Nanda Devi East 75 Years on : A Journey Through the Past

George Rodway and Anindya Mukherjee

In June-July 2014, a small, lightweight and semi-alpine style expedition successfully climbed the south ridge of Nanda Devi East (7434 m) in the Kumaun Himalaya. On 3 July 2014, the summit was reached by four members of the team. This is the 12^th ascent of the peak from 26 expeditions over 75 years.

The year 2014 is unique for Nanda Devi East and its suitors in that it is the 75th anniversary of the first ascent of the mountain by a Polish team consisting of alpinists Adam Karpinski (leader), Janusz Klarner, Jakub Bujak, and Stefan Bernadzikiewicz. Sherpa Dawa Tsering and his team of five Sherpas, and Britons Dr. J.R. Foy (liaison officer and medical officer) and S.B. Blake rounded off the members of the expedition. Poles Bujak and Klarner reached the summit on 2 July 1939¹ via the south ridge.

Polish climbing in the Greater Ranges has remained at the forefront of advancements in alpinism. But recognition of the pre-Second World War efforts of the Poles, particularly on Nanda Devi East, has largely been a different story. While the 1936 British-American first ascent of Nanda Devi Main (7816 m) has won the lasting admiration of the English-speaking mountaineering community, the first ascent of the equally difficult, if not more difficult, south ridge of the east peak three years later has been but a dusty footnote in history.

There are probably multiple reasons why the 1939 first ascent of Nanda Devi East has escaped wider notice, and prominent among them is the fact that the Nanda Devi East climb received no more exposure in the English-speaking climbing world than a couple of short articles that appeared in the early 1940s in the Himalayan Journal and Alpine Journal. Of course, by that time the Second World War was well underway and the world had many grave matters on its collective mind. Adding to the reasons why the 1939 climb has not enjoyed greater historical fame was the fact that the two surviving Polish members, Bujak and Klarner returned in late summer of 1939 to a Poland suffering a brutal and tragic fate at the hands of Nazi Germany and the start of the apocalypse that was very shortly to consume much of the world. The priority for Bujak and Klarnerin the immediate aftermath of their return to Europe was not to advertise their mountaineering success but to survive. Their friends Karpinski and Bernadzikiewicz were killed in an avalanche during an attempt on the Tirsuli peaks on 18 or 19 July after the team moved base camp to the Milam glacier so they never returned to see Poland’s devastation.

2014 Climb
Approach

In May 2013², Anindya Mukherjee had attempted to climb the south ridge of Nanda Devi East. However, during the summit attempt, extremely high winds above 6900 m and poor gear conditions compelled the team to turn back from below the summit pyramid.

This year, the Indian team added a member from the USA. On 13 June, we started our trek from Munsiyari to base camp. After spending five nights on the approach march with the hired help of 12 low altitude porters from the Munsiyari area to carry food and gear, we established base camp at Bidalgwar (4250 m) on 17 June.

Base camp

Camp on the south ridge with Nanda Devi main and the first pinnacle

Route

The Nanda Devi Khal (Longstaff’s Col) - south ridge route of Nanda Devi East was climbed from the Lawan valley. Nanda Devi Khal was first climbed by Dr. T. G. Longstaff (along with two Swiss guides) in 1905 and the South ridge route was first climbed, as previously mentioned, by the Polish team in 1939. Interestingly, there has been no other route established on this mountain since then. Of note is the 1951 French Nanda Devi expedition which climbed to Longstaff’s Col (5910 m) from the west (sanctuary) side en route to repeating the 1939 Polish route to the summit of Nanda Devi East. Students of mountaineering history will recall that this repeat of the 1939 route included Tenzing Norgay (the team’s Sirdar) and was accomplished in support of the two-man French rope team who was attempting the first-ever traverse from Nanda Devi main summit to the eastern summit. This adventurous and futuristic effort was unfortunately ill-fated, as the two French climbers disappeared on the traverse. At any rate, the Polish route remains the classic and only route on Nanda Devi East to date. And the approach to the south ridge of Nanda Devi East has been restricted to the Lawan (east) side due to the closure of the Nanda Devi sanctuary since the early eighties.

Beyond BC, our team ferried loads for a few days to the foot of Longstaff’s Col and established an advanced base camp (4750 m). Above ABC, another camp at 5000 m was established on a rock step on the slopes below Longstaff’s Col. This was established with the aim of shortening the 1100 m plus climb from ABC to Longstaff’s Col, which proved helpful. From the intermediate camp, we climbed to the Col (5910 m) in only five hours, where we established Camp 1.

Beyond Longstaff’s Col, three more camps were established at the altitudes of 6100 m, 6400 m and 6800 m. We put totally four camps on the south ridge during our 2014 ascent, as opposed to just three camps on the ridge the prior year. The primary benefit of placing an extra camp and specifically a higher summit camp was that it made our summit day shorter and thus more manageable, given the conditions encountered near the summit. Because of limited visibility on the summit plateau, it was necessary to later refer to photos taken of nearby peaks through breaks in cloud cover to definitely determine that the summit party had actually achieved the true summit.

Camp 4

Nearing the icefield below the summit pyramid, Nanda Kot in distance

Approaching the summit pyramid from Camp 4 on a rope fixing morning

Rock step for access to the final summit ridge

Climbing Conditions

Compared to our attempt in 2013, we found the entire south ridge almost devoid of snow this year. Ironically, the one day when this snow-free state of affairs would have been a great benefit to us, we fought through deep, unconsolidated snow. As a result of being stuck in Camp 3 (6400 m) for two additional unplanned nights due to bad weather and heavy precipitation, we faced bottomless new powder snow on the summit pyramid. This made our summit day a slow and struggling affair.

A glance of Nanda Devi main from the summit plateau

Looking down the summit ridge

Style of Climb

Being a small team with a low budget, we carried a limited amount of static rope to fix. We fixed our ropes en route to Longstaff’s Col from intermediate camp and on the Pinnacles between Camps 1 and 2. Above and beyond the Pinnacles, we occasionally and judiciously re-fixed old rope that we found on the mountain itself. We ferried loads of hardware and food up to Camp 2 and ascended the rest of the ridge in ‘carry, camp and climb’ style.

Thendup Sherpa, Anindya Mukherjee, Temba Sherpa and Dup Tsering reached the summit on 3 July, 2014.

2014 Team

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)

Summary

A light weight ascent of Nanda Devi East (7434 m) by a small Indian-American team on 3 July, 2014 to celebrate the 75th Anniversary of the first ascent of the peak.

1939: The Throne of the Goddess

As a tribute to the 1939 Polish team and the 75th anniversary of the first ascent of Nanda Devi East, given here is an excerpt from Jakub Bujak’s personal, previously unpublished account of the summit day on 2 July 1939 (with the permission of Bujak’s grandson, Jan Lenczowski), written in 1945. Incidentally, the reader will note that he makes reference to the famous British peak called Snowdon. This is because Bujak was involved with the British military industry as an engine specialist in the UK shortly after his return to Europe from India in late summer 1939 until the end of the Second World War. Bujak takes up the story as he and Klarner near the top of Nanda Devi East, immediately after Bernadzikiewicz and Dawa Tsering turned back for high camp because of Bernadzikiewicz not feeling well:

Klarner and I had our feet numb, and although time was precious, I spent half an hour in taking my boots off and rubbing my toes till the feeling came back. My companion refused scornfully to do the same, and paid for it by blisters on his big toes.

Then we set to our task. The tension was high. I felt like a string tuned to a high pitch, and was ready to go to a great length, if necessary, to force the passage. The snow slope steepened gradually, running up in shallow gullies into slabby rocks. Leading through we wangled our way up the gullies, half way up the Step. Here Klarner’s turn came, and, after having run out half the rope’s length, he got stuck on holdless slabs. He is a stubborn fellow and it took me a good while to persuade him to come down. It was my turn now. Traversing on a ledge to the right, I got to the very edge of the ridge. The exposure here was greater, but the rock more broken. I could see only a few yards ahead and more than once it seemed that further progress was hopeless. Each time, however, a side escape could be found from the apparent impasse. After some 150 feet we found ourselves on the snowy crest of the ridge, above the Second Step. The first round was won. How difficult was it? Well, I do not know. It is very hard to tell. Perhaps ’moderate’ if brought some 20,000 feet lower down, to the altitude of Snowdon.

There followed an infinitely slow slog up a moderately steep snow crest, with one or two rock outcrops, flattening below the last obstacle, the Third Step. This proved easier than the Second, but all the same we took a good hour for some 150 feet. The last bit was up a steep snow riblet, on which I had to use both my arms and legs. The riblet eased off rather unexpectedly and merged into a large snow field. I shouted back, “come on”, and began to walk up the gently sloping ground towards the highest point.

Many people ask me: “What were your feelings when you got to the top?” I should perhaps say: “We were very thirsty and tired, but, although it was nearly opening time, there was nothing to drink. Even our thermos flask was empty”.

This would not be genuine. The hour was late, true enough: it was 5.20 p. m. We were just a couple of tired ruffians, with parched throats, and our thermos flask had been emptied long ago. But we never thought of it then. So I am not going to keep up to the correct style. Instead, I shall tell quite shamelessly, what happened. I was staggering towards the highest point, sometimes sinking deeply into the snow, sometimes managing to stay on top of the crust. Another thirty, another twenty yards to go. Almost level. I was panting heavily, as usual. But suddenly my panting lost its regularity, it changed into a sob, and some tears ran out from under dark glasses on to a scruffy face. The first time for many years, I wept.

Call it what you will: childish softness, lack of manhood, or nervous reaction after a great tension. I do not care. There it was. I was perfectly, utterly happy. A multitude of most intense feelings was dominated by one: that of gratitude for having been allowed to get there. Gratitude to whom: Providence or Goddess Nanda? I could not tell.

I would like to finish here, but that again would not be true. The final note of our Expedition was different.

Nanda Devi is a Goddess. When she admitted me to the lower of her two thrones, she was all kindness. But not always is she kind. In fact, Nanda Devi is only one of the several hundred names of Parvati, Goddess of death and destruction. I did not know it then. A few weeks later I was to realise it. It was driven home to me during two long days spent on the hanging glacier on the slopes of Tirsuli, in hopeless digging in the debris of an avalanche which hid the bodies of two of my friends.

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