Climbathon 2014 – Bara Shigri Glacier part 6

Twist in the Tale

Another incident which initially caused us to drench with sweats in the middle of cold nights at snout camp; but turned out to be the most funniest part of the expedition in the end; happened while we were coming back to snout from the base camp after the summits. Trek from base camp to snout camp, for a normal trekker would have taken eight hours to reach. (While going up we had an intermediate camp. But while descending we had to skip IM and directly go to the snout thus increasing the duration and the difficulty of the trek) Needless to say for slow hikers, dark walk was but obvious.

After two days of copious snow fall, we left the base camp by 9:00 AM on 29^th. All of us were walking at our own paces in buddy pairs.  I was walking with Dada who usually stops after every 10 minutes, but on that day he was walking remarkably faster with very little breaks. Toolika and Saachi were just behind us and walking steadily. Pranav and Marishaa were a few minutes ahead; while Sandeep and Akash had raced down the glacier. The walk was pleasant though the sky looked cloudy. But the thought that I was accompanying somebody made the walk even more pleasant. This importance of walking in a buddy pair, I and for that matter all of us realized next morning after the golmaal happened that night. We reached the IM by 2:00 PM when we received a call from Dr. Guttu (who, along with other few members including Piyali, was behind us) that Piyali is not able to walk with her luggage and some of us need to carry her load. Although Dada was walking faster than his usual pace but it wasn't enough to reach the snout before sun set. So immediately after the lunch at IM, we decided that me, Ravi, Hiten and Parvinder will wait for the Guttu sir’s team while other slow walkers will continue to walk together towards the snout camp. We waited there for staggering one and a half hours. Meanwhile Duo Toolika and Saachi crossed us and continued downhill hike.

As soon as the Gutti sir’s team reached, we distributed Piyali’s luggage and split into three teams. Team A (me, Ravi and Hiten) was supposed to walk first and put up cairns wherever necessary and guide the Team B (Gutti sir, Piyali, Parvinder) and Team C (Uday and Pamposh and few others whose name I don’t recall). With extra load, already started mild yet irritating drizzle and slippery trail; I knew that the road ahead was not so easy particularly for Piyali. I didn't understand why she declined to stay back at IM where extra tents were already set up. One of the participants who was not in a good shape had already opted to stay at IM. He was brought down next day by the strongest members of the group. Piyali could have followed the same. But the girl who had to endure the excruciating blisters and had hiked till the base camp through the dangerous and difficult moraines; probably never wanted to spend any more time in the mountain but run to a safe heavens of snout camp. I might be wrong in putting a personal remark but such ambitions not only put her in danger but also created risks for her helpers. Dr. Guttu had advised her to stay at IM but maybe she was too stubborn and perhaps in deep pains to understand the gravity of the situation.

We left the IM by 3:30 PM. Within half an hour, Toolika- Saachi and the slow walker group was in our eye sight. I set the pace and kept a watch on people ahead of us, Hiten who had a radio set was keeping a constant communication with Guttu sir and Ravi ensured proper positioning of cairns along the trail. (Now, in a situation when the darkness is expected during the hike, one must ensure before leaving the camp that he/she is equipped with operational torch, enough cloths and foods to survive a night in case of benightment. Most importantly you must walk with a buddy and have communication and navigation devices. First LNT principle!! ) It so happened that Toolika who had a radio set gave it to team C as per Guttu sir`s advice. He either overestimated the duos and the slow walkers or to prioritize Pilayi’s safety, unwittingly ignored the fact that 8-10 members would be out of signal. As the time passed, I was speeding up to keep the duo in our eye sight but remaining teams were lagging far behind. Heavy slanting had superseded the drizzle. We took a shelter to adjust our packs and cover them with plastic sheets. Some chocolates, toffies and nuts satisfied our hunger and we commenced our march. In the meantime duo and the other group were out of our sight. We sped up a bit to catch them up but the trail was through ups and downs with massive boulders scattered around. Within an hour, though the rains stopped but darkness which now became a single the most hurdle of the hike started covering the sky. We came across a small tarn which was followed by a fork. A fork with no cairn. I hoped that all of the front members followed a path on the right side. Putting up a cairn we continued along the ridge side trail.

By 6:30 it was almost dark and we were not sure about how to proceed further. Head torches were on and we started looking for footmarks and other headlamps. At around 7:00 or so, for a short time, as little as couple of seconds, me and Ravi spotted two headlamps moving steadily at the bottom of the ridge probably heading towards the river bank. We were sure that that was not the route. But then who were they? Either two members of the Climbathon or porters or just a hallucination. It was certainly not the hallucination because both of us had a confirmed visual sight of two moving torches. Question was who were they? We decided to stick to our route and continued along the ridge side. Very soon we met the slow walker group who were not sure about the trail and were waiting for us as they did not have any radio set for communication. But in that group, Ashok Rangra, Toolika and Saachi were nowhere to be seen. Dada told us that Ashok had left from the river side and he had not seen or heard about the girls. They had declined to follow Ashok and waited for us. Then it dawned on me that the two flashing torches could probably be Toolika- Saachi duo who might have followed Ashok down the river side. We had a radio set, we called upon the rescue team at the snout camp for navigational help.  Accordingly Bharat, CM and Kazi sir set out flashing red lights.  But due to ups and downs of the trail, it was difficult for them to locate our position. So we continued walking towards the road (Batal road and snout plain were visible at one point before sun set. So we followed in that direction. Occasionally car headlights came handy in navigation) Pravina was extremely tired and Mahendra’s head torch was dead. Ravi took my extra luggage, I helped Pravina walk the steep section; while Hiten got Mahendra’s torch glowing brightly. This was probably the toughest conditions when we were walking over big boulders some of them unstable, in a pitched dark night with hefty loads on our backs.  

Soon we met Bharat and CM thanks to their wonderful communication with our groups. It was a moment of relief. Till this point I never felt the exhaustion for even a slightest moment but after being in a safe zone, may be with the thought of mental burden being reduced suddenly; physical burden in my knees and calf’s started showing its ugly face. It was 9:30 PM. Almost twelve and a half hours. What could have been a 7-8 hours trek, took me more than 12 hours. I was in my own thoughts with little frustration and fatigues, when Pranav greeted me just a little away from the campsite. No moment could have been as delightful as the moment I saw him; not even the summit moment. He was following the radio communication and was waiting for me. I had seen that caring and loving nature in him throughout the expedition but I experienced it at that moment. Such very fragile and tiny but most cherishing peaces of memories are those we shall receive only in the laps of the mountains. Someone had said that the journeys are measured not in miles but in the friendships. All tiredness and frustration went away as he guided me to our tent where Akash and Sandeep were waiting. Other friends and Kutty sir welcomed us too. He was relieved to have found all of us in one shape. Bharat had already located team B and C and was bringing them back to the camp. It was a heartfelt moment when Abhinav, Negi served everyone with hot water and dinner.

But soon I saw Ashok and I grew concerned about Toolika and Saachi. I came to know that they have not yet reached the campsite although as per Ashok, they had followed him along the river side trail. With our earlier observation of two flashing torches and Ashok’s information, we immediately spoke to Kutty sir about the two girls. Bharat who was heading the team B and C to snout camp, confirmed that the duo was not with him. Now the situation at base camp grew even more tensed. Kutty sir asked all of us to check the tents. Negative. Once the team B and C reached, he ordered all of us to fall in lines and it became very clear that the two girls were missing. That time, the earth would have certainly shaken beneath his feet. But keeping his cool and without wasting a moment, he split us between the two groups. Group 1: those who arrived before 7:00 and group 2: those who arrived after 7:00. He divided group 1 into teams of three and with one radio set and three torches with each group, sent them in the directions, where possibility of finding missing girls was highly likely. He ordered other group to rest and be ready in early morning in case the night operations failed. Two of my good friends were missing and my other friends had gone out for search. How could I sleep? I tried to convince instructors about diverting all search operations along the river side. But only one team went in that direction while others went scanning areas where probability of finding them was next to nil. They came back with no success. Even the team that went in the direction which according to me and Ravi was the most appropriate, came without girls. Kutty sir closed all the operations and told us to be ready sharp at 4:00 AM.

There were objective hazards such as rockfall, crevasses, and unstable boulders along the trail. I and Pranav were discussing about occurrence of possible accidents along the trail. One thought was that both were experienced climbers and on top of that not just physically but also mentally fit to deal with the challenge of benightment. But other thought was more frightening that what if they got stuck in the abovementioned hazards. Even the experienced climbers could have succumbed; let alone those girls. We were tensed and waiting for the day to break. 

As soon as we heard Kutty sir’s call, we raced towards the meeting point. Four teams were formed and dispatched in different direction just as on previous night. Sandeep, I and Pranav teamed up and set forth along the river bank side. To expand our search zone, we further split into three directions keeping an eye on each other and decided to meet at a common destination above a distant ridge. Pranav went over the mountain side ridge, Sandeep along the trail and I started searching from over the ridge close to the river bank. We were shouting and waiting for their reply to come, but no success. In the morning, Sandeep had mentioned that last night rescue teams only kept shouting but were impatient to hear any response. This could have been one of the reasons that the rescuers couldn't identify the girls. At night we were wondering that assuming that they might be safe and have improvised into a bivouac, why couldn't they respond at least by flashing torches if their voices were not audible. This forced us to think that our assumption could be wrong and a possibility of casualty could not be ignored. I climbed up the ridge and scanned the distant area. Saachi’s jacket was bright blue in color which was easy to spot from the distance if only they were in safe conditions. I was wondering why no audio or visual responses. Because it was almost 6:00 and as per the missing person’s mentality, it was safe to assume that they too might be looking for any signs of rescuers or might have left their traces in the visible range. Nothing. I grew extremely tensed. I reached to the top of the river side ridge and peeped down. And to my astonishment I found a transparent plastic sheeted bivouac perfectly erected under a shadow of a huge boulder just next to the river.

In response to my jubilant shout, Toolika came out as usual smiling and Saachi, welcomed me with a question “Where were you Vivek? Tu thik toh hai na?” Saachi told us that Toolika asked her why were I shouting for them and if she wanted to wake up. For a moment I was confused about who was missing and who was rescuing. But seeing that they were not just okay but probably high on euphoria of their successful real life benightment, instead of me offering them chocolates and water; I celebrated their successful bivouac by devouring chocolates which Toolika offered! When Sandeep and Pranav arrived, Toolika narrated what happened the previous night. They had already returned their radio to Guttu sir and their torches died by late evening forcing them to bivouac. At night when others were searching and shouting for them, they responded but as guessed by Sandeep, their voices were unheard. Sandeep immediately informed to the snout camp that they were safe. For the bivouac girls (that’s what the title they were bestowed by the participants) it was a real life adventurous experience; instructors, Kutty sir sighed with relief; few participants were happy to unite with the lost friends while few were probably either annoyed by girls’ irresponsible behavior or envious with their ceremonial reception. But for three of us it was a moment of “OMG!! What has just happened??” Who were rescuers? Who were lost? How tensed was the whole camp on previous night and what a spectacular festive moment we are in now? Were the girls really irresponsible? Was it a blunder from management and leaders’ side? Should there be alterations in this long tiring trek for subsequent Climbathon? With bewildered minds and sleepy eyes we went back to our tents only to find Akash still sleeping as if the whole tent was put up solely for him.  

Sitting along the pond near the campsite, playful banters, desi games and revival of expedition memories rejuvenated our moods. Skills and knowledge, new places and new mountains; yes, we did enjoy all these facets of the expedition but the real achievement was the ocean of memorable experiences and treasured friendships we sailed together.