Introduction
In 1985 the Indian Army attempted to climb Mount Everest in the post monsoon period from two sides. The difficult South West Face and the South Col route. It was a task of great skill, physical fitness, endurance, team work, courage and determination.
The expedition was launched under the leadership of Lieutenant Colonel Prem Chand considered ‘one of the best climbers of his time,’ but just before the expedition was to be launched, he fractured his arm as a result the leader was changed when the expedition was on its way to the Base Camp and Brigadier Jagjit Singh was appointed the Team Leader.
The expedition was undoubtedly one of the strongest teams to attempt the mighty Everest. However, in the aftermath of the expedition which failed to summit and lost five officers it came under the deep scanner and all events were analysed which included aspects pertaining to its conduct, decision making, leadership and ambitions of some of the climbers.
This book is a first-hand account about that expedition and while throwing light on the events also provides valuable lessons.
About the Author
Colonel Ashok Pratap Tanwar was commissioned into 4 GUARDS in December 1981 is a third-generation soldier. An adventurer and photographer he has authored four previous books; ‘A Triumphal Odyssey’ on his Battalion 4 GUARDS and Soldier’s Saga of Adventure, An Odyssey of Adventure and Atlas of Army Adventure.
He attended the first Mountain Adventure Course at HAWS from NDA and as a Gentleman Cadet in IMA completed a 2000 km ‘Bike Hike’ from Dehra Dun to Secunderabad. He has also photographed the entire Siachen Glacier trekking its entire distance of 76 kms over four months.
As part of the Everest Expedition he rose from a support member to a climbing member and was finally chosen to lead the first attempt on top of the Everest, and is the only surviving climbing officer of the South Col. He was also posted to Army Adventure Wing from 2000 to 2003 where he was instrumental in setting up various Adventure Nodes across the country and conducting various adventure activities. Post retirement he continues to write on adventure. In this book he has depended a lot on the records maintained by Colonel Ajit Dutt.
About the Book
Climbing a mountain is not an exercise but a passionate devotion. Mount Everest the highest peak in the world demands respect and continues to attract mountaineers with its own physical, mental and psychological call. It remains the supreme challenge to mankind with its peak jutting up into the stratosphere above the livable troposphere. It has its own aura and the problems it presents to climbers are unique in their proportion.
As a climber ascends to to even moderate levels the air gets thinner at 5500 meters there is half the amount of air compared to sea level. At sea level the blood is saturated with 98 to 99% oxygen whereas at the summit of Everest it is merely 40%. If the ascending continues steadily increasing the climbers sleeping altitude the body cannot keep up with the ever-decreasing oxygen supply.
In May 1982 the then Army Chief General Krishna Rao, PVSM announced that the Indian Army was launching an expedition to climb Everest. Accordingly, preparations started to include selections which included the IMA Gentleman Cadets (GC’s) climbing Trishul and Kamet. It was during the Kamet expedition that one of the members GC Prem Prakash was told that he had been commissioned into 2 MAHAR.
The expedition was approved by General Arunkumar Shridhar Vaidya PVSM, MVC & Bar, AVSM, who selected Colonel Prem Chand as the Team Leader and in August 1984 the expedition was told to take the South Col and South West Face routes. After rigorous training and ensuring that various equipment was in place the expedition left Delhi on 04 August 1985 and started its approach march on 11 August from the road head of Jiri 180 kms from Kathmandu. While the Advance Party had started its trek for the Base Camp two days earlier. The first difficulty encountered was the washing away of the bridge across the Dudh Koshi at Numtala due to the heavy rains. They improvised a ropeway bridge to transport men and material across the river and a log bridge near Namche.
The team established the Base Camp on 26 August and then proceeded to negotiate the dreaded Khumbu ice falls and established Camp I on 07 October at an altitude of 20,000 feet and started opening Camp II the very next day through a crevasse filled area using ladders and ropes which was also the Advanced Base Camp for both the routes. Camp III was established on the Lhotse face by 14 September and occupied by 20 September due to the delay caused by weather at an altitude of 24, 000 feet. Then onwards they started working on two routes the South Col and difficult South West which set up Camp III & IV by 30 September at an altitude of 23,000 and 23,700 feet while South Col after route opening through Yellow Band and Geneva Spur the first summit party set out from the Base Camp on 27 September occupying South Col on 02 October and opening the route up to Camp IV at 25,500 feet on 05 October. But they had to give up the attempt to summit due to bad weather.
After this the second attempt by eight climbers including a Sherpa led by Major KI Kumar arrived at South Col and started for the summit at 0600 hours on 07 October due to bad weather. In white out conditions slogging through knee deep snow though they reached near the South Summit at 1400 hours but had to give up in ‘hand shaking distance’ from the Summit. They were followed by another team led by Major Jai Bahuguna. While returning Major KI Kumar in a fatal fall slipped and fell 4000 feet near South Camp and landed near Camp II.
As the weather turned bad the Leader instructed the teams to return to Advance Base Camp. The next morning it was confirmed that the climbers under Major Jai Bahuguna were coming down as they were told that the weather was likely to remain bad for the next few days. However only ten climbers returned to Camp II.
Apparently while the rest were coming down they found Lieutenant Ramneet Bakshi in bad shape due to snow blindness and exhaustion hence they decided to remain at South Col informing the Base they would come down the next day. But bad weather and winds up to 100 kmph lashing the mountain prevented them from moving down and while two members returned on 09 October with great difficulty, Major Bahuguna, Lieutenant MUB Rao, Captain VPS Negi and Lieutenant Bakshi again returned to Camp IV at South Col as they were unable to locate the rope on the Lhotse face. A rescue team sent the next day but could not even reach Camp III. On 11 October a second rescue team after struggling for over ten hours reached them but by then Lieutenant Bakshi and Captain VPS Negi had died and Soon Major Bahuguna died in their presence while Lieutenant MUB Rao was semi-conscious and had to be carried back by Havildar Gurung. Gurung slipped while carrying him back and fell a hundred feet. Miraculously he survived but unfortunately Lieutenant Rao passed away.
The climbers attempting from the South West face were now asked to return to Camp II due to bad weather but before that they had done a commendable job of opening a route till just short of Camp VI.
It was at this juncture that Major General (later Lieutenant General) SK Pillai, PVSM, the Additional Director General Military Training flew into the Base Camp with Lieutenant Colonel Prem Chand who was reinstated as leader and he addressed the team members. Brigadier Jagjit Singh flew back in the same helicopter.
In the ‘never say die spirit’ of the Indian Army the team retook the task of climbing the mountain on both axes but unprecedented snowfall had damaged the routes which needed to be re-fixed. By 27 October they made their fifth attempt which too was thwarted by near cyclonic winds. The last attempt was made on 28 October but while going up Lance Naik Anchuk was lifted by heavy winds and blown off the mountain, Naib Subedar Magan Bissa who was roped up with him tried to arrest the fall but he too fell 700 feet and stopped on a flat ground above South Col. They were lucky to survive. The team returned from its tryst with Everest losing five officers. Unfortunately, the expedition which made six unsuccessful attempts to scale the summit had been checkmated.
Incidentally the elder brother of Major Bahuguna the late Major Harsh Bahuguna also died while attempting to climb Mount Everest in April 1971, while Major KI Kumar was the younger brother of the legendary Colonel Bull Kumar.
The book is a treasure trove of anecdotes and observations. The Team Leader writing directly to General Vaidya before the expedition complaining about bureaucratic hurdles and the Chief calling him to his office and saying; ‘Prem, it is not you who have failed. It is I as your Chief who have failed to provide you with the necessary support. Give me one month and after that if the required support is not in place, I will call off the expedition.’
In the book Colonel Tanwar states that while the team was enroute to Namche Bazar, Army Headquarters nominated 55-year-old Brigadier Jagjit Singh as the new Team Leader instead of upgrading Lieutenant Colonel Pushkar Chand the Deputy Leader. While he was an experienced mountaineer, he was much older than the rest of the members. He at once reviewed the climbing plan and recommended cancelling the attempt from the South West face. which was rejected by Army Headquarters and made changes in the appointment of officers.
Another issue clearly brought out in the book is the interference by Military Training Directorate and non-pattern the Box Tents that were received.
Conclusion
The book is undoubtedly an excellent read regarding a unique adventure which captures the different dimensions and challenges of summiting Sagarmatha. Well laid out with outstanding photographs what stands out is the tale of perseverance in the face of the greatest odds and how the severe and formidable forces of nature prevented success of the mission.
What also stands out is the remarkable sense of camaraderie and strong bonds that exists amongst mountaineers. The case in point being when Lieutenant Ranmeet Singh Bakshi suffered from snow blindness and the weather took a turn for the worse his fellow climbers refused to abandon him which resulted in their deaths. As also the rescue attempts carried out in hazardous weather conditions and the manner in which they got the body of Major KI Kumar back.
The author has done a wonderful service in documenting the events of this expedition as also bringing out the conditions as existed in the mid 1980’s which compounded the challenges manifold touching on the soul of the expedition There are valuable lessons to be learnt from this expedition. Though termed a ‘failure’ this turned out to be ‘the stepping stone ‘for subsequent successful expeditions. The book is written in a lucid manner and is very well laid out.
As per Colonel Narinder ‘Bull’ Kumar; “all mountaineers need to read this book and ensure they do not repeat the mistakes of this expedition”. But this is a book that needs to be read not only by mountaineers by people who have a love for adventure and those who don the uniform.
