INDIAN ARMY ON EVEREST AND LHOTSE

COLONEL ASHOK ABBEY

In 1921, a British Reconnaissance Expedition led by Lt Col Charles Howard Bury, while crossing the Kama Valley and the northern edge of the Kangshung Glacier, observed a gigantic, monolith of a mountain to the south of Everest, with its sharp summit jutting out to the sky. The mountain though marked as E1 by the Great Trignometrical Survey (GTS), had not been surveyed and had no local name. Bury christened this mighty peak as ‘Lhotse’ meaning ‘ South Peak’ in Tibetan and continued westwards. Further west dominating the skyline, had to be the focus of their reconnaissance — Everest, its unmistakable form distinct! Thus Lhotse became the south peak of Everest and both became indispensable partners in the highest mountain massif of the world!

The Everest massif lies in northeastern Nepal. To the north is Tibet. The massif apart from Everest (8850m) comprises of Lhotse (8516m), Nuptse (7861m) and Changtse¹ (7583m). Nuptse virtually means the west peak of Everest and Changtse, which lies in Tibet, China means the north peak. It is interesting to note, that all attempts and reconnaissance to climb Mt Everest, prior to 1950, were made from the north (Tibetan side)². After 1950, this process reversed. This was primarily because Tibet, which was open till 1950 after the Chinese occupation, closed its frontiers to mountaineers. Nepal, which was hitherto fore closed and under wraps, opened its door and the first Anglo American Nepal Reconnaissance expedition, was allowed access into the Solu Khumbu region. This was followed by the British Reconnaissance Expedition led by Eric Shipton in 1951.So began efforts to climb the mountain anew from its south face, which falls in Nepal.

In 1847, Andrew Waugh the then Surveyor General of India (later Sir Andrew Waugh) sighted a snow-covered mountain, which looked higher than even ‘Kanchenjinga’ (now spelt as Kangchenjunga), which was hitherto regarded to be as the highest mountain of the world. John Armstrong, an officer of the Survey of India also saw the same snowy summit and recorded it as Peak ‘b’. Mt Everest was thus initially recorded as Peak ‘b’. In 1849, James Nicolson, another officer of the Survey of India used giant Theodolites, (each weighing almost 1100 Ibs and needing 12 men to carry it), to observe Peak ‘b’ from distances of over 100 miles. Nicolson recorded 36 observations from five different stations, the closest being almost 108 miles from the peak. His work was unfortunately cut short as he was struck down by malaria and had to return to England. Everest’s true height was first calculated by an Indian Bengali clerk, Radhanath Sikdar in the year 1852.Subsequently Peak ‘b’ became Peak XV, after the mountains were given a new nomenclature starting in roman numerals from east to west by another Survey of India officer, Michael Hennessy. ‘Kanchenjinga’ thus became Peak IX. That Peak XV was perhaps the highest in the world was only disclosed in 1956 by Andrew Waugh, in a letter, written to his Deputy, Major Thuiller. Despite reservations by Sir George Everest himself, the mountain’s name of Mt Everest was finally adopted by the Royal Geographical Society in the year 1865 — one year before Colonel George Everest died!

Photos 19 10 24, Panoramas D-E

The pioneering efforts to climb Mt Everest, from the north were made by the British. In the 1924 British Expedition, the now famous duo of Irvine and Mallory disappeared in the upper reaches of the mountain, giving vent to intense speculation, as to whether or not they reached the summit. Ironically, the mountain though once described as not possible to climb from the south by none other than Mallory himself³, was finally climbed in 1953 by a British team from the southeast ridge led by Colonel John Hunt, with Tensing Norgay and Edmund Hillary reaching the summit. Ever since then, nearly 15 routes have been pioneered on the mountain with many variations. Today, despite over 1300 ascents, the lure of the mountain has in no way diminished and the tally of successes on Everest include the first solo ascent, oxygen less ascent, first husband and wife team, first handicapped person, first woman, fastest ascent, longest stay atop the summit, youngest, oldest mountaineers and various other records and landmarks which have been created.

Lhotse the fourth highest mountain in the world though lying in the shadow of Everest is a mountain to be reckoned with. The summit ridge, which is about one km long, has two subsidiary summits. At the eastern edge of the ridge is Lhotse Shar (8398 m) and in the center is, Lhotse Middle (8413m). The mountain is a difficult proposition and along with Annapurna, is one of the least often-climbed eight-thousand-metre peaks. The Swiss in 1952 and the British in 1953 were the first to identify in passing, a prominent narrow couloir on its west face, as a possible line of ascent. A Swiss-American Expedition under Norman Dyhrenfurth was the first to attempt the mountain in 1955 from the west. Five camps were established and Ernst Senn reached a high point of 8100 m on 16 Oct. In a remarkable effort, a Swiss team in 1956 led by Albert Eggler climbed Lhotse on 17 May. Ernst Reiss and Fritz Luchsinger leaving Camp VI at 0900 hours reached the elusive summit at 1445 hours. They descended safely to their high Camp, Camp VI at 1815 hours. The second ascent came 21 years later by an Austro German team (Dr Gerhard Schmatz). Lhotse Shar was first climbed in 1970 by an Austrian team (Siegfried Aeberli). The south face of Lhotse has seen some of the finest climbing in the Himalaya, namely by the Czechs and the Poles in 1989, Russians in 1990 and Yugoslavians in 1981. Possibilities of new routes and variations still exist on Lhotse. Prior to our attempt, Lhotse had been attempted by 96 Expeditions, 48 of which had only succeeded in reaching its summit.

The Swiss expedition in 1956 was the first expedition in the world to scale two 8000-metre peaks successfully, namely Everest (23 and 24 May) and Lhotse (17 May), a remarkable effort indeed! It was 32 years later, that a South Korean team repeated their feat and climbed both the peaks as part of the same expedition. Since then Czechoslovakians in 1988, Yugoslavians in 1989, Americans in 1990, French in 1993, British in 1997 and 2002 and two South Korean teams in 2000⁴ have scaled two of the highest peaks of the Everest massif, as part of the same expedition. In an outstanding effort, Viki Groselj a Yogoslavian scaled both Everest and Lhotse in 1989. Nuru Sherpa of Nepal repeated this feat in 1993.

India’s tryst with Everest has been a long drawn ‘passionate’ affair. Chomo-lungma has indeed fired the imagination of Indian climbers for over four decades. The first Indian Expedition was launched in 1960 (Brig Gyan Singh) followed by 1962 (Major John Dias), in which heights of 28,300 feet and 28,600 feet respectively were reached. In 1965 (Capt M.S.Kohli), 9 Indians reached the summit, a record, which held good for 17 years. In the 1984 (Brig B.K. Khullar) Indian Expedition, BachendriPal became the first Indian woman and fifth woman in the world to climb Everest. Major Indian Expeditions were launched to Everest in 1985(Brig Jagit Singh), 1992 (Hukum Singh), 1992 (Deepak Kulkarni), 1993 (Bachendri Pal), 1996 North Face (Mohinder Singh), 1998 (Hrishikesh Yadav), 1999 Kangshung Face (Santosh Yadav) and 2001 (Colonel K. Kumar). In 1993, Santosh Yadav became the first woman in the world to climb Everest twice. We were thus the next major expedition in line. However, we were saddled with the twin objectives of climbing Everest and Lhotse, which was hitherto unprecedented byan Indian Expedition.

To commemorate fifty years of the historic ascent of Everest in 1953, a proposal for a joint venture to the Everest massif was mooted by the Chief of the Royal Nepalese Army (RNA), which was accepted by the then Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) General S. Padmanabhan PVSM, AVSM, VSM, ADC. The expedition was launched under aegis of the Army Adventure Wing, Directorate General of Military Training, Indian Army. Colonel Ashok Abbey led the expedition.

The Indian Army conducted a pre Everest expedition cum selection camp in Sept 2002, in which 66 select personnel participated. These were selected from over 300 volunteers of the Indian Army. The training was conducted in the Rudraganga valley of the Garhwal Himalaya⁵. Apart from technical proficiency and physical conditioning, 40 soldiers in three attempts scaled Gangotri I (6672m). Some members of the Indian Army along with members of the RNA under Major S.S.Shekhawat, crossed the 5968 m high, Kalandani Khal and traversed from Gangotri to Badrinath. The joint team in phase two training underwent 3 weeks of intensive winter conditioning in January 2003, in the Dokriani Bamak⁶, a training area of the Nehru Institute of Mountaineering, Uttarkashi (NIM) in the Garhwal Himalaya.The final team selected was a blend of youth and experience—12 for Everest and 5 for Lhotse!

After intensive training, preparation and planning, the team started on 10 March 2003 and after joining the RNA team, which was led by Lt Col Surya Sen Thakuri, flew from Kathmandu to Lukla (2840 m) on 20 March. On 26 March, after acclimatising at Namche, the expedition team moved further and reached Tengboche or Thangboche (3860m). En route to Pheriche (4240 m) we, also prayed at the famous Pangboche Gompa at the village of Pangboche(3930 m), which is the oldest monastery of the region. From Pheriche enroute to Lobuje(4910m) the famous Thokla Pass(4830m) was reached. On this pass are erected numerous memorials, which is a gory reminder of the human lives lost on Everest. From Lobuje we reached Gorakshep (5140m) or the ‘grave of crows’ where apart from two lodges is a dried up lakebed. It also houses the last recognised Helipad on the Everest trail. On 01 April, after reaching Gorakshep, for acclimatisation the team climbed up to Kalla Patthar (5550 m), which is the high point on the south ridge of Pumori. From here we saw an awe-inspiring sight of Sagarmatha, for the first time!

The final walk to the Everest base camp from Gorakshep was along the south western lateral moraine of the Khumbu glacier. Just before the base camp, as we crossed over from the lateral moraine on to the Khumbu glacier, we noticed a frozen glacial pool with contrasting blue ice rising through it! A peculiar glacial formation, it reminded us of ‘cold coffee’ and ‘ice cream’—the very thought of which took us back into civilization.

Base camp was established on the northern lateral moraine of the Khumbu glacier, under the shadow of the southwest ridge emanating from Khumbutse. It was established by the Advance party on 29 March and was occupied by the team on 03 April at 17,700 feet. The base camp itself was an amazing sight. With almost 30 expeditions attempting Everest and Lhotse from all over the world, it was like a mini township spread over almost two kilometres . The multicoloured tents and numerous Buddhist prayer flags, brought life to the otherwise desolate moraine. It could take anything up to 30 to 40 minutes, to traverse the base camp from one end to the other. From the highest cyber café in the world, to an oxygen filling plant, from special ‘Ironing’ teams to journalists and press people, from Boeing 747 pilots to geologists, the base camp ‘Circus’ was well represented by people from all walks of life. It was without a doubt the biggest human settlement on the Everest trail!

The route ahead of base camp lay across the most fascinating portion of the Khumbu glacier, the Khumbu iIcefall. The 18-kilometre long Khumbu glacier breaks into an icefall below the Western Cwm. It is ironical, that Mallory in the 1921 British Reconnaissance Expedition from this approach declared the mountain virtually impossible to climb, when he viewed it from the col to the southwest of Lingtren. The Khumbu icefall is a big unstable conglomeration of seracs, ice towers, ice blocks and crevasses and has claimed more lives than any other part of the mountain. Our first ferry over the icefall went on 6 April and thereafter this movement became frequent till the team initially acclimatised, inducted and finally cleared the mountain.

Our strategy to negotiate the icefall was straight and simple. Move fast, move early and pray hard to the Khumbu gods to be kind! In retrospect it all worked well. In all there were 53 ladder sections between base camp and Camp 1, spanning horizontal, diagonal and vertical crevasses. At places, there were 6 to 8 foot, aluminum ladder sections joined at a single crossing. Eric Shipton in 1951 described the icefall, as ‘a daunting place, a wild labyrinth of ice walls, chasms and towers’. As per the present regulations a team of ‘Icefall Doctors’ of the Sagarmatha Pollution Control Committee (SPCC) maintain the route over the icefall, for the duration of the climbing season. Each team member has to pay a fee of 450 US Dollars, as a fee for using the route.

Camp 1 was finally established and occupied by members on 13 April at 5950 m, at the tip of the Western Cwm. The route for Camp 1 to Camp 2, was through the Western Cwm. The Western Cwm, is 4 ½ kilometres long and 500 to 700 m wide. From the top of the icefall, the cwm takes a southeasterly direction towards the Lhotse face. The 1951 British Expedition Reconnaissance under Eric Shipton negotiated the icefall, but could not make further progress; as they were confronted with a crevasse, which was 100m wide, 300 m long and 100 m deep. As per Bill Murray, it was the biggest crevasse that he had ever seen! As they could not negotiate this giant crevasse, which was immediately after the icefall, they turned back. The route between the Camp 1 and Camp 2, was riddled with crevasses and at places there were deep chasms-- the sure jaws of death! There were 13 ladders, which the team negotiated between Camp 1and Camp 2. The Western Cwm separates the west ridge of Everest from Nuptse. Both the steep containing walls are prone to frequent Avalanches, which the team witnessed in plenty!

Camp 2 was finally established at 6250 m on 17^th April, on the lateral moraine directly under the great southwest pillar of Everest. The camp was spread out laterally, on a bleak strip of glacial moraine and it took almost 30 minutes to traverse from end to end. Like at the base camp, there was a scramble amongst the Sherpas of various teams, to get a good campsite, which in retrospect, was perhaps inevitable.

The route from Camp 2 to Camp 3I entailed an hours walk on the broken icefield, to the head of the Western Cwm. Here a bergschrund spanning the headwall of Lhotse was negotiated to gain the Lhotse face. Thereafter, a steady climb on blue ice led us to this most uncomfortable camp on Everest. Camp 3 was established on 23 April, at 7310 m. Owing to a number of expeditions, the camp was split into two locations, an upper and a lower Camp 3. The wind gods giving us but a small glimpse of their fury unleashed themselves on the mountain between 25 April and 5 May and wrecked our 6 tents established at Camp 3. Subsequently this camp was re established, before the attempt on Lhotse on 10 May.

On all mountains above 8000 meters, good weather is one of the key factors to success. High winds on an otherwise clear day can mar any summit attempt, and on Everest and Lhotse this was no exception. Throughout the expedition, the leader’s decision-making was based on the excellent weather input, which the team received from National Center For Medium Range Weather Forecasting,(NCMRFW) New Delhi. The team on a regular daily basis informed the NCMRFW of the physical state of the atmosphere from the upper reaches of the mountain. Technology, in the form of satellite phones made this possible. It is also one of the many wonders of nature, that though Everest and Lhotse are like two inseparable brothers, yet both mountains make their own weather. Thus when a fleeting weather window opportunity knocked on the doors, the decision to launch the summit attempt on Lhotse was made by the leader.

Above Camp 3, lies one of the most conspicuously visible landmarks of Everest, a streak of yellow rock, called the Yellow Band. It is often referred to as the highest geological default in the world. The yellow tinge comes from the sedimentary rocks, which were weakly metamorphosed. The remains of marine animals of the Tethys sea, namely the clays and salts were transformed into shale, pelites, sandstone and limestone.. The rock on the Yellow Band in texture is also similar to the Cambrian Marble, found in the Rongbuk valley on the north. The Yellow Band can thus truly be described as nature’s streak of brilliance on Everest!

On a mountain like Everest, there is always a possibility of disaster. And if there was one thing that gave sleepless nights to the leader—this was it! Movement in the icefall, the avalanche prone Lhotse face and a traffic jam on the Hillary step as it happened in 1996, were potential choke points. The large number of expedition teams and the number of climbers in the Golden Jubilee year was indeed a grave cause of concern. It was therefore imperative to coordinate the final push in terms of route opening from South Col to the South Summit and then on to the summit. As it was unfair to expect any one team to do it alone, the effort had to be coordinated. A consensus amongst different leaders and their Sherpa Sirdars was a must, for a coordinated effort on the mountain. The Joint Indo Nepalese Army took the initiative and on 25 April, a coordinating conference was chaired by the leader in the dining hall of the expedition team at the base camp. It was a full house and despite minor differences, leaders and teams by far and large agreed to put in their act together for the final push from the South Col to the South Summit and beyond.

Ascent of Lhotse

On 9 May, the first team under Major Shekhawat moved up from Base Camp to occupy Camp 2. However, thereafter NCMRFW forecast stated that Everest was going to be lashed by high winds of over 100 kilometres an hour. But as the high winds were coming from northwest (Tibet), Lhotse would be shielded and winds on it would range from 40 to 50 kilometres an hour. The leader, decided to attempt Lhotse and make use of the fleeting weather window, which the mountain offered. On 11 May, Colonel A. Abbey and the Lhotse team moved up from base camp to Camp 2. On 12 May the Lhotse team left Camp 2 at 0430 hours and in a remarkable effort reached Camp 4 at 1230 hours, the same day. Camp 4 on Lhotse, was established at 7800 m The route from Camp 3 crossed the Yellow Band and thereafter climbed steeply up to the area of boulder, below the entrance of the couloir. The team, which was led by Sub Palden Giacho, comprised of Nb Sub Cherring Bodh, Nb Sub Neel Chand, Hav Surjeet and Champa along with Jamadar RC Shrestha, Hav Rudra, Cpl Karki of the RNA and 4 Sherpas. Four tents were pitched and as high winds lashed Everest in the afternoon, the team rested for the grand finale.

The team left Camp 4 at 0100 hours on 13 May and climbed towards the couloir, reaching its base at 0330 hours. The team after entering the couloir traversed and kept to the left. After climbing for an hour the couloir got constricted, here it was 2 m s wide and 50 to 70 m long. After crossing this constriction, they kept to the left during the climb in the couloir. They finally hit the base of the col separating the southwest ridge of Lhotse (going towards Nuptse) from the main summit of Lhotse. They reached the base of the col at 0715 hours and from there climbed to the left, up the broken rock face for another 150 m till they could climb no further. At 0805 hours, Colonel Abbeys’ radio set at Camp 2, crackled with life. Nb Sub Paldan Giacho and his team of 8 members and 4 Sherpas were standing on the fourth highest mountain of the world, with the Indian Tricolour flag and the Nepalese flag fluttering high! As not more that 2 to 3 members could stand on the top, they took turns to do so. The summiteers witnessed spectacular views of Everest, Nepal and Tibet . After spending 45 minutes, the members commenced their descent and descended down to Camp 2, to a resounding welcome by the team.

In retrospect, Lhotse had been most kind. Despite rotten rope on numerous sections of the route and numerous shooting ‘killer’ stones and rock fall in the steep couloir—the ways of providence are many- the summiteers returned unscathed!

Golden Jubilee ascent of Everest

High winds continued to lash the Everest massif, after 13 May. Amidst intense speculation, NCMRFW confirmed that an attempt on Everest was feasible after 20 May. As all plans were flexible and hinging on the weather, the leader decided to launch the summit bid for Everest after the 20 May, with both the teams virtually moving in tandem, with a gap of 24 hours. South Col was fully stocked for 24 members by 19 May.

On 17 May, Team 1 under Major Shekhawat comprising of Major Abhijeet, Sub Laxman Singh, Sub C.Angchuk, Nb Sub Mohinder Singh, Hav Jagat, and 5 Sherpas and 5 RNA personnel, under Capt Sunil Rathore, moved to occupy Camp 2 from base camp. On 19 May, the team moved up to Camp 3 and reached South Col on 20 May, in high wind. Meanwhile the second summit team comprising of Colonel Ashok Abbey, Sub Lalit Negi, Nb Sub Lal Singh, Hav Tashi Gyapo, Hav Rajendra Singh and Rifleman Kunwar Singh reached Camp 3 on 20 May, along with 6 RNA members under Major Nabin Kumar Rai. On 20 May, both the summit teams were poised at South Col and Lhotse face, respectively.

On 20 May, Team 1 under Major Shekhawat moved from South Col at 2140 hours. It was a windy evening and soon the winds picked up. Near the Balcony and above the bulge, spindrift hit them hard and visibility lessened. Soon they were engulfed in near flat light conditions. As the joint Indo-Nepalese Army Expedition was to open the route for all other expeditions climbing from the south, on their progress hinged the further progress of other teams. At 2300 hours Major Shekahwat spoke to Colonel Abbey and informed him of the worsening weather condition. A decision was taken to call off the attempt. Almost 150 climbers and Sherpas turned back and returned to South Col.

On 21 May, the team under Colonel Abbey was to move up to occupy South Col. Major Shekhawat requested for another attempt by his team. In all fairness Team 1 had availed their chance. Their staying for another attempt meant use of oxygen and rations, which was actually to be used by the second team. However as success of the team was first and foremost and Team 1 was in good physical condition, the leader decided to give another chance to team one. However only three members of the team, along with 4 members of the RNA were to attempt and other members each of both the teams were to move down. Accordingly Nb Sub Mohinder Singh volunteered to stay in support of the attempt, at South Col. Major Abhijeet and Sub Laxman along with two RNA members moved down to Camp 2.

On 22 May, the reconstituted team commenced their move from South Col at 2200 hours and reached Balcony at 0120 hours. At 0600 hour they reached the South Summit and by 0645 hours they had negotiated the Hillary Step. At 0800 hours, after the leading Sherpas, Sub Angchuk and Hav Jagat Singh reached the summit and unfurled the Tricolour and the Nepalese Flag. They were the first climbers in the Golden Jubilee year, to reach the summit from the route pioneered by Col Hunt’s team in 1953. They were followed by Major Shekhawat (for whom it was a second time) and the rest of the team. The team descended down to South Summit by 1030 hours and reached South Col by 1400 hours.

After a lot of deliberation, a bold decision was taken by the leader to launch another summit bid. Team 2, which was fit and raring to go after moving down to Camp 2 on 21^st May, in a remarkable push moved up on 24 May to occupy South Col directly from Camp 2. The team was led by Sub Lalit Negi and comprised of Major Abhijeet Singh, Sub Lal Singh, Hav Tashi Gyapo, Hav Rajendra Singh and Riflelman Kunwar Singh and six members of the RNA. On 25 May, the team left South Col at 0830 hours. At 0430 hours on 26 May, an’ overwhelmed’ young Abhijeet, spoke to the leader “Sir -we are there on top of the world”. 6 Indians and 6 Nepalese soldiers stood firm on the summit for a second time—a living testimony to the intense camaraderie, cooperation and brotherhood between soldiers of the Indian and the Nepalese Armies.

On 27 May, high camps were wound up. A special effort was made to leave the high camps as clean as possible. The cleaning of base camp and high camps, was an ongoing process throughout the expedition and our expedition endeavoured to leave the mountain absolutely clean. Major C.S.Manda the deputy leader, had done a commendable job in this regard. The team concentrated in a record time, at the base camp on 27 May for onward move to Kathmandu, where the historic Golden Jubilee celebrations were being celebrated.

As we wound our way for the last time down the Khumbu glacier, I noticed that our ice cream and cold coffee had vanished. We crossed numerous Yaks and Yak herders walking and singing merrily towards the base camp, reminding us that another climbing season on Everest was coming to an end. It was twilight and I looked back to see ‘Chomolungama’ towering above its’ west shoulder and Nuptse and radiating its magnetic presence against a crystal clear sky. As I looked back one more time hoping to catch our last glimpse of ‘Sagarmatha’ to my utter amazement, the ‘Forehead of the sky’ which was visible until a few moments ago, had suddenly vanished from the horizon.

In that timeless moment of serenading splendour, the ‘Mother Goddess of the World’ to me, seemed to be merging with the heavens. I closed my eyes in ecstasy to capture that rupturing moment of a lifetime. The words of Mallory echoed in my mind- why climb Everest? Because it is there! As long as the world’s highest mountain stands, the challenge to climb it will always be there!

SUMMARY

INDIAN ARMY

 

Joint Indo-Nepalese Army Everest Massif Expedition

 

Royal Nepalese Army

 

Total Summitters

 

 

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