The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Braving hardship

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, May 29, 2006

Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Braving hardship

"The most memorable expedition I have taken adventurers to is scaling of the Mount Kamet, the third highest peak in the world and located somewhere between Indian and Chinese territory... there is no habitation there and no people living close enough to claim one nationality or other,'' M.K. Krishnamurthy tells K. Satyamurty.

Up there in the Himalayas, 26,500 feet above the sea level, icy winds howl all through the day and night. A lot of courage, determination, and physical and mental endurance are necessary to survive the elements at their fiercest. Mr. Krishnamurthy has been braving the elements in such wilderness areas for years together. Located in the central Himalayas in the Zanscar region, the Mount Kamet can be climbed only during June and July when the risk from avalanches is lower than in winter and the temperatures close to zero degrees Celsius than many degrees below that mark. Mr. Krishnamurthy led a group of 12 persons aged between 20 and 40 and spent 45 days in the high altitude region. There were team members from other States such as Haryana and Orissa, and what was common was the spirit of adventure.

They drove for 12 days on mountain tracks after getting permission from the Border Security Force. Afterwards it was trekking, along with ponies carrying their tents, food and equipment and with local porters who also acted as guides.

"Landmarks can be misleading up in the icy mountains. Sudden snowfalls and avalanches can obscure rocks and you can easily lose your way.

Once closer to the summit, we lost directions and trekked for a day and half before coming across an army group which guided us back in the right direction. Three days were wasted and this is common during Himalayan expeditions,'' he says.

Mountaineering expeditions proceed from a base camp, and then up a series of camp one, camp two and so on. "At one place we had to cross frozen crevasse with the help of a rope bridge put up for us by personnel of the Indo-Tibetan Border Force,'' he says.

With all that ice and snow around, finding water to drink is still difficult. "You need to boil a mug of frozen water for nearly 40 minutes till you can drink... cooking food also takes time. At one of the camps closer to the summit, we were snowed under for some days and had to ration out our food to just a cup of noodles per member each day,'' he says.

There were places where they had to trek hip deep in snow and progress was often slow. If there are enough daylight hours and not very steep gradients, you may sometimes walk 1000 feet at a time some times further,'' Mr. Krishnamurthy says.

Apart from mountaineering, Mr. Krishnamurthy has also done several white water rafting trips on the Ganga in Uttaranchal. "For young people, mountain climbing is both a test of endurance and will power and it brings them closer to nature,'' he says.

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