Climbathon 2014 – Bara Shigri Glacier Part 2

To Chhatru and the Batal Camp

On 13^th morning we proceeded to Chhatru, a small settlement on the way to Batal. To our surprise climbathon consisted of Rohtang la and Kunzum la cleaning expeditions. I personally didn't have any problem in picking up the garbage and trash but what was the outcome of our activity? Did any of the tourists looking at the scene where 60 odd people were cleaning the land, join our hands? We have a strong social networks; did the message reach the masses? Are participants supposed to come here every time to clean up the land, take pictures and go home? As a part of a leadership program, shouldn't the leaders’ duty be to set an example, encourage others to follow and device a system which will sustain even in absence of the leaders? I asked local people who out of courtesy thanked us for cleaning the area but expressed concerns of sustainability. Gulia sir explained to me that local government arranges vehicles to take the trash down once in a while. But that doesn't give tourists the license to litter in such beautiful places. The real problem is with the mentality of the rich educated illiterates of the society. I think a good way to bring the change could have been to create a permanent large dumping bins and ensuring its timely dispose. But from students’ angle, we could have created innovative banners/ posters to be put up at the restaurants and 5-10 minutes of interactive session engaging tourists in discussions on leave no trace principles. Today’s generation is receptive to new ideas particularly when it comes to climate and environmental issues. I think a heartfelt and genuine appeal could have certainly melted public’s mind and engaged them to join our hands for cleaning movements.

We reached Chhatru by lunch time. Our tents were already set up. There is no better pleasure at the camp site than entering in an already set up tents. Me, Akash, Sandeep, Hiten along with Pranav were the tent mates. My experience during the mountains has always been the most memorable and affectionate with my tent mates. None of us had foreseen hardships, challenges and through all these a creation of wonderful bond of friendship ahead.

Next day we hiked for a few kms and then after the lunch break, boarded the bus to Batal. I didn't really understand the purpose of hiking at lower altitude then travelling by a bus to the camp site at higher altitude. Instead they could have planned a direct bus to Batal from Chhatru and an evening acclimatization walk near the Campsite.

 

At the campsite, Dr. Guttu held a very interesting session in the evening. Each rope was assigned a case study which involved simulated situations where we were up in the mountains and a casualty happened during which we had to respond in order to avoid fatality or any significant losses. It was a wonderful brain storming session wherein we critically analyzed the situation, performed dramas to showcase the first aid response and highlighted the causes of occurrence of accident. I think experiences are the best teachers. It is important to simulate experiences and practical scenarios to enhance students’ learning skills and prepare them for the real life experiences. In spite of little bit mismanagement here and there, issues with the conduction of the program and the adversity of the wilderness, Dr. Guttu was taking a monumental efforts to make Climbathon an educational expedition and not just a mere robotic physical training. So was Bharat when it came to sharing LNT principles with us. When Akash had an injury which contracted into a septic, it was Bharat who dressed his wounds and taught us how to do it in future.

That night rains slanted heavily followed by a mild snow fall. Even the camp site dogs were nervous and took a refugee under the sheds of our tents. We were careful at night while going in and out of the tents to avoid stepping on our guests.

Next day turned out as the lowest point of the entire expedition. We were again led to a cleaning expedition. This time it was Kunzum la. We drove from Batal to Kunzum la by bus and then after this so called cleaning expedition we hiked down to Chandratal and back to Batal on a road. Now if it had to be an acclimatization, then it should have been slow and steady. Within a half an hour we gained 400 meters elevation. And then we trekked for entire day from Kunzum la to Chandratal and back to Batal for around 25 kms. Needless to say some people had suffered from nasty blisters in their feet. Many of us were tired and fatigued. But what exasperated most of us was the hypocrisy and falsehoods of our leader in the name of feedback system. We thought that it was appropriate in order to improve the quality of program in near future to give genuine feedbacks. So in a positive spirit Akash suggested to revise such a long chandratal trek to a small trek sufficient enough to acclimatize participants. Also increasing the number of expedition days and conducting a preclimbathon fitness training for a week at least, would bring all the trainees on more or less same track (We had barely utilized the three days in Manali). How can just one day of extended trek will increase the fitness level? Instead it will make weaker participants even more fatigue and vulnerable to subsequent hardships. And precisely that’s what happened with Piyali who had to trek the difficult trails of bara shigri glaciers with blistered feet. Along with this Sandeep and Parastoo mentioned to share a detailed day wise expedition plan with participants which will also highlight the level of difficulty and adversity of the program. But all our suggestions fell upon the deaf ears. To make the situation worse, course leader accused us for not paying attention to him when as per him on the first day itself, he had narrated detailed day wise plan to us. He went on to saying that the webpage also reflects the detailed plan. All of us knew that he was lying on our faces but only Marishaa braved to point it out straight that he had only briefed us the general plan and no day wise details; which he refused blatantly. It also seemed that the Iranian group was either misinformed or they themselves misunderstood about the number of peaks they would get to climb. Iraj and Parastoo were shocked when it dawned upon them that each rope will get to climb only one peak. It could be a misunderstanding from Iranians due to communication gap or a deliberate attempt by IMF to woo foreign climbers in order to gain the publicity. Both ways, I think need of an hour was to bring more transparency in motive, leadership, communication and media outreach; if ever IMF wish to see such a brilliant idea of climbathon blossoming in future. After this incident during the treks, Hadi, who was getting more and more fluent in hindi every day, would encourage and make us laugh by saying, “Jaldi Chalo jaldi Chalo, we have to give a feedback”.