Part 1- I walked back to the mountains: Year 2011. IIT Kharagpur. Inter IIT cricket tournament. Our team of young players lost to IIT Delhi. We prepared well. We defeated previous champions but we failed to keep the winning momentum going. After the match, I spoke to my ex. Captain Kartik. He was totally disappointed & frustrated. He had seen our progress very closely during the training days and not only Kartik but all IIT Bombay cricket fraternity was holding high hopes from our energetic team. That we could win the series. That we could defeat IIT Delhi and avenge previous years’ loss. But sadly, total disappointment came to their way. So did to me. That scar never healed. Never. Here on CB13 expedition, after 6 years, almost similar situation had arisen. Our team of young mountaineers after putting up a stellar attempt, fell short in reaching the summit. And we were left choiceless and had to turn back leaving last 400 m due to worsening weather conditions an...
Introduction Unlike my previous accounts, this is not a narration of scenic beauties of Himalaya despite there was plethora of exquisiteness in Gangotri National Park, Nandanban meadows and shear elegance of giant mountains. You may hardly find any mention of glacier walks, fixed ropes, summit and happy endings, although few of us had wonderful feelings in experiencing them all. There is no talk about the floral outburst on well-marked trails that snake along the Bhagirathi River. The experiences and feelings I had in me during those days, were perhaps entirely different from that of others despite we shared the same physical reality. This is rather than a thrilling, adrenaline gushing adventure story; a brief recollection of the things that happened up there and what I felt about how some of those could have been done differently to make the expedition an even better journey. My faults, however minor they seemed then, have defeated my purpose of coming here. There were a fe...
The trek begins On the morning of 16 th we hiked along the Chandra river towards the snout camp of Bara shigri glacier. Only obstacle was the notorious Karcha nallah. Previous year while crossing the nallah one of the participants had slipped off. Thanks to the instructor present there who ran towards the scene and secured him out. The climate was sunny and the trail was plane with mountains on left side and the Chandra flowing benignly on the right side. We had already identified famous peaks of the valley such as Papsura and Dharmsura as they could be seen from the road. Within 3-4 hours we reached the snout camp. A lush green meadow upon which red, blue and orange colored tents were set up. A tiny blue watered pond augmented the loveliness of the campsite. But on the mountain side, intimidating moraines and deep jaws of valley through which the Bara shigri glacier flowed, awaited us next day. At night we gathered in a huge dome tent which accommodated everyone...
22:00, Thursday, 7 th Apr 2016. After a satisfactory dinner at Annapurna restaurant, we parked our vehicle at the Lonavla bus station and were waiting for Jayant to come who had agreed to reach there by 22:30. And he did come. But not before 1:15 AM. Needless to say, he was greeted with an overwhelmingly touching ovation. At 2:30 in the night, Tailbaila dyke looked as stunning as it always. And we were glad that we were the only mad minds who skipped Gudipadva celebration at homes and came to this lonely place for climbing. Generally our hosts are a pack of monkeys from whom keeping our luggage secured is an adventure in itself. But today even they seemed to be on vacation on the eve of the festive day. At 6:55 AM, after snacks of a few dark chocolates and black tea, Sanket and I set forth on the easiest route (left inner). Although the route was easy but we had a different plan in mind. Simultaneous climbing. Which means, no belay. We had 10-12 m rope and ...
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