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Navy team traverses North Pole

Special Correspondent

Becomes the only organisation in the world to have conquered the three poles

Is also the first Indian team to ski to both the poles
Use of sleds manually was physically the toughest part

NEW DELHI: The Navy became the first Indian team to ski to the North Pole on Wednesday night, according to information that reached the Navy headquarters here. In the process, it also became the only organisation in the world to have conquered the three poles — the conventional South and North Poles besides Mt. Everest considered by mountaineers as the third and vertical pole.

Speaking to journalists via a satellite phone, the team leader, Commander Satyabrata Dam said, “We are very happy and proud for having hoisted our national flag at the very top of the world.”

It was also the first Indian team to ski to both the poles. Besides it had three members who joined 23 others to have planted their insignia at all the three poles.

Although images of heavily clothed mountaineers skiing over a vast expanse of smooth ice spring to mind, the journey was anything but that, Commander Dam said. Sitting amidst snowfall, described as silvery rain from a blue sky with no sign of life all around except for a few British adventurers, he said the use of sleds manually at several stretches was physically the toughest and riskiest means to reach the pole. The biggest danger was the benign-looking polar bear, which is extremely irritable and attacks to kill. “The polar bears have been known to follow people for several kilometres before attacking them,” he said.

Other hazards

Then there was the complete absence of habitation and, therefore, very little opportunity for help in distress. Unlike the South Pole which teems with scientific stations, the North Pole is used purely for adventure activity. The other hazards were shifting ice, cracks in the ice sheet and severe winds and blizzards.

“Extreme adventure activity made a recent beginning in the Navy. It will be a historic moment when they put the naval ensign on the North Pole,” Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral Sureesh Mehta said, when flagging off the team last month. Commander Dam led the Navy team to Mt. Everest in 2004 and then led the ski expedition to the South Pole. The 42-year-old officer has climbed 32 major peaks all over the world. Giving him company like during the South Pole ski trip, was surgeon Ajay Sharma. On his previous trip, the doctor had his hands full right from the flight to New York, delivering a baby at 35,000 feet. Part of the team were eight other sailors with 21-year-old Sonam Tamchos from Ladakh the baby of the team.

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