CHATURANGI EXPEDITION, 1969

[Sponsored by Gangotri Glacier Exploration Committee]

SWAPAN RAY CHAUDHURI

Members: Dr. Swapan Ray ChaudhuriLeader, Medical Officer
Biren SarkarDeputy Leader, Co-quarter- master
Sujal MukherjeeTransport Officer
Asit BoseQuartermaster, Photographer
Amio MukhopadhyayCo-transport Officer
Binit Das Gupta
Himadri Bhatta charyya

 

The journey up to Uttarkashi was uneventful. Here we faced several problems. The camera permit was promptly issued by the District Magistrate, Uttarkashi, but the officer responsible for issuing the inner line permits made considerable delays until the Sub-Divisional Magistrate of Dunda intervened. Col. Joshi, Principal, and K. P. Sharma, Registrar, N.I.M., Uttarkashi, were very helpful and they issued a good set of equipment. Arranging porters was another problem. We could secure only 15 porters at Uttarkashi while we required about 30. We left Uttarkashi by bus on 18 September and reached Dharali at about 6 p.m. Here 13 more porters were recruited. The next morning we started for Gangotri and reached there in the evening. From Gangotri we reached Chirbas on the 20th and Gaumukh on the 21st. We camped here at the usual camping site by the side of the river Bhagirathi. From here the Bhagirathi group of peaks looked impressive and Shivling magnificent. On the 22nd, Himadri, Binit and myself along with 15 porters ferried loads from Gaumukh to the Base Camp site. We started early in the morning. The sky was clear. The route stretched along the boulder-strewn lateral moraine of the Gangotri glacier. At about 1 p.m. we reached our previous year's camp site and dumped our loads there. We found a small pool close by. After a quick lunch we left for Gaumukh. The weather turned bad by that time and snow-fall started.

Opposite the Raktavaran glacier, the snow-fall was replaced by rain. We reached Gaumukh at 3.30 p.m. while it was still raining there. The entire valley was overcast with thick black clouds. Biren, Asit, Sujal and Amio looked disheartened because of the bad weather. They had repacked and made all the loads ready for the next day assuming that the camp would be shifted to the Base Camp site.

It rained throughout the 22nd night. Little did we realize that this untimely and unexpected rain would continue for the subse¬quent 48 hours. In the evening of 23 September the rain turned into snow-fall. This was our first experience of snow-fall at Gaumukh during our last three years' expeditions in the area. The snow¬fall continued unabated throughout the night and we had to flap the tents from inside at regular intervals. On the 24th morning the weather god smiled at us and the snowing stopped in the afternoon. We could see the blue sky again after two days. We therefore decided to move towards the Base Camp site (14,500 ft.) early next morning.

On the 25th morning we left for the Base Camp site. We climbed the moraine of Gangotri glacier, following its NNE. bank. Shortly after we reached below the ridge of Bhujbas Dhar, stones of varied sizes came down rolling from above. This dangerous zone extended for about 100 yards. We made the laden porters pass one by one, a member on either side watching out for the falling stones and cautioning the others as and when necessary. The entire route over the boulders was covered by knee-deep and at places waist-deep snow. This fresh snow created difficulty in movement and the pace therefore was very slow. I took the lead in making a safe route from the point opposite the Raktavaran glacier. It was a difficult job indeed. Every now and then I tumbled over the boulders and sank into knee-deep snow. Amio joined me soon and Himadri with Binit followed. Asit, Biren and Sujal were with the porters leading them over the safe route. At about 4.30 p.m. Amio and myself reached a flat place almost near the confluence of Chaturangi and Gangotri glaciers. The weather deteriorated. Binit, Himadri and Asit arrived and intimated that all the porters had dumped their loads about 400 yards below. Sujal and Biren tried to persuade them to move further ahead but in vain. The porters were already tired due to heavy loads and as such we decided to pitch our tents there. The space was just enough to accommodate two two-man tents. All of us were very thirsty and hungry. There was no sign of water except for the snow all around. All seven of us huddled together in the two tents and passed the night with a bar of chocolate and a handful of soft snow. The night was very cold, the temperature dropped several degrees below zero. The fate of the porters was far more grim—they passed the night on an empty stomach sitting around a fire. They had decided to go back the next morning because of the snow and extreme cold for which they were not properly equipped.

We saw the first ray of sunshine through a narrow chink of the tent flap at about 7.30 a.m. on the 26th. The wind was lashing the tents, yet some porters' chatter came to our ears. We rushed out of our tents. Almost all of them had decided to leave because, they thought, they would otherwise be frozen to death. They did not have sufficient warm clothes, nor could we provide all of them with the necessary equipment. After considerable persuasion only 12 of them agreed to stay on and the others left for Gangotri with their pay packets. These 12 porters included one cook and his assistant. We had therefore only 10 porters to tranship the total load of the expedition which was about 900 kilogrammes. Undaunted we decided to move ahead and reached Base Camp site (14,500 ft.) at 2.30 p.m. ploughing through knee-deep snow. The pool that we had seen when we came here on the 22nd had a thick crust of ice on its surface. The porters made two ferries but even then some loads were left at our previous camp at 14,000 feet. After reaching Base Camp, Binit, Himadri and Asit levelled the soft snow and pitched four two-man tents. Sujal, Amio and Biren helped the porters to set up their tents as well as the kitchen. I was surrounded by some porters who were complaining of headache, cough and pain in the shoulder. Every¬body was very thirsty and hungry. Out of the two pressure cookers and four pressure stoves, only one and two of them respectively were found to be in order. We had to issue one pressure stove to the porters since it was not possible to arrange for any firewood. Biren and Sujal helped the porters to prepare their food. A hot and delicious dinner was also served to us at 6.30 p.m. which was prepared by Biren.

On 27 September morning Amio, Sujal and Binit proposed to open the route up to the crest of the moraine ridge on the south bank of the Chaturangi glacier. They started at 9 a.m. with ropes and some loads along with nine laden porters. The moraine ridge was about 400 feet in height from the bed of the Chaturangi glacier and its slope was steep and covered with soft snow. They made the trail and fixed 300 feet of rope on this slope. With the help of the fixed rope the laden porters climbed the slope confidently and dumped their loads on the crest of the moraine ridge (15,000 ft.). All of them returned to the camp at 2.30 p.m. At night, we held a council of war and reviewed our plan. We checked our stock of provisions and found that we still had 14 days' rations with us. Kerosene was also sufficient for about the same period. By the original plan we were to move all at a time to higher camps. So we decided to leave behind three days' provision at Base Camp for use during the return journey. This saved us three porter loads.

On the 28th morning Biren, Asit, Sujal, Amio and myself distributed the loads among the porters. Himadri and Binit unpitched the tents and led the laden porters towards the moraine ridge. Asit, Biren and myself led the remaining porters and reached the crest of the moraine ridge, where a transit camp (15,200 ft.) was established for a night's stay only. As the Base Camp was not too far from the transit camp, the porters made two ferries on that day. Amio and Sujal reached the camp last, supervising the transhipment of all loads.

On the 29th we moved near the NNE. foot of Bhagirathi II (21,364 ft.) and established our camp there. We found water nearby and thus saved some fuel. The snow condition so far had played havoc with us and our progress was very slow. The camp site was about three quarters of a mile west of last year's camp site and the altitude was 16,700 feet.

On the morning of 30 September, Sujal, Amio and myself went to find a route up to the glacial lake at the foot of Vasuki Parbat (22,285 ft.) which was named Vasuki Tal. Asit, Himadri and Binit looked after the transhipment of loads from the moraine ridge camp (15,200 ft.) to the present camp. Biren rechecked all loads to be carried up by us. It was our intention to drop some unimportant or excess load here so that we could move up comfortably. Our route up to- Vasuki Bamak was along the crest of the moraine ridge encircling the ice-worn valley at the foot of Bhagirathi II. The snow condition was comparatively better than the previous few days. Snow was only ankle-deep and we reached the crest of the ridge within two hours. Here we had to descend a 500-foot slope to reach Vasuki Bamak. Snow condition on the slope was extremely bad and, as the soft snow accumulated over loose stones, we had much difficulty in descending. The snow condition on the Vasuki Bamak was also bad. Crevasses were wide open and we zigzagged our way through them. We crossed the Bamak and reached its eastern bank. Here we had to ascend a steep scree slope of about 50 feet. At one phase we had to climb through a narrow gully in between two rock walls, just wide enough to allow a climber with his rucksack. During our Satopanth expedition last year, we had fixed here a 100-foot rope. Amio, Sujal and myself climbed this slope in succession. We reached the foot of the north-west ridge of Vasuki Parbat and were pleased to see the ripples on the Vasuki Tal. We rested near the lake for a while. It was 2.30 p.m. and, to our surprise, we saw clouds coming from south to north. We quickly descended. As we thought this route would be a problem to the laden porters, we tried to find out another route and came down to the confluence of Vasuki and Chaturangi glacier (15,800 ft.) at 4 p.m. From this point we crossed diagonally up to the foot of the moraine ridge encircling Bhagirathi II. Snow-fall had started by then. The temperature suddenly dropped ; we climbed the slope of the ridge very cautiously. At the last stage we had to cut steps and Amio always took the lead. With great difficulty we reached the crest of the ridge and here we were exposed to the full fury of the bliz¬zard. Exhausted, we came back to our camp at 5.45 p.m. After a discussion, it was decided that the route along which we came back from Vasuki Tal should be followed the next day. This route, though a bit longer, would in fact be less difficult for the porters. It was also decided that the next day we would fix about 300 feet of fixed rope from the crest of the moraine ridge right down to the Vasuki Bamak. Heavy loads would be tied to a sling and with the help of a karabiner they would be lowered down. If this experiment proved ineffective then the porters with their loads would be belayed from the crest of the ridge.

Accordingly, on the morning of 1 October, we all started with the loads for the crest of the moraine ridge. Three hundred feet of rope was fixed and I rapelled down the ridge which gave some encouragement to the porters. Himadri also rapelled down and stationed himself at the middle point of the slope. Our plans for lowering down the loads did not prove effective, since the loads got stuck in the soft snow. We had to take recourse to our second idea, which the porters accepted sportingly and came down the ridge with the help of the fixed rope. Amio and Sujal belayed them from above. One or two porters became nervous and their loads were carried down by Sethiram, their ‘mate’ Thus most of the loads were lowered to the Vasuki Bamak. The operation continued till 2 p.m. when the sky became overcast with clouds. Snow-fall started as usual and we all came back to the camp greatly satisfied.

Next morning, 2 October, we dismantled the camp and dis¬carded two loads. Himadri and Binit rapelled down and stationed themselves at the foot of the moraine ridge. Biren, Asit and Sujal next did the same and led the porters to the confluence of Vasuki and Chaturangi glacier. Amio and myself joined them very soon with the rest of the porters. Himadri, Binit and Asit took the lead and the porters followed them. At 2 p.m. just as all of us had nearly reached the camp site a blizzard started and visibility became poor. All members and porters reached the camp at 3 p.m. (17,200 ft.). This camp was situated two furlongs north-east of the Vasuki Tal.

Initially we had planned to make a central camp at Sundar Bamak and accordingly on 3 October Sujal and Asit started towards Sundar Bamak to find a possible route through deep snow. They came back at about 2.15 p.m. and reported that the snow condition of Sundar Bamak was extremely bad and dangerous, almost waist-deep at all places. Last year this area was com¬pletely free of snow. In the evening we had another council of war. We were already six days behind schedule. So we decided that we would go straight across the Chaturangi glacier and establish a camp on its northern bank opposite Sundar Bamak.

On 4 October, we diagonally crossed the Chaturangi glacier. Almost the entire route through the deep snow was made by Sujal and myself and we marked it occasionally with marker flags. We came over to the northern bank of Chaturangi glacier plough¬ing through knee-deep snow and reached a flat moraine ground at 2.30 p.m. We established our camp here. The height of this place would be about 17,500 feet. It took us about 5 hours to cross the glacier whereas the porters took about hours. We decided to recce the possible route for the unnamed peak (21,001 ft.), our target. Biren, Asit, Himadri and Binit would recce from the Khalipet Bamak side while Amio, Sujal and myself would proceed through a gully just behind our camp.

Sujal, Amio and myself started with the necessary gear at about 9.15 a.m. on 5 October. The route was along the boulder-covered slope leading to a gully between two rocky ridges. There was no snow initially and climbing was easy. After climbing about a thousand feet in an hour or so, we reached the highest position of the slope. We then turned west to climb the upper ridge to have a thorough look at the unnamed peak. In the east, there was a small glacier and the ridge of the ‘Radhanath Parbat' (21,020 ft.), which we climbed last year, was found inaccessible from this side.

We had to do a little rock-climbing and traverse a rocky slope. After climbing for half an hour we reached a nice slope. Below it we could see the Chaturangi glacier. We had an endless climb before us and we climbed along a ridge traversing dangerous ice. As we were ascending along the ridge we saw several humps ahead of us, which we had misconceived to be peaks from below. The highest point that we could see from below turned out to be one of the humps beyond which the ridge, covered with snow, had continued further up to another hump. We were thus deceived at least on three occasions. Ultimately, we reached one such peak (?) at 2.30 p.m. We could see ' Radhanath ParbatThe ridge looked as sharp as a razor s edge and the western slope was steep. The peak just above the connecting ridge appeared to be dangerously corniced. The portion where the ridge joined ‘Radhanath Parbat' seemed to comprise a steep drop of 200/300 feet which did not look negotiable.

The weather in the meantime turned bad and clouds came rolling from all sides which in no time covered the whole of the Chaturangi glacier. Along with this, there started a terrific wind. The temperature suddenly dropped and visibility became poor. Though we could see another two humps, the higher one being 1,000 feet higher than the lower one, we dared not proceed further up in that bad weather. We started descending and reached our camp at about 5.30 p.m.

The other recce team narrated their experiences. Their inten¬tion was to assess the possibility of opening the route up the Khalipet Bamak.

They followed the north bank of the Chaturangi glacier and reached a point just opposite the Suralaya Bamak on the southern bank. They had to move over the snow-covered moraine. The snow was knee-deep, and nearer to the confluence of Khalipet and Chaturangi glacier the snow became waist-deep. They could not proceed further into the Khalipet Bamak as there were dangerous crevasses guarding the entrance. Thus Khalipet Bamak remained beyond their reach and they had no other alternative but to return to the camp. They estimated the distance of the confluence from the camp site to be more than two miles. I had to consider the condition of the porters who had inadequate clothing. Altitude also told upon their health. Out of the twelve, eight complained of sleeplessness, headaches and other minor ailments. Two porters were bleeding from their nose. Although we took special care and arranged good food for them, yet they looked sickly. Under the circumstances, if we prolonged our stay at this altitude, it would have been difficult for us to come down with all the loads. We therefore decided not to waste any more time in conducting the reconnaissance for the unnamed peak (21,001 ft.) and abandoned the idea of attempting it. We also decided to shift our camp a little higher up at the other end of the gully which ended below the snout of a receded glacier. This decision was taken to attempt another unnamed peak near the third hump which we had noticed during our recce on the 5th.

Next morning we moved our camp higher up which we called the gully camp at an altitude of about 18,750 feet. We pitched four two-man tents just on the side of the small glacier which was to the east of our camp site. NNE. of our camp site we could see a twin peak which appeared to be above 21,000 feet. These peaks looked magnificent. To the south of our camp site, we could see the Chaturangi glacier down below and the giant Satopanth (23,213 ft.). Out of the four tents one was the kitchen. This also accommodated our cook, Tikaram, his assistant and Sethiram, The three remaining tents accommodated all the seven members. In the afternoon the sky looked gloomy and snow-fall started at 5.30 p.m. which fortunately lasted for only a short period.

Early on the 7th morning, all the seven members and Sethiram were ready to move. Since the cook was down with fever and severe headache, his assistant and Sethiram somehow managed to prepare Horlicks only, which we took with some biscuits as break¬fast. We, however, carried dried fruits, chocolates and fruit juices with us as dry lunch. We started at 7 a.m. and, as the sun had not entered the gully, we had to move in the midst of terrible cold. We climbed the rock buttress west of the camp. Climbing was a bit difficult as the surface of the rock was covered with soft snow. We, however, climbed the snow slope and reached a platform at 19,000 feet. Here the sun warmed us up and we started climbing confidently. The sky was cloudless and the snow condition was perfect. We climbed the second hump and reached the third hump at 9.30 p.m. This hump looked like a peak. Altitude of this hump was about 19,450 feet. From this hump a ridge extended NW. and at the end of which there was a rocky peak which lured us very much. The peak was about 300 feet higher than the hump. We climbed about 20 feet on a smooth rocky wall which led to the top. Unfortunately this wall did not have good holds or suitable cracks to fix rope. Further, due to a thin layer of snow, the rock had become dangerously slippery. As the slope of the ridge led straight down we decided not to take any unnecessary risk. This rocky peak was connected by a sharp rocky ridge covered with soft snow to the beautiful snow-capped peak which we intended to climb that day. After leaving this rocky peak we traversed the SE. face of the unnamed peak very cautiously. This face was covered with knee-deep snow. Its slope was steep and any fall would have led to a point about 4,000 feet below. The weather was perfect. The route was being made by Sujal and Amio. It was almost an unending procedure. Biren decided not to come up beyond the third hump and stayed with Sethiram. The other six members traversed in a single file. At about midday we gained the summit ridge which was very steep. We had to cut more than a hundred steps. The weather and the magnificent surroundings beckoned us. We were moving very slowly, resting after about every 10 steps. The distance between us and the summit was being gradually diminished and at last at about 1.25 p.m. we found ourselves on the top of the peak. There was enough space on the summit to accommodate six climbers. The sky was azure blue and the weather was excel¬lent. We could see Shivling (21,466 ft.) looking most insignificant in the SW., the Bhagirathi group in SSW. and Vasuki (22,285 ft.), Satopanth (23,213 ft.) in the south. Chandra Parbat (22,073 ft.) looked beautiful in the SE. In the N. and NW, we could see the Mana group. We also recognized Sudarshan in the NW. We took snaps of these surrounding peaks. Every one of us was thrilled with joy. We poured down our throats a tin of fruit juice each, offered puja with dates and hoisted the National Flag. We stayed on the summit for 40 minutes and at 2.05 p.m. we started descending. Climbing down was also very difficult. As we were too tired to move quickly it took about three hours to return to the gully camp. We found that all the tents had been dismantled and carried down by the porters. Only Biren was waiting for us and he greeted us with a mugful of hot Horlicks and milk.

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