NAVIGATION BAR

BASE CAMP    CAMP 1    CAMP 2    CAMP 3    CAMP 4     CAMP 5    CAMP 6    THE TEAM

A GEM LOST ON THE FIVE TREASURE HOUSES OF SNOW

Kangchenjunga is the highest mountain in India and the third highest in the world. "GIRIVIHAR NEPAL EXPEDITION (GNE) 1988.", under the leadership of Vasant Limaye, aimed to climb the Main Summit (8586m) off the Kangchenjunga massif, the other three summits being Yalungkang or West (8438 m), Central (8496 m), and South (8476 m), Kangchenjunga means "the five treasure houses of snow". It dominates the border of Nepal and Sikkim, four glaciers flow away form the slopes of this mountain viz., Kangchenjunga glacier in the northwest and Yalung glacier in Southwest in Nepal, Talung glacier in Southeast and Zemu glacier in northeast in Sikkim. GNE’s proposed route lay on the SW face, above Yalung glacier.

After more than two years of preparation, the expedition took off with an advance party (A.P.) leaving Bombay on Feb. 22^nd, 1988. It comprised of Hrishikesh Yadav, Franco Linhares, Jayant Kulkarni and Shantanu Pandit who were accompanied by a support team member Sanjay Lokre. The main tasks of the A.P. were to supervise the transport of the expedition’s load from the road head in Nepal to the site of the Base Camp (B.C) and to establish the B.C. and if possible open the route up to Camp I. More than 8 tons of the expedition load had already reached the road head in Nepal. The approach march from here is one of the longest, taking atleast sixteen days. But what with porter problems and spells of heavy snowfall hampering movement through Yalung glacier, four members of the A.P. could reach B.C. only on March 24^th. Vishwas Soman and Sanjay Chogle had joined the A.P. at Yamphoudin, the last village along the approach route. Meanwhile, the main party left Bombay on March 13^th. By April 6^th, the whole team of twenty-four was assembled at B.C. and a pooja of Lord Ganesh was performed while Tibetan prayer flags were hoisted by the nine Sherpa high altitude porters ( HAPs ) which GNE had hired. The site was soon festooned with color paper stings and the festive atmosphere raised morale high.

BASE CAMP (5500 m)

B.C. was situated atop a hill near Pache’s grave on the true right bank of Yalung glacier, at the base of the SW Face of Kangchenjunga. Numerous tents were put up on a boulders strewn slope facing east, this site proved to be ideal as any fresh snow melted away within a day or two. Also, just north if the hill was a gully, which usually had potable, running melt water. The expedition’s load was sorted and stored according to the requirements of the logistics-plan. Load ferrying started in earnest from April 7^th.

B.C. was to be visited by two trekking parties during the expedition one from the Young Zingaro of Bombay and one from O N G C which had sponsored one team member Dr. Bheemesha. A "Film Party" came up to B.C. ( they ventured a bit beyond) in the middle of May.

CAMP I (5900 m)

Hirishikesh, Franco and Jayant had opened the route up to Camp I by the end of March. The climb started with a 200 ft. ice-wall above the water-fully north of B.C. Melt-water had carved the surface of this wall into numerous runnels separated by razor sharp ridges. A huge boulder stuck trapped at a gravity-defying angle later crashed with the advent of summer. Having front-pointed up the Ice wall, a climber was faced with a plateau, referred to as the Field, which was a huge network of criss-crossing crevasses. The three quarters of a kilometer long route along the Field led to the base of the Hump Ridge (Western Buttress). Three distinct humps could be made out along the ridge. The route climbed the first straight up while on the second it skirted the edge. On the 2^nd Hump, snow and ice lay I utter chaos where bits of ropes from previous expeditions stuck out from impossible places. The route jumped across crevasses and negotiated narrow snow-bridges to gain the site of Camp I. Three tents were put up in a line along a snowy ridge atop the 2^nd Hump, facing West B.C. could be easily contacted over walkie-talkie.

While Anil Kumar, and Charuhas Joshi ventured beyond to open the route further, load was ferried to C.I. from B.C. A day usually started beautifully with the sun shining brightly as climbers coiled up to C.I. After-noon saw clouds swarming up from Yalung glacier, and the route resounded with calls given by invisible descending climbers as they abseiled down length after rope length.

CAMP II ( 6400 m)

The 3^rd Hump rose above C.I. in a rocky cliff, which was called the Rocks. A narrow ridge of ice connected the site of C.I. to the base of the Rocks. Walking along this ridge, a climber could look down to B. C. in the southwest and, to the east, the jumble of Lower Icefall.

The route on the near-vertical Rocks zigzagged up, taking advantage of snow lying thick on ledges or frozen hard on the rocks. Still, crampons grated against rock as soft snow slid away beneath a climber’s book. Ropes tended to get frayed on rocks’ sharp edges and uneven surfaces.

Above the Rocks was an ice-wall that rose a vertical hundred feet towards a cluster of seracs that over hung the wall. Spindrift and powder avalanches were regular featured of this section while avalanches crashed down quite often. The route had been expertly picked to avoid all such probable dangers. Despite the risk involved, climbing up the wall was very enjoyable. The Ice, brushed dry of all snow by the winds, glowed dully a translucent green, and crampons bit deep and firm, making ice climbing quite exhilarating. On sunny days, the whole wall shimmered with thousands of points where the light fell right twinkling like diamonds. At the base of the overhanging seracs a traverse led leftwards to the left flank of the Hump Ridge. From here the route climbed up steeply to the top of the 3^rd Hump. There was some anxious climbing here where horizontal crevasses barred two absolutely vertical patches. Just at the end of the climb, a can filled with kerosene from the previous Korean expedition was found. To gain the site of Camp II from here, a climber had to wearily walk across a jumble of snow wounds and troughs. There was a convenient snow bridge spanning a bottomless crevasse. After each snowfall, climbers had to wade through thigh deep snow in the troughs.

Camp II faced east, atop the 3^rd Hump. Eventually four tents were put up at this site on platforms carved in ice at different levels. B.C. and C. II could be contacted on walkie-talkie. The route further, right up to the summit, was clearly visible. This camp turned out to be strategically important; Vasant and doctor Milind Chitley soon moved up to occupy it.

Beside the camp was a beautiful natural sculpture of a bird of prey, which, curiously, did not change in any major way throughout the duration of the expedition. The scale of the SW face could be appreciated for the first time from C. II. The ordous route to this camp lay behind. Ahead loomed the four summits of the Kangchenjunga massif above the Great Shelf, that famous huge ledge-shaped plateau hanging suspended across the squat mountain. The summit ridge plunged down southwards to Talung Saddle and then rose to meet the beautiful pyramid of M Talung. Snow and ice and rock from the precipitous sloped of these mountains drained into what is called as the Plateau. This huge mass moved imperceptibly but inexorably towards the southwest to cascade down into Yalung glacier in the form of Lower Icefall. And overlooking this rugged landscape was, towards west, the exquisitely chiseled M. Jannu. This mountain always provided a fitting silhouetted foreground to an evening sky painted stupendously in a riot of colours by a setting sun. Besides being logistically strategic, C. II truly provided a breathtaking beautiful perspective of the Kangchenjunga Complex.

CAMP III (6800 m.)

To gain the Plateau from C.II, it was necessary to traverse along the vertical rocky, eastern slope of the Hump Ridge. This was the Rock Traverse. At a particular point, a wire ladder was used, climbing which was quite exhausting. Twice, members tried to find an alternative to the ladder, but there was none. Where the edge of the Plateau grated against the walls of the Hump Ridge, the surface was fantastically convoluted, and it goes to the credit of Sanjay Borole and Dilip Lagu, who opened to route to C. III, that only one crevasse, albeit big had to be crossed to gain the Plateau. The 2 Km long route across the Plateau headed straight for the base of the Upper Icefall. This walk was quite exhausting on sunny days, when the Plateau, enclosed as it was, seemed virtually like a furnace to climbers trudging through the slush of soft snow.

Extended periods of front pointing were necessary on the Upper Icefall. There were occasional areas of soft snow accumulated from avalanches and quite dangerous. A small avalanches once rained down on two Hap’s who were ferrying loads to C. III. Though unhurt, they were quite shaken and returned to C. II for a check-up by the doctor and a rest.

CAMP III was almost exactly in the middle of the Upper Icefall. A narrow platform to accommodate four tents in a line was carved across the 40^o slope of an ice hump, and the camp was occupied on April 25^th.

The first acclimatization problems were encountered on the route from CII to CIII. This was basically because of the energy-sapping walk across the sunlit plateau that left a climber dehydrated at the base of the Upper Icefall. The first two-three load ferries were terminated here, at what was referred to as Dump Point. Later acclimatization helped, as also the weather, which ceased to be sunny. But this meant that climbers used to return to CII from load ferries to C III in snowfall.

It was necessary to keep a constant check on runners and anchors on the icefalls as pitons tend to work loose because of ropes being pulled every which way when climbers laboured up or down the routes on crampon-points.

CAMP IV ( 7275 m)

The route to C IV continued up the Upper Icefall with long weary stretched over huge ice walls. The tents at C II looked too for and tiny mere dots, with a suggestion of orange color.

Hrishikesh and Franco opened the route from C III to C IV, which was situated on top of the Upper Icefall, just below the edge of the Great Shelf. The site was similar to that of C III though a lot safer.

Movement almost came to a standstill for three days till May 2^nd, because of bad weather. A few load ferries were hastily completed in heavy snowfall and gusts of wind. On 2^nd May, the weather was exceptionally bad and everybody at all camps were forced to stay put. 3^rd May dawned sunny to send a host of avalanches crashing down everywhere. There was one particular avalanche which awed everyone- a huge chunk of the slope of Talung simple detached itself and feel a long way down into Yalung glacier, the debris crossing over the opposite bank of the glacier within seconds.

It now snowed everyday. On 8^th May, the winds went crazy. A storm lashed the S W face for more the ten hours. C III suffered the most as Dilip & Shantanu bore brunt of the fury. Three out of four tents collapsed, one torn to shreds by lumps of ice and snow being hurled down the icefall. No other tent anywhere suffered thus, though everyone spent a sleepless night holding on to tents.

CAMP V ( 7680 m )

With C IV established, an important stage of the expedition was reached. Franco and two HAPs who had helped him and Hrishikesh while opening route to C IV decided to go to B. C. for a well-earned rest. Hrishikesh was still going strong and decided to stay on. The atmosphere now regularly buzzed at fixed call-hours with the static of walkie-talkie bubble. Stock positions at each Camp were conveyed to Vasant at C. II who then gave direction for future load movements, he also consulted climbers at all camps to plan the next moves. Dr. Milind had a talk with anybody who had any sort of medical problems, and birthday greeting, if any, were exchanges. There was great excitement at the progress made by the expeditions. But the weather had its own plans.

Hrishikesh and two HAPs opened the route to C V, which was on the Great Shelf. From C IV, the route proceeded to climb up on to the Shelf and then jump over many crevasses, two of them very big, to reach the lone 5-man tent put up at the camp, pitched at the base of central peak avoiding avalanche prone area.

CAMP VI ( 7725 m)

The Yalungkang-end of the Great Shelf ended beneath the rock feature Sickle. The route from C V headed straight for the Sickle over the undulating, crevasse-ridden Shelf. Charuhas and Hrishikesh shifted to C V along with two HAPs on 8^th May and Anil with Uday shifted to C V on May 9^th, Spells of heavy snowfall had now started forcing cessation of movement for whole days. On one such evening, the occupants of C V saw an unforgettable sight-golden colored streaks of lighting piercing the maelstrom of clouds gathers over Sikkim, as seen over the Talung Saddle. Unfortunately CV could not contact any camp on Walkie Talkie.

Taking advantage of comparatively good weather on 11^th May Charuhas went to C VI along with two HAPs. A three-man tent was put up at C VI. On the12^th morning, the summit team was greeted by heavy snowfall. Finally, when the weather cleared at 9.00 a.m., the three started for the summit. The Gangway connects the Great Shelf to the col, the route braches off the Gangway to head for the Main Summit. Charuhas’s team started climbing up the Gangway, fixing rope. As they reached 8100 m, conditions worsened again to near white out conditions. The extreme cold (surmised to be as low as – 40^o C) affected Charuhas’s finger and he has to take the decision of retreating before the inclement weather. Charuhas and HAP had used artificial oxygen on 11^th night and Charuhas had used half cylinder while climbing. Dr. Milind now advised him to use oxygen to minimize the effect of frostnip on his fingers. As the walkie-talkie sets buzzed the news, everyone felt great concern; this was the first injury that the mountain had inflicted. Charuhas had to return to BS accompanied by someone to help him down all along the way as the excruciating pain in his blackened fingertips had rendered them useless.

Due to the prevailing weather conditions, a second summit team could leave for C VI only a 14^th May. Whereas Charuhas’s team had taken only four hours to reach C VI from C V, so heavy had the snowfall been before 14^th that Uday Kolwankar and two HAPs, who made up the second summit team, took eight hours for the same journey. When they arrived exhausted at C VI, they found the lone tent battered and caved in. So the next few hours were spent in re-setting the camp. 15^th dawned to heavy snowfall. Uday decided to postpone the summit attempt by a day and utilize the day for resting and preparing for the next day’s attempt. On 16^th day of May, Uday and his companions got up at 2.30 a.m. and by 5.30 a.m. were ready to go. They started following Charuhas’s route and soon reached his high point. The progress was very good and summit was within a reach after that they were seen heading up the Gangway when clouds blocked the view. The signs were not good, but the hopes were alive. As the day progresses, B C became frought with anxiety.

Meanwhile, Sanjay who had masterminded the second summit attempt from C IV, started down on 16^th thus starting the withdrawal of the expedition. Clouds lay heavy on the SW Face once they had blocked the view of the summit attempt. Vasant who had returned to BC on same day to arrange things for the return, ordered for the walkie-talkie set at BC to be opened every half hour after 3.00. p.m. There was no contact. At 6.30 p.m., the compulsory-call time, everybody, at all camps crowded around the respective walkie-talkie sets to hear Uday speak of his attempt. No contact, BC and C II kept their sets open till 10.00 p.m. but except for few unintelligible words for one of the HAPs who were with Uday, no contact was made. Sleep was difficult that night.

17^th dawned-7.30. a.m. regular call-time still no contact. It went on till 2.30 p.m. when at last Uday spoke. His fingers and toes were affected by frostnip and those of the HAPs by chilblains, they were returning to BC as soon as possible. Their batteries had been too weak for their voices to carry in the bad weather.

They had proceeded beyond Charuhas’s high point without fixing rope and by 1.30. p.m. had reached 8,440 m/27,800 ft. Clouds had already shrouded the summit ridge of Kangchenjunga and now it began to snow, accompanied by whipping gusts of windy, the resultant chill reaching the very bones. Uday and his companions waited for the weather to clear, but in vain. By 2.30 p.m., all three realized that their fingers and toes were growing numb.

The tension under which Uday must have been operating at this juncture is unimaginable. The first summit attempt had failed, and Uday’s was to be the last. The success of the expedition depended on him and yet . . . the three of them were in a situation which could very well get out of control, especially since they had no fixed rope to guide them back. He had waited at this unearthly height for an hour, his oxygen starved brain in agony of indecision while his body fought with a plunging chill factor.

Uday decided to return. He could see the rock summit tantalizingly close, as the swirling clouds gave him momentary glimpses of it. Tearing themselves away from the place, they started down the Gangway and safely reached c. v.

During dinner at BC on 17^th Vasant and those present discussed the outcome of our expedition. Yes, there certainly was the disappointment of having lost the summit by a mere 150 m. But Uday, Charuhas and their companions were safe. Doctor had examined Charuhas and talked with Uday over Walkie-talkie. He assures everybody that both were not going to lose their fingertips. GNE had crossed the enigmatic 8000 m/ 26,000 ft. mark that had been so intimidating that hardly any civilian group in India had even dream of attempting an eight thousander. GNE had reached 8,440 m. The incredible effort of the team had made everybody reach new heights in team effort and

Individual performances. None had shown any symptom of high altitude sickness (like hallucinating) at any altitude - each had paced himself well on the mountain. The experience of mounting this expedition had now been crowned by that of the actual climb itself. The discussion continued late into the night. And all the time they were unaware of a dream taking place near C. II.

Sanjay had left C II on 1^st May along with Anil taking with him the Tricolor, sacred saffron and Girivihar’s flags. One of the most experienced mountaineers and with many summits including Kamet under his belt, Sanjay was naturally expected to figure in the summit attempts. But by the time he reached C IV, his dry cough had started giving him trouble; he had also grown a little weak. Having arranged Uday’s attempt, he started down from C IV along with Anil on 16^th. Due to snowfall and Sanjay’s weakness, they reached C III only at 3.30 p.m. and had to stay there for the night. On 17^th Sanjay, Anil and Jayant left C III. They had front-point down the vertical icefall on which the freshly fallen soft snow slid off when stepped on. The climb down to the Plateau sapped Sanjay’s strength so much that he could not proceed further without help. While Jayant stayed with Sanjay, Anil ran ahead to C. II. to summon help. Dr. Milind who was at C.II. with Chandrashekar Tambat, sent three HAPs with warm clothing and hot drinks to help. Sanjay, Jayant and three HAPs then brought Sanjay across the plateau on a makeshift shed made of a carry mat. Now there were two main hurdles before C. II, viz., the big crevasse between the plateau, the Rock Traverse (RT), and the ladder on the RT. By now it had started snowing. Sanjay himself offered to handle both the hurdles. He jumped across the crevasse and was helped across the RT till the Ladder. Snowfall was now accompanied by a cold wind. Spindrift and powder avalanches, for which the RT was notorious, rained down on the struggling group. By 7.00 p.m., at the top of the ladder, Sanjay was too exhausted to proceed further. The patch was such that nobody could do much in those exacting conditions. In those awful circumstances the group, valiantly struggled to get Sanjay down the ladder. But, at 7.30 p.m. succumbed to hypothermia brought on by exhaustion and exposure with terminal stress.

The devastating news of Sanjay’s death reached B C on 18^th morning. Everybody sat stupefied in one of the tents at B.C., desperately seeking an explanation and solace in each other’s company, but seeing the same anguish and feeling of utter helplessness reflected in each face.

The expedition was not yet over. The winding-up process started again, everyone going about his duties mechanically. Sanjay’s body was brought to BC on 20^th May. Respecting the local’s custom whereby cremation could not be carried out above a certain temple near Ramzer, the last rites of Sanjay were performed on 23^rd May, on the banks of the river Simbua, 60 K.M. away from and 11000 ft. lower than C. II.

Meanwhile, the team members left B C in groups to start the return march. Behind them lay on almost super-human effort . . . and a tragedy.

The "Girivihar Nepal Expedition 1988" became the first Indian Civilian expedition to be launched on one of the fourteen eight thousanders. Uday became the first Indian amateur mountaineer to have climbed to 8440 m/ 27000 ft without artificial oxygen. Ten members reached above 7275 m/24000 ft., while Hrishikesh stayed above this altitude for 12 days – a record in itself. Out of 42 oxygen cylinders, 9 were ferried above BC out of which only 5 were used. The whole expedition was completed on a remarkably low budget of Rs. 25 lakhs.

Most of the equipment has been retrieved and is now being maintained by the The Kangchenjunga Mountaineering Foundation, a charitable trust. This equipment is the latest, having been, imported specially for the expedition, and will be made available to deserving Indian expeditions to the Himalaya. Girivihar will maintain first aid kits at the two favorite rock climbing sites in Bombay, viz. Mumbra and Kanheri. This is being done in the loving memory of Sanjay Barole.

Putting the huge experience, gained on Kangchenjunga to further use would be the best way of paying homage to a mountaineer of his caliber. An audio-visual in English and Marathi has been prepared in order to communicate the Kangchenjunga experience to all.

THE TEAM

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