MULTINATIONAL ARMY NILKANTH EXPEDITION, 1993

Lt. Col. H. S. CHAUHAN

THE Nilkanth peak1 (6596 m) lies in Chamoli district of the Garhwal Himalaya. This beautiful, technically difficult, mountain is located to the west of the holy shrine of Badrinath. The mountain a mere 7 km from Badrinath, rises to a towering 3500 m above the shrine. The mountain is bounded by the Satopanth bank and the Vasudhara valley to its north, the Alaknanda river to its east and the Panpatia bank and the Khirao ganga to its south.¹

The expedition to Nilkanth was conceived, planned and organised by the Indian Army. It was to be a multinational army venture, with service personnel from the Indian, French, American, British and Italian armies participating. The foreign armies were participating at the invitation of the Indian Army.

A ground reconnaissance of the northeast and the southeast ridges of the mountain was carried by the leader Lt. Col. H. S. Chauhan, alongwith two officers and two NCOs in the last week of November 1992. The reconnaissance confirmed that the expedition would be attempting Nilkanth from the hitherto jjndimbed northeast ridge.

The main expedition left Delhi on 5 May 1993. From Badrinath the expedition followed the Rishi ganga valley. Keeping the Rishi ganga to the south, the route skirted the Narayan Parbat massif. As the time taken to reach the proposed base camp was over 6 hours, and that too all on snow, an intermediary camp had to be established on 9 May at 3800 m. Base camp was finally established on 10 May at 4270 m, near the foot of the icefall at the base of Nilkanth.

On 14 May Lt. Col. H. S. Chauhan, the leader, carried out an aerial recce of all the faces of the mountain and in particular the NE ridge.

 

The east face

Nilkanth, despite its easy accessibility and a relatively modest altitude by Himalayan standards, is a mountain with formidable defences. The east face is steep, pinnacled and loose. The face rises sheer from 4420 m to 5790* m to the col betweeen Nilkanth and Narayan Parbat. It is a generous mix of hanging glaciers, coupled with steep rock ¦bands and precariously resting snowfields. It is further compounded by complex problems of overhanging unstable seracs and cornices hanging menacingly from the broken ridge lines, which are heavily prone to frequent falls and ice and loose snow avalanches.

The route from base camp to Cl involved passing through the run out zone of massive, collapsing seracs of icefall, which used to come hurtling down with regularity. It further involved a steep ascent of over 460 m of rock band, including negotiating of avalanche gullies before hitting the first snowfield. Climbers traversing this snowfield were menacingly threatened by an ever possible avalanche threat, from other snowfields above it.

The route from BC to Cl had to be fully fixed. The route which initially went through the icefall to Cl had to be changed due to the movement of the unstable icefall, and the avalanche threat on the east face. Cl too had to be shifted.

On 14 May, a party comprising of Maj. Goth, Capt. A. Abbey, Nb. Sub. Devi Singh, CHM Chet Ram Rana, Hav. Lalit Kumar Negi along with Dave, North and Daniel (Americans) and Higgins (British) opened the new route to Cl. The Americans and the British returned shortly to base camp, as one of them was suffering from a continuous pounding headache. Meanwhile Capt. N. B. Gurung, alongwith Sub N. D. Sherpa, Hav. Angchuck, Hav. Shaft, Lnk. Bura, Rfn. R. B. Gurung and Som Prasad Pun shifted Cl to its new location. Nb. Sub. Thakur Dass alongwith Hav. Amar Prakash, Lnk. Mohinder Singh, Sep. Neelchand, Sep. Raj Bahadur and Sep. Palden Giyacho removed fixed ropes through the icefall and wound up the old Cl. This group while traversing the snowfield came under a massive loose snow avalanche, escaping only narrowly.

Camp 1

Cl was established on 14 May at 4420 m. It was located over the first snowfield under the rock wall. 4 tents were precariously anchored to prevent them from hurtling down the face. There being hardly any place to move, a fixed rope was put for the members to move within the camp. A slip from the confines of the camp could be fatal. The camp though relatively safe from avalanches, was prone to rock falls hurtling down the face.

In all, 31 ropes were used for opening route to C2. Spectacular views of the east ridge of Nilkanth, Hathi Parbat. Hardeol and Bethartoli Himal, could be seen.

Camp 2

The route to C2 was opened amidst heavy snowfall. From Cl the route skirted the round wall and moved up a steep rock band, passing below snowfields and avalanche gullies. From the rock band the route followed a steep ice-arete (both sides of this arete were a sheer drop). En route two rock walls were negotiated. The route finally traversed from the arete into a gully, before moving up a steep ice-gully and reaching west of the col between Nilkanth and Narayan Parbat. The northeast ridge was finally gained at 5790 m.

In all, 32 ropes were fixed on the route from Cl to C2. On the first day, 12 rope-lengths, and on the second, 20 ropes were fixed by the team. C2 took 7 days to establish, mainly because of heavy snowfall and the prevailing wind and visibility conditions.

C2 was finally established on 22 May on the snowfield overlooking the Vasudhara valley. Just above C2 was a big bergschrund, which had to be negotiated for any move between Cl and C2.

Route opening to the summit

The route opening from C2 commenced on 22 May. The team comprising of Maj. Sharma, Ramphal, Dan Singh, Garudkar, Vinod, Kundan, Vijender, Lagad, Ranjeet alongwith Morin and Gryzka (French) occupied C2 and pushed the route forward.

12 rope lengths were fixed on the traverse of the snowfield immediately after C2. 12 rope lengths were further used to reach the NE ridge. This team which primarily comprised of former instructors of the High Altitude Warfare School (India) fixed another 5 ropes taking them right to the base of the mammoth overhang. This was technically the most challenging portion of the route. The route was finally forced open under the overhang between the NE ridge and the rock band. The route was opened by Dan Singh, Ramphal, Vinod and Kundan. The French team of Morin and Gryzka gave a superb account of their sound climbing techniques, and fixed 2 rope lengths on the most difficult stretch of the route. The team was also joined by two veteran climbers Hav. Mohd Shafi, and Hav. G. Angchuk.

The team at C2, by now had done a commendable job and deserved rest. So on the 29th the team returned to the base camp for rest and recuperation. Simultaneously the team at Cl of 3 Indians, N. D. Sherpa and Thakur Das, 3 Italians and 2 British members moved up to C2.

30 May — The summit day

On 30 May at 0430 hrs Devi Singh, Shafi, Angchuk, Lalit Negi and Chet Ram left C2. The second group under N. D. Sherpa comprising of 2 Britons, 3 Italians and Bora left C2 at 0630 hrs. The weather being clear, the group made rapid progress. The high point upto where the previous team had opened the route was reached by 1030 hrs. Thereafter the team traversing the base of the mammoth overhang hit the snowfield on top of the overhang. By 1200 hrs the team had hit the base of the ice wall. By 1340 hrs the team had negotiated the ice wall. Moving up the summit cap the team hit a horizontal snow-cave at 1445 hrs. Here the team rested, and brewed some tea. Both the groups were now moving together, the latter group having caught up with the former. The route was opened by Chet Ram, Angchuck, Shafi, Lalit Negi and Devi Singh (2 rope lengths were fixed by the Italians, but due to paucity of time, the Indians resumed the route opening).

The final climb and the summit

A 100 m ice-wall at a 60° angle was the major technical difficulty faced by the team. The difficulty lay in the almost vertical, initial,10 m high slope above the bergschrynd, which required artificial climbing and took 3-4 hours of hard work. The ice on this stretch was hard like a polished mirror with the mammoth overhang looming threateningly above. The top of the ice wall which was covered with overhanging ice was a small hump of rotten snow which had to be crossed with caution.

Above this hump the slope eased, but posed the danger of slab avalanches and cornice break-offs. Approximately 100 m below the summit, a 10 m ice-gully posed another major problem and this led to a horizontal snow-cave. This snow-cave can incidentally be seen from the base camp as well as Badrinath.

From the left edge of this horizontal snow-cave another 100 m of snow-slope leads to the summit ridge, with the summit hump to the left and a -sharp snow-ridge to the right. The ridge joins the summit hump and then this hump continues forward in the form of an approximately 30 m long snow-rib running towards the west, to culminate in the highest point of the peak.

Moving along the corniced ridge and overcoming the last hump at 1530 hrs Hav. C. Angchuk, and Hav. Mohd Shafi, found that there was no higher ground for them to gain. They were on. the summit of Nilkanth! They were soon joined on the summit by Lalit Negi, Devi Singh of the Dogra Scouts, and Chetram. In all, 12 rope lengths were fixed to the summit by this team.

After reaching the summit the team spent 30 minutes taking photographs and were flooded with congratulatory greetings from BC, Cl, C2, IBC and the Roadhead camp. The expedition camp at Badrinath was flooded wjth thronging crowds who witnessed the grand finale. Doctors, postmasters, "hoteliers, shop keepers, sadhus, vendors and the pilgrims witnessed this high altitude drama unfolding itself and finally concluding before their eyes. Sweets were distributed in celebration.

The second summit party

Meanwhile the second summit party under Captain A. Abbey moved up and occupied Cl on 30 May. The team comprised of Capt. A. Abbey, Amar Prakash, Mohinder Singh, Raj Bahadur, Neel Chand, Palden, North, Dave, Daniel and Copley.

On the 31st, the team from Cl moved and occupied C2 under heavy snowfall, wind and poor visibility conditions. SFC Daniel C. Bliss returned to the base camp for he was unwell. On 1 June the weather cleared, with 6 inches of residual snow at C3. A party led by Subedar Thakur Das moved across the snowfield and removed the buried ropes.

2 June — second summit

2 June was a clear, windless day. The first team comprising of Mohinder Singh, Amar Prakash, Palden, Neel Chand, Som Bahadur Pum left C2 at 0415 hrs. There were followed by Thakur Das, Maj. Goth, Maj. Bahadur, R. P. Gurung, North, Dave and Copley. They were followed after a gap of about two hours by the French team of Esteve, Norin and Gryzka who had come up from BC the previous day. In a commendable performance, Naik Mohinder Singh of the Dogra Scouts single handedly beat the route from C2 to the summit. All members of the group reached the summit, by 1130 hrs.

Summit from Cl

On 1 June Cl was occupied by Maj. Sharma, Dan Singh, Ramphal, Vinod, Kundan, Vijender, Lagad and Ranjeet Singh. The team comprising of mainly former instructors of the High Altitude Warfare School left Cl at 0315 hrs on 2 June. Moving light, the team reached C2 at 0630 hrs. All members reached the summit by 1230 hrs. It was a commendable performance, for this team summitted the mountain from Cl, climbing 1520 m. Both groups met at the summit and felicitations followed. Members retraced their steps and were back in C2 by 1730 hrs.

It is pertinent to mention that no remains of any of the previous expeditions were found on the summit by this expedition. Two snow stakes duly engraved with the expedition name, connected with a sling along with some memorablia have been left on the summit by this expedition.

In all 16 Indians, 2 Americans, 3 French and 1 Briton reached the summit on the second attempt. 8 Indians climbed directly from Cl to the summit.

Paragliding and return

On 3 June the return commenced. A party comprising of Devi Singh, Kundan, Vinod and Chet Ram moved up from C2 and removed ropes from the overhang and below. Another party under Ramphal removed the ropes from the snowfield. C2 was wound up the same day by Maj. Goth. The same morning the French team comprising of Esteve and Morin took off from C2. They paraglided through the Vasudhara valley into the safe sanctuary of the Roadhead camp at Badrinath in just about 25 minutes. Their's was a remarkable flight indeed.

The multinational army expedition to Nilkanth was the first of its kind launched by the Indian army. Service personnel from five nations combined to achieve a single goal. This expedition recorded the first 'authenticated' climb by the virgin NE ridge. As the British member aptly summed up: 'It is the hardest thing I have ever done.'

Members: Lt. Col. H. S. Chauhan (leader), Maj. A. B. Goth, Maj. S.C. Sharma, Maj. S.C. Upadhyay, Capt. A. Abbey and Capt. N. B. Gurung with 26 other ranks (Indian army).

Maj. Esteve Alain, Adjutant NCO Morin Emmanuel and Adjutant NCO Gryzka J. Maro (French army).

SFC Michael R. North, SSK D. Hoffman and SSG Daniel C. Bliss (LJ. S. army).

Capt. C. R. Bushby, L/Cpl. A. D. Copley and Sgt. Higgins (British army).

Warrant Officer Boi Lorenzo, Warrant Officer Vori Ugo and Staff Sgt. D'inca Fabrizio (Italian army).

----------------------SUMMARY---------------------

The ascent of Nilkanth (6596 m) by the virgin northeast ridge gained from the east face by a multinational army team. 36 persons reached the summit on 30 May, and 2 June 1993. The entire route, barring a small section, was fixed with ropes from BC to the summit, using 4000 m of ropes.

 

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