Cold Weather Apparel And Expedition Gear

 In June-July, 2014, a small, lightweight and semi-alpine style expedition succeeded in climbing Nanda Devi East (7434m) in the Kumaun Himalaya, India. On 3 July, 2014, summit was reached by 4 members of the team.

 2014 was the 75th anniversary of the first ascent of this mountain by a Polish team consisting of alpinists Janusz Klarner, Jakub Bujak, Adam Karpinski, Sherpa Dawa Tsering, Dr. JR Foy (British), liaison officer Major S.Blake and Stefan Bernadzikiewicz. The 1939 Polish team had reached the summit on 2 July.

 In May 2013, I had attempted to climb Nanda Devi East with a group of fellow Indian climbers. 4 days of non-stop snowfall resulted in limited climbing days and that in turn caused shortage of food and fuel.

 Despite these limiting factors, we made good progress on the mountain and even could manage one summit attempt from a camp at around 6600m. But during the summit attempt, extremely high wind above 6900m and poor gear conditions of the team added to the agony.

 I decided to turn back from below the summit pyramid, putting safety of the team first. This failure inspired my desire to come back to Nanda Devi East and the 2014 expedition was conceived.

 Beyond BC, the team ferried load for a few days to the foot of Longstaff’s col and established an Advanced Base Camp (4750m). Above ABC, another camp (Intermediate Camp 5000m) was established on a rock step on the lower slopes of the Longstaff’s Col.

 This Intermediate Camp (5000m) was established in an aim to shorten the 1100m plus climb from ABC to Nanda Devi Khal and the idea proved to be very helpful. From the Intermediate Camp (5000m), Longstaff’s Col (5910m) was climbed in only 5 hours and Camp I was made.

 Ahead of Longstaff’s Col, 3 more camps were established respectively in altitudes 6100m (Camp II), 6400m (Camp III) and 6800m (Camp IV). In total we put 4 camps on the south ridge.

 Compared to our attempt in 2013, we found the entire south ridge almost devoid of snow this year. We were stuck in our Camp III (6400m) for 2 extra nights due to bad weather and this in turn resulted in a lot new powder snow on the summit pyramid, making our summit day a slow and struggling affair.

 George Rodway (USA), Thendup Sherpa (India), Anindya Mukherjee (India), Temba Sherpa (High Altitude Supporter), Dup Tsering (High Altitude Supporter), Lhakpa Sherpa (Base Camp Cook) and Himanshu Pandey (Liaison Officer)

 Being a small team and a low budget expedition, we carried a limited amount of static rope to fix. We fixed our ropes en route Longstaff’s Col from Intermediate Camp and on the Pinnacles. Above and beyond the pinnacles, we re-fixed old rope that we found on the mountain itself, in sections. We did load ferries of hardware and food up to Camp II and ascended the rest of the ridge in ‘carry, camp and climb’ style.

 Thendup Sherpa, Anindya Mukherjee, Temba Sherpa and Dup Tsering successfully summited the peak on 3 July 2014. This is the 8th ascent of the peak after 1939 (Polish), 1951 (French), 1975 (Indo-French), 1976 (Indo-Japanese), 1981 (Indian Army), 1994 (British) and 1995 (International Army-HIMEX).

 Time to reconnect

 “In his 1955 book, The Lakers: The Adventures of the First Tourists, Norman Nicholson argues that the industrial revolution brought about a fundamental rupture in man’s relationship with the natural world and he suggests that in one way or another we have been trying to get back to nature ever since. Nicholson describes three post-industrial ‘cults of nature-the Picturesque, the Romantic and the Athletic’ which are all symptoms of our society’s problematic separation from the natural environment.“

 The Himalayas, with their vast expanse and permanence, remain an important symbol for the highest ideals within our imagination. We need to overcome the centuries’ old pang of remorse in our search for a life of security and excess over a life of simplicity and adventure.

 Perhaps one day, everyone will embark on a rich and solitary journey of self-discovery, a path of true adventure, be it mountain climbing, cycling, or any other adventure. We have a long road ahead of us but I’m optimistic about the future looking at the boom in the cycling industry during the pandemic.

 Stay safe & adventure on!

 He farms apples & cherries in the village of Pamlahi in Himachal Pradesh. Dr. Lalit’s extraordinary story is that of passion and true love of exploration.

 From a young age he was inclined towards sports and excelled. He played volleyball during his school/college days and went on to play at the senior national level as well as varsity level. Later, he became the coach for the HP state team.

columbia pant

 He meshed his passion for sports with the right education as he completed his doctorate in physical education. During this time he was appointed as a lecturer and associate professor for physical education.

 He has written over 15 research papers covering various aspects of physical and psychological health related to sportspersons which have been published in various journals like “Journal of Sports and Sports Sciences”, “Indian Journal of Physical Education, Sports Medicine and Exercise Science” and more.

 Apart from being a sportsperson, Dr Lalit is an avid nature photographer. He has photographed many exotic species of flora and fauna in the Indian Himalayas. He has documented and identified over 300 alpine flowers and has photographed many endangered species like Himalayan weasel. He has a keen interest in Ayurveda and keeps fit by working in his Apple and Cherry farm.

 Adventure sports were always on his mind while he pursued his physical education career. In 1997 he began to indulge in the same and went for a basic skiing course thereafter progressing to the both basic and advanced mountaineering courses. Additionally he completed basic paragliding training and did solo airtime as well.

 He now holds two decades of experience in mountain sports & adventure. His specialist knowledge of high altitude winter trekking is invaluable and driven by his shear experience of over 10 years. In that time he has been an expedition leader for many of them and has done over twenty 6000+ meter expeditions ranging from peaks like Mt. Trishul, Mt. Satopanth, Mt. Stok Kangri, Mt. Kamet, Siachen Glacier and more. He has done numerous solo alpine style climbs; the most recent one to Deo Tibba. To fulfil his mountaineering dreams he volunteered with Indian Mountaineering Foundation extensively and joined many of their high altitude expeditions. Sustainability, recycling and cleanliness are the need of the hour and Dr. Lalit has taken initiative on that front as well. He joined the ONGC Clean Himalaya expeditions twice, once in 2015, the other in 2018 and a Srikhand cleaning campaign in Oct 2019. In 2019 he also completed his “Methods of Instruction” mountaineering course, thereby adding more stars to his shiny portfolio. He is an associate member of the Indian Mountaineering Foundation, a volunteer at The Himalayan Club and plays an important voluntary role in both organizations.

 #WinterAscent #DeepSnow #MountainTraverse #HimachalPradesh #Himalayas

 Completed in 5 days - Manali to Manali

 Completed in 5 days - Manali to Manali

 8th Oct 2020, 2:00 PM – Drove from Manali to Khanol and hiked up to Chikka

 9th Oct 2020, 8:00 AM – Short becomes long – Saw a shortcut, took it and hit a dead end. Successful intuitive traverse through moraine to merge with traditional route and carried on to Tainta. This was a long day – 14 HRS, 38 KMS, 30 KG Load, Phew!!

 10th Oct 2020, 7:00 AM - 4 HRS climb to Col Camp @ 5050 meters. High gradient, high altitude and ice/rock fall terrain.

 11th Oct 2020, 2:00 AM - Started glacier route summited @ 9:30 AM, began his decent around 10:30 AM reaching Tainta 4:00 PM.

 12th Oct 2020, 6:00 AM – Left Tainta and reached Manali around 4:00 PM

 3/10-6K (Jan 2018):

 Ten days, three peaks, 6000+ meters. This was a part of his winter ascent training and conditioning where they covered two unnamed peaks and Stok Kangri. Temperatures ranged between -15°C to -30°C. Weather conditions remained favourable and they were able to complete the same successfully. This was a test of their skills, endurance and mental stability. Lack of oxygen & plummeting temperatures were part of the parcel. Frozen rivers, avalanche prone areas were right around the corner. The activity was undertaken as a part of their Pre-Kanchenjunga expedition. They could not find any traces of human presence on their first ascent (6066 M) which suggested that this was unclimbed. On the second peak (6119 M) they found a trail but needed to negotiate snow and moraine while tackling high risk rock fall. This was a tricky peak. Third peak was “Stok Kangri” (6153 M), it was coldest of the lot and they had to walk on the frozen “Stok” river as they couldn’t follow traditional route due to the onset of winter.

 In 2013 Abhijeet was at crossroads, whether to continue his corporate job and live a secured life or to take a leap of faith towards his true calling.

 Standing at this fork he knew that there was only one way out of it, he will have to start climbing the cliffs of his passions!