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Scaling success

IMPERIAL VISTA A view of Kanchenjunga

`Mountaineering inculcates in a man courage, comradeship, the capacity to bear hardships and the ability to take deliberate decisions which may often entail consequences that may result in death,' says Colonel Narinder Kumar whose seventh book, "Koh-Himalaya" was launched recently in the Capital.

Narinder Kumar has been adventurous since his childhood. His mountaineering career started in 1958 as the expedition leader to Trishul. Participating actively in adventure sports in the Kumaon regiment, he was termed as the mountaineering jewel. He also attended a two-month course in skiing both on ice and water. He is a recipient of the Kirti Chakra, the Padma Shri, the Arjuna Award and the Indian Mountaineering Foundation's Gold Medal.

"My role model has always been Tenzing Norgay. It is only because of him I was able to climb Mount Everest despite having frostbite and termed as unfit by medical practitioners," says the Colonel, who scaled the peak up to 28,300 feet in 1960, becoming the second Indian to reach that level after Norgay.

He was Principal of the Himalayan Mountaineering Institute, Darjeeling, and the Indian Institute of Skiing and Mountaineering at Gulmarg before taking over as the Commandant of the High Altitude Warfare School.

Asked about adventure sports in India, he says, "It is unfortunate our country is not doing anything substantial to promote adventure sports like mountaineering and skiing. It's time the sports department worked on this aspect."

Luge training

Currently President of the Winter Games Federation of India and Ex Officio Vice President of the Indian Olympic Association, he says, "The winter Games Federation is a young federation where sportsmen are trained for various Olympic games. This year we are concentrating on luge training — a sport that involves two persons on a sled. One controls the steering and the other sleighs the supine."

In the spring of 1977, the Colonel led a team of 16 Indian Army climbers to attempt Kanchenjunga. The choice of the pre-monsoon season for the expedition gave them an inflexible and extremely short period. The mountain extracted its tribute very early when one of the membersSukhvinder Singh died even before the team had reached the camp. But the team, undaunted, fought against the harshest odds and the summit was won after nearly 100 days.

An unforgettable experience during the Kanchenjunga expedition was when he was trapped in the snow clad mountains and the rope to which he was tied was about to wither away. "I was extremely petrified, but it was sheer determination that brought me back alive," he recalls. The book, published by Brijbasi Art Press Limited, is named "Koh-Himalaya", Koh meaning the best or the most superior. The book describes the mountaineering skills against the vagaries of terrain, weather and insurmountable odds that nature throws at every stage of an expedition. Speaking on the book and its vision, the Colonel says, "Kanchenjunga is a sincere effort to portray the unexplored facets and achievements of the Indian Army. The book is not just an account of the ascent but also a memorable tribute to the team's tryst and their mountaineering skills."

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