The First Israeli Expedition To Mt. Shivling 6543 m’

During September 2002 a team of four: Moran Levy, Ran Kagan, Guy Hasson and Alon Hod climbed one of the most amazing mountains on earth, The Shivling in the Garhawal Himalayas, India.

Guy Hasson, Kagan and myself met at Kagan’s house to pack our bags towards climbing Mt Shivling in India (Alon Hod had given his bag a few days before). Each one of us has a big bag of about 20 k"g and a small bag of 7 k"g. In addition we have three general bags (mainly climbing gear, ropes, etc.) that weigh another 100 k"g (we received from EL-AL a cheap deal for 100 k"g of overweight).
In Delhi we met with the director of IMF (Indian Mountain Federation ) and received basic information on climbing Shivling.
We took bicycle rickshas from our hotel to the bus stand - two for us and one for our luggage. I guess we had too much luggage since the wheel of the bicycle ricksha collapsed
We had to stay in Utterakashi for 4 days and it was hard - to be next to the mountains and sit and wait in a small town - mostly for last-minute arrangements and waiting for people that came late.
The weather was bad and there were mud slides that blocked the road in a few places - on the way from the big city I had to get out of the bus four times and walk over mud slides and find cars that were stuck on the other side to take me to the next mud slide.
We decided to do a little ceremony in a famous Shiva (an Indian god) temple to 'ask permission'/ get Shiva’s blessing to climb on his dick (Shivling = Shiva's lingum).
We were told that there was a 10 day snow storm in the area of the mountain and snow accumulated, at the base of the mountain, for over a meter - so we had to change our plans (a few times, well actually a lot of times). We decided to go straight to climb the mountain (without doing an acclimatization peak before) and climb it more like an expedition climb than like an alpine climb style.
By the IMF law we have to have a Liaison Officer with us. We have to hire a cook and Porter for him and another two porters for the cook and his kitchen. Food for the Liaison and the cook for a month we needed even more porters - so it turned out that we needed about 12 porters to carry up everything to Tapoban! It was a much bigger expedition (and headache) than we expected!
We started walking on Yum Kippur - while Kagan and I fasted. It was a very hard fast and I was very thirsty most of the way. We arrived at a village called Bhujbusa (3800 meter) and I was quite dehydrated. I tried to sleep - to pass time till the fast was over and finally the fast was over. I didn't eat too much, but drank a lot. After dinner there was a Hindu ceremony in the place we slept that included blowing in a horn of an antelope - that made it a very emotional end of Yum Kipor!
In the morning we walked up towards Tapoban (the base camp of Shivling) and passed through Gumock - the beginning of the Gangas river. After seeing how the Gangas river looks like in Varanasy (filthy, full of human extracts and human parts), it was amazing to stop and drink out of the clean part of the river. We climbed up to to Topoban to put our luggage in our camp and came back down to Bhujbusa.
Alon with Shivling in the background.
Tapoban is a big valley that had a few camps scattered around a half frozen river. There were the Austrians that wanted to climb Shivling (very antipats that 4 out of 5 succeeded), Canadians that wanted to climb Meru (didn't succeed), Canadians that tried Swachand, British that tried Shark-fin Meru, Hungarians that tried to climb Shivling (by the time we left two out of the four gave up), Swiss that climbed Shivling (all of them succeeded) and a Spanish film group that is filming the climb to Shivling (18 members). It was like a convention of climbers from all over the world. It was a nice feeling and everyone was very friendly and helpful to each other (except the Austrians)
The next morning we went back to Topoban and had to dig through the snow places for the tents, passes and a bathroom.
Looking for the first time at Shivling I wrote in my diary that Shivling looks "beautiful but frightening and unclimbable - I believe that I will manage to climb to the peak - but I will be surprised if I would really get to the peak!
We spent two days in Tapoban relaxing, talking to other groups and taking short walks around the valley. We had to cross the half frozen river a few times and in one of the times Kagan didn't exactly make it
We left at 3 in the morning to take a load up to camp1 (5012 meter), The way was on snow, moraine , fresh avalanche and glaciers with new and amazing views of Shivling.
We arrived at Camp1 at around 11 and it was sunny and warm (I was with a t-shirt). We met the Canadian team that offered us their tent digout (about 2 meters deep - but we had to enlarge it). While sitting and talking to them, within about half a minute, the weather changed and a small snow storm came in. It became very cold (I had to put on FOUR more layers of clothes). It was amazing how fast and unexpected it was. It reminded me that we are in the mountains and that you have to always be prepared for anything over here.
Coming down was faster and much more fun since we slid down on our bums - the one hour up hill took about three minutes to get down. Most of the way back was good except the last part that was a moraine. We were told not to go through the moraine in the afternoon, since the snow gets soft. We got to it in the afternoon and the snow was soft. Most of the steps, you sink about 2 c"m into the snow - so it isn't bad. The problem is that every few steps you sink into the snow up to your ankle. That isn't too bad either. Every about 10-15 steps you sink up to your knee and every once in a while you sink up to your hips. The problem is that it is random and it is like walking in the dark and once in a while falling. It drove me crazy and I decided that I could take a different path. I was right and I walked on a wonderful path that was only 30 meters away from the original path. The problem was that I had to get back to the original path and then the problems started. Getting back was hell - I had to cross through a 'snow field' that was almost my height. Every step I sank up to my knee or thigh or neck. If I had my sleeping bag with me I would have gone to sleep and waited for the cold night to freeze the snow. Those 30 meters took me almost an hour and a half to cross and made me very depressed.
After a rest day we went back up to Camp1 (kagan stayed another day in Topoban due to stomach problems). We stayed the day at Camp1 trying to decide our next plans and changing them again. We had an argument with Alon, on everything, and for a short time I thought that the expedition might be in jeopardy, but things calmed down a little after that.
At night I decided to try out my bivi (a one person tent) in real conditions and went to sleep in it – not far from the regular tent (just in case). It was –270c, but I wasn’t cold. The wind over the peak of Shivling caused small clouds that looked like they were falling/flowing over the peak. The moon rose above the peak and caused the clouds to glow and it gave a holy (almost Hollywood) feeling to Shivling. Later that night it started to snow, so we decided to wait another day before moving camp.
Guy and I went to take a load up to camp2 (5357 meters). While Guy was leading one of the pitches I suddenly realized were I was and what I was doing. I was belaying Guy who was climbing an ice/snow/rock 70 degree slope, at more than 5,200 meters with an amazing view of the Himalayan mountains - full of many pointy and snow covered peaks that were at my height overlooking a valley half covered with clouds. It was an amazing feeling. The end of the climb was hard and I was short of breath the whole way.
The next day we all climbed to camp2 and it was much easier - still no air, but easier. As we finished digging a place for the tent it started to snow.
The next morning we went up to take a load to the next camp. This was a technical day with a lot of mix (rock and ice) climbs. We took turns in leading the way, while most of the time we were tied to each other for safety. We decided on going part of the way (I was afraid of signs of bad weather – that didn’t come in the end) and left the equipment somewhere on the way. The next morning we climbed to Camp3/summit camp (5900 meters) and picked up the equipment that was left on the way.
We didn’t take the shovel with us to camp3/summit camp so we had to enlarge an existing dig out with our ice axes. That was a hard job that left me breathless too many times. Since we have a big tent – the edge of it was on the cliff ledge (literally – the flap of the tent was tied to the overhang of the cliff). I was afraid that things in the back of the tent will fall over the cliff.
We did a stupid and unexplained mistake (maybe lack of oxygen or laziness): Every night we melt snow on a stove for water and put it in thermoses for the following day. This day we decided that I will get up earlier and do it in the morning. The night was a very very windy day and we contemplated if to go to the summit or wait another day. When finally the wind calmed a bit and we decided to go – the gas stove froze and we couldn’t melt water. No water – no peak!
We had to stay another day at summit camp and left the following morning. The beginning of the route was a small climb to a Serac (a 90 degree ice wall), and climbing it. I started to climb but I could barely climb and even through of stopping and going back down. It was a break point for me. While giving it my last try I remembered that my backpack was on my back and not tied under me – something that caused me to be pulled back all the time. After moving my backpack it was much easier and I continued slowly to the top.
After climbing the Serac we got to a beautiful valley (at over 6,000 meters) with a saddle at the end with an amazing view of the mountains on the other side (first time we saw these mountains). From this point you see that there is one last uphill and then you are at the peak – not a technical climb but a hard and breathless climb.
We made it! We got to the peak of Shivling (6543 meters). I had a mixed feeling of knowing that I can do it, but not believing that I can actually do it.
A small disappointment was the weather – the clouds started to come in. They came and went – so we had all the views – but not together. From the peak there was a view of Topoban, that is 2,500 meters under the peak. While looking at Tapoban I had the same feeling that I get while skydiving – just before jumping out of the plane!
My friends think that when you get to the peak you finish the climb, but most accidents actually happen on the way down. You have reached your goal after 11 days of hard work and your adrenaline returns to normal. You still need to keep your concentration, focus, mental energy and physical power for another few hours till you get back to the tent.
Getting back to the Serac (the ice wall) wasn’t any problem and didn’t take too long. We had some problems with our rope that we were supposed to go down on and were detained a few hours. Alon, Kagan and myself managed to get down while Guy got stuck on top. Alon didn’t fix it, and it took me over an hour to fix it (longer than it should have taken!) – all this time Guy was stuck on top waiting. We slept another night at camp3/summit camp.
Then next morning Kagan and I woke up early and wanted to leave the camp, but my shoes were frozen (like every morning) and it hurt my toes so I went back to sleep till it warms up. Later in the morning Guy and I came down to Tapoban, while my toes ached most of the way – I thought that it was mostly due to the very heavy and bulky bag that I had to carry.
At night we decided to do a dinner party and invited people of other expeditions in the area. It was planned to be a simple dinner, but cooks of other expeditions brought some additional food – so it became a fancy dinner (well, pudding with canned papaya is fancy while sitting on the floor of a tent at over 4000 meters). After dinner our Liaison officer sang a Rajasthan song, one of our porters danced a local dance and we sang and danced some Israeli songs.
As we almost got to sleep, Alon came to us (Guy and Alon slept in a different tent) and told us that Guy’s toe is in a very bad condition and we need to evacuate him by helicopter right away. He went to call a Spanish doctor that was in the area and he came to check Guy’s Toes. He also checked my toes and told me that I have the same thing as Guy – but less. Since Alon spoke to the doctor and we only heard him from the background and since he didn’t speak almost any English – there was a lot of controversy on what was his diagnosis and further actions. We were explained that there won’t come any helicopter at night and it would take at least a day or two to organize it. Guy and I were opposed to order a helicopter, especially since we didn’t feel a need for it. My fingernail was purple (as if I closed a door on my toe and got a hemorrhage) and it was numb and not aching.
In the morning a local doctor that joined an expedition came to check up on us. He diagnosed that we have frostbite, we should stay off our feet and keep them warm. I limped (not because of pain – just to try to keep of the toe as much as possible) to gumok – about 400 Meter below Topoban. Guy was piggy-banked on a local porter. From there we took mules (that are used by mostly elderly Indian) to a close by village and the next day we continued to the city.
We then took a helicopter (that was paid and ordered by the insurance company) to Delhi. We tried to convince the pilot to take us on a ride to see Shivling again – but he didn’t agree. The flight over the Himalayan Mountains was beautiful. The doctors said that all I need for a recovery is some time and rest.

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