The summit still Awaits…..

“You can never conquer the mountain. You can only conquer yourself.” ~James Whittaker

Prelude

Well, the semester was finally over, and somehow I managed to avoid the much awaited and seemingly unavoidable confrontation with SRC, thanks to that A- in AML110 (though very few know how actually that was obtained!!). Anyways, the catastrophe had been averted, and what followed was a long list of things to be done in the upcoming summer vacations, perhaps that way I wanted to account for the fact that I had done absolutely nothing in the last sem. But by the time first two months had passed, I began to realize that I have wasted my vacations on java, that bloody project and all that 0’s n 1’s stuff and have ended up precisely at the same point where I was when the vacation started. So it was the time to utilize the remaining 29 days; and without giving it a second thought, I turned once again towards the Himalayas, for my thirteenth trip there (I am not a pahari!!), and it had to be Manali this time.

So far so good, but when I talked to my friends about this, no one agreed…….going on the mountains for adventure, that too for 28 days, was more or less an insanity, but fortunately, I was able to get three more insanes…..my friends Deepak, Saurabh and Mohit, who also had had a ‘not so good’ sem, and were now looking for some adventure. So plans were made and we reached Manali on 30th June n reported at DMAS, or the Directorate of Mountaineering n Allied Sports, to be precise. The day was spent in the town market, and we started looking up to a fun filled vacation, without having even the trifles of ideas what luck had kept in store for us……!!

The Ordeal begins

The very next day, we were asked to wake up early and gather outside by 5 am sharp. I don’t remember the last time when I saw sunrise (I often tend to forget those childhood memories!)….but still somehow I managed to wake up at 4 am and got ready……others who were not so lucky ended up doing 20 pushups each as a punishment, no wonder everyone was on time next day onwards. What followed was a killing session….5 km running up n down the slope plus bone breaking exercises…….After getting drilled there for two hours, u take your breakfast n leave for the mountains nearby, for a training in rock climbing which goes on for five hours. Completely exhausted, you return and on the way back, if the group has not performed well enough, then the whole lot of some 50 odd guys will have to cover the last few hundred metres jumping like frogs…….Right after lunch, you are put through one or two lectures on mountaineering. The evening has arrived so it must be over now……but wait…..as they say : Picture abhi baaki hai mere dost!!….A grueling session of drill n obstacles takes out even the last calorie of energy left inside you. Food is awful but still you eat it like hungry wolves. After that you go to the bed and within the spur of a moment, fall asleep.

This went on for nine days. Stiff legs, cramps, unbearable muscular pain and numerous injuries…..I don’t know how many times we thought of coming back, but still hung on somehow. But as the time passed, we started seeing the change in ourselves. This hardcore Military style training had made us tough and our stamina was on an all time high. We also did Rappelling, Jumaring and river crossing and were now ready for the next phase : the training on glaciers. On 10th July, we crossed the Rohtang pass and went to Chhatru in Spiti valley, setting our camp alongside river Chandra (what is known as Chenab later on). The terrain was totally barren and resembled that of Tibet. Enormous treeless mountains, desert-like valleys and the mighty Chandra with its dark grey water roaring and rushing at extreme speed amidst the backdrop of those sharp peaks…….all this looked like a lunar landscape……. and with no sign of any human inhabitation (except a few shepherds with their herds of sheep!), it all looked even starker in contrast to Manali.

On the Glacier!

After two days of acclimatization, we trekked for the whole day to reach the base of the two of the toughest peaks of Himachal, the majestic Indrasan and Deo Tibba, and set our camp on the debris of a glacier. For the next ten days we were trained in snow and ice craft, glacier travel, ice wall climbing and rescue…….something we had never thought we would be doing in our lives. But it never looked so tough, thanks to that ten day training at Manali. On the last day, we set out to gain height, a day long trek. Lack of oxygen was a big problem, and guys used to run out of breath every few steps. I was a bit unlucky to have got a knee twisted that caused a serious ligament injury, but that was worth the experience. Still we were able to reach the top, close to 17000 feet…. and wow!! What a view that was…..we there on a mountain top amidst clouds and ice walls strangely with a few wild flowers growing over the glacier debris …….simply breathtaking!!...

Mission accomplished!

We retuned back to Chhatru next day, and had a nice interaction with the Director n famous Everester Mr. Rajeev Sharma, who shared with us some of his experiences in the Himalayas. The very next day we came back to Manali and were so happy to see vegetation, rain n most importantly, other human beings, after almost half a month. I had to miss out the last few activities due to injury, but still the four of us made sure that the badging ceremony on the last day was an all IIT-D affair. All of the audience, including the chief guest, started laughing like madmen when I and Mohit presented a mimicry programme. Next we were awarded badges for completing the course successfully.

It was the time to come back. After all, the vacations had ended and we had to continue our regular(or maybe irregular) IIT life……java, that bloody project, and that 0’s n 1’s stuff………As I look back, I find that I’ve changed a lot. Sun rises almost every day (I see that myself!!), classes are attended on time and I feel that I’ve become stronger and have overcome many of the fears I used to have earlier. That long stay in those harsh conditions : low oxygen, sub zero temperatures, hard water, landslides : has done wonders. But something is still missing. That elusive peak, in some odd corner of those mighty ranges……maybe quite close to the glacier where we camped…….or maybe just above the point of our maximum altitude……I am not sure where, but one thing is for sure………That the summit still awaits me......

NOTE: The dates are not correct for the last few pictures. The camera got reset by mistake!!