevin.
Kevin observed that I was wobbly in my stride. I assured him I was fine. After
about 15 minutes of ascent, I asked Kevin and Nima to carry on, suggesting that
I would follow them to the fixed line. Kevin straightaway opposed the idea. I
told him that I didn’t wanna hold him up. But he was not going to have any of
it. He told me that he was not in a hurry. I was pleased to see his reaction
and continued climbing with him and Nima for about 15 more minutes to reach the
fixed line. We secured ourselves and climbed for about 10 minutes on the line
to meet with the army chaps. I didn’t understand why they were holding up the movement.
Apparently they were shifting anchors from place A to place B and back to A. As
long as I was moving, I had some warmth in me. But a couple of minutes of
waiting on the line, and I was rattling. Kevin was behind me but I knew he was
closely observing me. Nima spoke with Namgyal in their common language and I
just knew they were discussing how safe the anchor was or not. I just wanted
them to fix the anchor and move on, but they kept delaying. 10 minutes and now
it was the beginning of the end for me. The cold was unbearable. I was shaking
in my boots which were single layer leather boots. I looked at the army blokes
and they had their downsuits on and 8000m double layer boots. No wonder they
were taking their time to plonk the anchor. On the flipside, I couldn’t just
blame my layering system or my apparel. Alright I should have had a down (or
some insulating) layer. I should have had a double layered boot. But you don’t
just make an alpine start and waste time at 6700m at 2 in the morning in mid
September. Its suicidal. The temperatures were 20 below zero and whether one
has downsuits or not, one ought to be on the move. In this case, apparently I
had no say over when we should move since the army guys were hogging the fixed
line. We had an arrangement with them that we help each other and therefore all
I could do was wait for them to move. They didn’t move for 45 minutes. By now
the fixed line was shaking vigorously and Kevin was not patient anymore. 45
minutes at the same spot. All I was thinking was that in 45 – 60 minutes I
should have been at 6800m and should have been much warmer. Instead I was
witnessing a commotion over something as simple as where to fix the anchor. I
just looked at Kevin and I think I was scaring him. He kept slapping his palms
to ensure circulation, something that I couldn’t do because of the stinging
sensation. That, and the fact that I was hypothermic and breathless by now.
Hands, feet, torso, all cold. He advised me to go to the tent. I just couldn’t
make myself do it. Camp2 would have been something else. But after that effort to
reach camp2 and then the decision to continue to camp3 and attempt the summit;
it scared me to think that all that effort would be wasted. We were just about
500 m short of the summit. All the difficult sections were behind us and it was
a pretty straightforward ascent from where we were. These are the thoughts that
were going on in my mind. All I could say to Kevin was, please, lets wait for
10 minutes. He said ok. But we kept talking. He told me that I had given my
best and I didn’t look too good at the moment. 10 more minutes and we were
still there. Kevin gave me a look and I nodded. That was it for me. It didn’t
look like we were going anywhere too soon. By now, I had no sensation in my
fingers, toes and I could barely speak. I told Kevin that he must summit for
both of us and the team. He nodded. I just asked him if he really thought I
gave my best. He said, under the circumstances, I had given my best and the
delay was not my fault. I was shattered, but I told him, He was leading now,
and wished him well and began climbing down to the campsite. I looked back once
in a while towards the summit and towards the spot where Kevin and the army
team were; still no progress. At that moment, going down seemed like the right
thing to do. I felt like I would need a bulldozer to make me move, but I had to
move. On my way down, I saw a number of soldiers huddled in small groups,
waiting for the first team to move on with the ascent. When I made it to the
tent, it took me more than 15 minutes to get out of my crampons, boots and
harness. The fingers just refused to do anything. I had some Gatorade and got
in the sleeping bag. I think I was shivering for a couple of hours even in the
sleeping bag and then it dawned on me how cold it was outside. I never slept,
but after two or three hours I was not shivering as much as when I came in the
tent. I could feel my fingers now and the three middle fingers of my right hand
were stinging profusely. By 8 the sun was up and I looked out of the tent. They
had indeed attempted the south face and not the w/sw ridge. They were still
well short of the summit, which was surprising. We had aimed to reach the
summit by 8 and back to camp3 by 11 and then back to base by evening. At this
rate it seemed like they would summit by 11. I hung around the camp, waiting
for Kevin and Nima to return so we could begin climb down to the base together.
But they were still on their way up. I waited till about 11, which is when the
army summit team 2 arrived at the camp. I left a message for Kevin with one of
the officers and then started packing.
The climb down was going to be a really long one. Camp3 to 2 to 1 and further
down to base with a couple of sections where one had to climb for 100 odd
meters. I looked back one last time before leaving; neither Kevin nor Nima were
in sight. I departed from camp3 by noon and it took me about 90 minutes to
reach the bowl where the army had camped the night before, some distance away
from our interim camp. I just didn’t have it in me to climb. So I took a break at
the bowl. Had a drink and a chocolate and regained some composure. From here a
100m climb would take me to camp 2. I was slow and deliberate and very
cautious. I think the break did me a lot of good. I was able to reach the top
of the feature in a few minutes and could see some activity in the distance. It
looked like someone familiar, but I kept moving towards camp2. I was there in a
few minutes and it was Pemba indeed. He had come to receive us. I told him
about the change of route and the possible delay in the summit. We figured,
Nima and Kevin wouldn’t descend to base. In fact by now we were pretty sure
that they would not even move out of camp3. Three of the polish soldiers from
the second summit team were camping at our spot. We exchanged pleasantries and
then Pemba and I were off on our way to camp1. It was a really steep descent
but both Pemba and I were descending swiftly, face down. We were at the bottom
of the feature in just over an hour. Pemba had brought us some lunch. It was
horrible but I managed to have a bite. From the bottom of the feature we had a
gradual climb for an hour where we would gain about 100 meters and then
traverse the snow plateau for about an hour to reach camp1. A team from Bombay
were there and a few members of the army summit team 3 too. We had a chat with
the Sherpa of the Bombay team, and it was quite evident that they were not
going beyond camp1. The army team too looked pretty much settled in camp1. I
didn’t think they were going any further. We left a message for Nima with the
Sherpa and began our descent to the base. We traversed the snow plateau for 30
minutes and then descended a highly crevassed glacier to reach the top of the
ice fall. In just over an hour we reached the bottom of the ice fall and I was
looking for the spot where I had left my hiking boots and sundry. I got of the
crampons but decided to climb down with my climbing boots. We just packed the
hiking boots, harness, crampons etc in the rucksack and began descending to
base. Climbing down the steep scree slope in mountaineering boots was tricky,
but we made it down in about 30 minutes. Nawoy and some of the porters came to
receive us. I was glad I was able to descend to base from camp3 in close to 6
hours. Sidar and the boys were a little dejected that I missed the summit but were
glad that I kept going when most people would have returned. I told him that
Kevin was very likely to have made it to the summit and we were both hopeful
that they did. I had not had a proper meal the last few days; it’s something I
struggle with at altitude, but now I was starving and thirsty. I had sliced
cucumber and tomatoes soaked in lemon juice, salt and chilli powder. Two plates
full.
20 Sep 13. I woke up by 7. I was
hoping that Kevin would reach the base by noon. I sent Pemba and Nawoy to
receive him and Nima. By 10 we could see some soldiers descending the scree
slope. We rightly guessed it was the Polish soldiers from summit teams 2 and 3
respectively; who had not attempted the summit. There was a british team led by
Martin Moran, camped nearby and one of the
members, Shyam, a doctor by profession came to meet with me. Apparently he was
suffering AMS and I offered him some tea and we spoke about our styles of
climbing. The Indian contingent of the army began appearing in a couple of hours.
I was hoping Kevin and Nima would be with them. At 2, Nawoy had returned to the
base and advised us that Kevin would reach in an hour or so. On inquiring about
the delay, he said that they decided to make a long halt at the Bombay camp on
the snow plateau. At 3 I could see Kevin in the distance and Nima slightly
behind him. They looked exhausted. They reached the camp in about 10 minutes.
We hugged and I congratulated him on a successful summit. I offered him some
lemonade and tried to speak about his attempt. But he started the conversation
with, Jerry! If you had continued, you would have died. He said that there were
more halts as the day went by and that he had to slap his hands a million times
– literally and since I was in no position to do that it would have been
difficult for me to keep the circulation going. I just smiled and suggested
that we could talk about that later. Now was the time to celebrate his success.
He told me that it was a good face climb till about 7000 and beyond that it was
a mix ice, snow, rock ascent. Sounded interesting. I offered him some lunch but
he refused to eat. We spent the rest of the day relaxing in the tent, sorting
out our gear and listening to music on Kevins ipod. Sometime in the afternoon
we sent Nawoy to Tongol in order to arrange for the porters. We had decided to
retreat the following day. Later a couple of ladies from the british team
approached us. One of them needed some insight on the route and the other
needed gaiters. Kevin offered his gaiters to her and we shared our experiences
on the summit attempt. I told them that if they were able to make it to camp2,
then making it to camp3 and then the summit was easy; of course in fair
weather. Kevin didn’t eat much for dinner. He made a quick trip to the british
camp and came back in about 15 minutes. Martin had offered him some whiskey and
that’s all that he needed. In the tent we had a look at each others injuries. I
offered him some medicines. Earlier he had also made a trip to the army camp
and the doctors prescribed him some aspirin along with some other medicines.
Blood thinners basically to keep the circulation going. We had a long chat that
night. I had an upset stomach so I never slept that night.
21 Sep 13. A sleepless night
meant that I had a severe headache by dawn. Kevin was up by half past 6. He was
hungry so I offered him some chocolate. By 7 there was a commotion in our camp.
It was the porters whom Nawoy had instructed to arrive at the base early in the
morning. It was freezing in the morning and there was a lot of activity in all
the camps. The army gentry and half of the Bombay team had also decided to hike
to Tongol that day. The british camp was moving to camp1. Shyam’s AMS however,
had deteriorated further, so Martin advised him to descend Tongol and further to Leh if he desired. My
guess was it was curtains for Shyam.
After breakfast the LO for the
British team approached me and requested if we could escort Shyam to the
tourist guest house in Tongol. I was more than willing. Kevin and I even
offered to share some of his load. He said that he was fine, so I just advised
him that if he ever felt uncomfortable, he could give us some of his load or
even his pack. By 10 we began our descent to the base, which was pretty
uneventful except my water bottle kept slipping out of its spot. It was
severely dented by the time we reached the intermediate camp, which we skipped
on our way from Tongol to the base. Shyam looked a lot more comfortable
compared to how he was in the morning. Kevins toes really hurt him, so he found
it hard to climb down. I was hurt too, but I was sprinting down and then would
wait for the team at a view point or a self appointed water point. We had
originally planned to stay at Tongol for the night but along the way Kevin and
I reasoned that if Sam had sent our bus then we could drive overnight, have
dinner at Kargil and sleep at Leh instead of Tongol. It sounded like a
brilliant idea.
We reached Tongol by half past
noon. Sridhar was there at the army support camp waiting to receive us. He was
glad that Kevin and I were fine. We had lunch that the army support staff at
Tongol had prepared. Kevin couldn’t even manage a mouthful. He just looked at
the plate and said NO. Since the bus was there I just told Nima that its better
that if the team slept at Leh and although he was not too thrilled, he agreed.
But we had to wait really long because a couple of the porters who had our
stuff decided to take a nap in the middle of nowhere. The weird part was that
they had left the base at least an hour before us and they had not reached
Tongol even three hours after we had made it there. I was fuming in anger but
there was nothing I could do but wait. Kevin was in good company with the
Poles, especially their doctor. Finally we had to send a couple of our guys
with a couple of porters to go look for the missing porters. They were able to
track them down and the whole bunch arrived at the guest house by 4. I spoke
with the guest house caretaker and fixed a room for Shyam, wished him well and
then we decided to leave for Leh. It was close to 5 by the time we were on our
way. For the initial part of the journey Sridhar sat with me and we spoke about
stuff in general. About Nabarun and Abhijit, about the army team, about the
poles and about a possible repeat attempt in the coming year or two.
After about an hour we made a
halt at a checkpost where Kevin had to sign out. I bought him some juice since
he hadn’t had lunch and some for Sridhar too. We were soon on our way. We
reached Kargil by 9. Nima and his staff wanted to eat at a place near the bus
stop, which was pretty basic. Obviously I couldn’t take Kevin and Sridhar there,
so I suggested that they eat at a place in the main market, while I would buy
Nima and his boys some dinner. Our spot was a small diner, very basic in every
way. I ordered some rice and mutton followed by sheekh kebab. Nima and Sumba
had the same. It was pretty good. We were done in about half an hour. I advised
the boys to wait for me at the bus stand where our bus was parked. I went to
the main market, to the restaurant where Kevin and Sridhar were dining. They
were just walking out as I approached the door. Good timing. Kevin and I had a
slight difference of opinions at Kargil. He wanted to stroll alone for a few
minutes. Basically he wanted to call home. While I wouldn’t have a problem with
that anytime anywhere else, Kargil was different. He kept saying, “Jerry, I am
an adult” and it made no sense to me. I just wanted us to be together (at
kargil). I just wanted us to be safe. If he had asked us to leave him alone at
Leh or at Delhi, which are much safer places, I would have obliged. But Kargil
was not safe at all, for reasons well known. I stayed away from him, talking to
Sridhar, but near enough so that he was visible. He made the call and had a
short conversation with his wife I guess.
I bought some Limca for the rest
of the journey. By 10 we were off again and drove for over 6 hours to reach
Leh. There was no power supply in the hotel, so we had to manage our way through
the dark. It was 4 by the time we reached the hotel, but I was glad we drove
overnight. We could at least sleep on a bed.
22 Sep 13. Both Kevin and I were
fast asleep and we were woken up at 8 or 9 I think for bed tea. I felt like
shooting the hotel staff because this was the first time during the whole trip
that I was actually sleeping. Instead, for the sake of decency, I thanked the
guy for the tea and asked him to bring some warm water for both Kevin and I, so
we could nurse our frost nips, bites etc. Kevins fingers and toes looked
terrible but it was because of the blood clot under the nails. My fingers on
the other hand had suffered frostbite and chilblains and I was getting a little
concerned about them. Namgyal had offered to take me to a local physician in
Leh who is known to treat severe cases of Frostbite. I was hoping to meet with
him during the course of the day. After breakfast Kevin told me that he wanted
to visit the hospital to have some blood taken off him. He wanted to go alone
and after the little argument we had the previous night, I left him alone. The
weird thing was that he didn’t go alone. He went with Sridhar, and so I just
presumed he was avoiding me for some reason. I left him alone though and didn’t
talk about it. So he went to the hospital and I went strolling around Leh. I
first had a shave and just after I ran into Namgyal. Being a local, well
almost, he was assigned the task of arranging accommodation for the Polish
contingent in a good Hotel. The poles and the army team had camped at Tongol
the previous night, when we opted to drive out. He asked me for help with deciding
on a good Hotel and I was glad to help. We drove around to a few hotels where I
spoke with the management and finally we decided on a fancy hotel, I forget the
name, but I know the way to the Hotel, as I do know the way to most places in
Leh, having gone there for years now..
Namgyal and I decided to meet up
after lunch so we could visit the Physician and then also check out a few
resorts where the Polish army would dine in the night, a little get together
sort of thing. I briefly met with
Sridhar and Kevin over lunch and checked on Kevins medical condition. He seemed
to be alright. After lunch I took his leave and drove around town with Namgyal.
We first met the physician, who had a small office in his house. I have no idea
what he spoke with Namgyal but at the end of it Namgyal assured me that I would
be fine. I was prescribed a few herbal pills and some ointments which the amche
prepared for me. Namgyal also took me to a few resorts where I did the talking.
We booked a resort about 7km outside Leh and then drove back to Leh. With his task
completed, Namgyal was now not so anxious. Since we had nothing else to do, we
did what everyone does in Leh; Walk around the town. I asked him about his
plans and he told me that he was keen on finishing the pending construction of
his house. He said that he would need to be spared by his unit in order for him
to concentrate on the house. I bought us a drink at the Pamposh Juice Corner
and after a few minutes it was time for him to leave. We both agreed to meet
when ever we had time. I invited him to Chennai and he invited me to his house
when I was there next time. We also agreed to climb together sometime.
I kept strolling around the town
and also checked my mails briefly, which by the way is a luxury in Leh.
Internet is invariably down and most places offering internet services are
ridiculously slow. By 7, I was back at the hotel, waiting for dinner to be
served. Kevin and Sridhar were there too. After dinner I went out for a walk.
It was terribly chilly and there were very few people on the streets. After
about half an hour I returned to the room. Kevin was watching something on
comedy central. We thawed our hands and feet in hot water and spoke for
sometime about stuff. The climb, our injuries, the travel, our baggage etc.
23 Sep 13. A very uneventful day.
We woke up late. Kevin wanted to tip Nima and his boys while I had some gifts
for them. I arranged for Nima and the boys to meet at Sams office at an
appointed time. I wanted to avoid a situation where Kevin suggested that I
leave him alone; so I arranged for him to meet with Nima and his team and then
walked away. Incidentally Sam was out of town, which is why I had not met him
since we returned from the expedition. After about an hour or so, I checked
with Nima about the meeting with Kevin. When I was sure that the meeting was
over, I asked to meet with them. On my way to Sams office, I ran into Kevin. We
spoke for a minute and then I went to sams office. I handed over the stuff I
had for Nima and his team. After a few minutes, we parted ways. In went to the
hotel for lunch and then to the room to packup. Kevin had a quick nap. I the
evening, we spoke a little bit. At about 4,, I went out for a walk around the
town. We had a flight the following morning, and I didn’t wanna waste the
evening sitting in the hotel room. I walked to jeep stand, the main market and
even managed a brisk walk and climb to the Shanti Stupa. Shanti Stupa allows
beautiful views of Leh town in the evening. On my way down from Shanti Stupa, I
called Dorjey, a friend of Sams, and asked him to arrange for a vehicle to have
us picked up at 0800 the following morning. I went straight to the hotel from
Shanti stupa, for some hot dinner of course and then for a ritualistic walk. I
was back at the hotel by 10 and spoke with Kevin for a bit. We discussed about
how we would go about nursing our injuries and some immediate plans. During the
conversation, Kevin told me about his plans of climbing Kilimanjaro with his
daughter. I wished him luck.
At Delhi we collected our bags
and Kevin and I hugged before parting ways. I thanked Sridhar for everything he
had done, especially him helping out with moving Nabarun and Abhijit out of
base. He had to rush to the IMF for a tourism meet, while Kevin had to go to
his Hotel briefly, before taking an early morning flight to London. I had to
wait at Terminal 1D for a couple of hours before my flight to Chennai. I
reached Chennai by 8. My uncle was there to receive me. I wondered briefly if
Nun was the right place to try out my layer system; but then said to myself, I
lasted three weeks in that system. So it did work in a way. Summit would have
been sweet, but I didn’t think I would be able to try this out anywhere else. So
I brushed away those thoughts and tried to focus on recovery and getting back in
shape and on track for the next big one. Nun was a bit of an anti climax for
me, but my team and I were moving on days when a better equipped and fitter army
team was “sitting it out”. And then to carry on from camp2 to 3 and to attempt
the summit was pretty brave and for Kevin to go on and summit was a splendid
effort. For me it was a matter oh so close. But I live to climb another day.
