Tuesday June 24, 2008
Summit climb to Mt. Whitney On 22nd June 2008, we (four of us) were able to summit the heights of Mt. Whitney which is the tallest mountain in the lower 48 states of the United States (US) and falls under Eastern Sierra Nevada Mountain Range of Sequoia National Park.
The day hike which is 22 miles round-trip was started at 1.40 am as there were thunder storms predicted by rangers. We somehow got up at 1.00 am but didn't get any sleep. From the fact that we were suppose to climb Mt Whitney in a day with 6000 feet altitude gain/loss, it kept us awake whole night. In order to gain some ground, we did a practice hike in the near-by area of Mt.Whitney and scaled 11,000 feet & 8 miles round-trip on 21st June. That turned out to be a good warm-up.
Since we got an early start, I was expecting to reach by 8-9 am but I was struggling. I'm yet to figure out why I struggled at high-altitude which delayed the summit climb by more than two hours. Its not that I have never hiked on higher altitudes but it seems I 'm slowly losing the moment. I finally reached the top of Mt. Whitney mountain at 10.35 am which were below my expectation and it did disappoint me a lot. The hike in a day is a very-very strenuous and it took everything out of me. On a strenuous hike like this you must have lot of patience to climb since it can take longer than you expect.
Anyway...time to share photographs and the camera added extra 4 pounds on the pack.
      
(2008-06-24 21:38:59.0)
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Sunday July 29, 2007
Mt Shasta summit (14100 feet tall volcanic mountain) The climb to Mt. Shasta was fun and very tough when we reached above 10000 feet level. There are no trails. You have to create your own path or rely on footprint on snow. We had initially planned to climb from Avalanche Gulch – John Muir Route (Regular Route) via Bunny Flat Trailhead but had to cancel because there were large number of rock falls after Helen Lake. After consulting with Rangers, we decided to climb the mountain from Clear Creek side. This is what the official website had to say when we climbed it and I quote "Clear Creek Trailhead: The route is in poor shape and involves 5000 ft. of scree scrambling. Crampons and an ice axe should be brought with you even if only for a short section above 13,200 ft. Carry and know how to use a map and compass to avoid getting lost. There is no trail to the summit - the official trail ends around 8500 ft. where the route begins. Water is running at the standard high camp (8500 ft.). Please make sure to camp at least 200 feet away from the springs/creek.". The date of our climb was 22nd July. Our group had nine people and six people managed to summit the peak. One of the group member lost its way down and had to be rescued next morning. The climb was started at 3.00 am (we had to get up at 2.00 am and it was painful). The first batch of two people summit the peak at 8.45 am and next batch of two people at 9.15 am. Sumanth and I didn't take the boulder route and decided to go over snow over the glacier table on the right. Molly and Ankur were the first to summit the peak and Molly finished the climb & descend by 12.00 noon which was remarkably fast. I was having little problem with crampon boots as they were hitting my toe on the way down and manged to come down from the mountain at 3.15 pm.
The base camp was established at 8250 feet and we waited for Nick and Ankur until 6.00 pm on 22nd July when we decided to come down to trailhead (3 miles from the base camp). It was 8.30 pm when we hit I-5 freeway and returned home at 2.00 am on 23rd July. The albums can be found here. I didn't carry my camera because of dust and chance of falling down.
(2007-07-29 11:08:22.0)
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Monday February 19, 2007
Photographs from some of the day hikes Henry Coe State Park -- 15 miles (24 kms) round trip.
Big Basin -- 11 miles (27.6 kms) round trip
Mission Peak -- 5.6 miles round trip
(2007-02-19 21:48:06.0)
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Sunday December 03, 2006
Death Valley
During thanksgiving we five of us planned a trip to Death Valley to do day hikes. Its a nice play and resembles Leh & Ladkh region in Trans Indian Himalayas. However the most attractive point about Death Valley is that Bad Waters is 280 feet below sea level. The journey was long around 529 miles one way but we didn't feel. The hikes were strenuous (Zabriskie Point from Golden Cayon Trail Head and Keane Wonder Mill).
                     
(2006-12-03 18:01:44.0)
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Sunday May 07, 2006
Black Mountain (South Skyline Region) Please find the photographs of South Skyline Region (Monte Bello Open space preserves). We went on Canyon Trail, Bella Vista, Indian Creak trail to reach Black Mountain (2800 feet) and trekked for about 6 miles in three hours. From the top you can see the valley, San Joe, Mt Hamilton and the bay.
 
 
 
(2006-05-07 11:20:17.0)
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Sunday March 26, 2006
Mountain Diablo This was my first hiking trip in California. We had been thinking going out but due to bad weather we had to always postpone our trip. The forest for 26th March weekend was clear skyies most of thime and that's when Phani, Chandan and I decided to visit Mt. Dialbo (Devils Mountain). We took our car and drove towards 880 (north) and 680 (north). These are interstate freeways. It was my first experience on interstate highway and the traffic was just zooming at 80+ miles per hour speed (128 kms per hour). I was driving very carefully in the ghat roads (mountain roads) which were very narrow. The speed limits in mountains were 15 and 20 miles per hours at few places. The view from top was simply amazing. Surprisingly, the weather was clear and we got to see the San Francisco bay and other nearby mountains. We can also see Siera mountains but you need to very lucky for that. We also did some climbing like boldering and climbed few rocks without the help of equipment. Climbing Volcanic Rock was fun. It's very close to the Summit point.
You may want to take a look at the photographs taken from Chandan's camera.
(2006-03-26 20:30:00.0)
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Tuesday February 07, 2006
Skiing in Auli and Safari in Corbett Tiger Reserve Recently four of us (Pramod Batni, Prakash Jalan, Madhu KR and myself) went for three days of skiing and two days visit to Corbett National Park.
We decided to choose Clib Top Resort at Auli (15 kms from Joshimath). This time around snow was not much near the resort but there was plenty of snow near tower number 8-10. While Pramod, Prakash and Madhu were busy in learning how to ski, I was busy in recaping old techniques which I had learned in Auli and Narakanda. There were quite a lot of mistakes which I was doing and had to correct them by taking help from the instructor. I know I had to improve a lot, so I put all the efforts in these three days. The body posture was not correct at high speeds. Finally at the end of the third day, I could manage to improve a lot. In fact I covered 70% of the skiing slope which is more than a kilometer. The slope was too good. I had to slow down at quite a few places. It's really fun. The next step in learning skiing is parallel skiing and jump. Prakash Jalan had accompanied me on third day while Madhu KR and Pramod went for a small ride to GMVN guest house and temple. I also used to visit temple everyday afternoon after finishing the skiing.
Once we finished skiing we headed for Corbett Tiger Reserve. We took a direct bus from Joshimath to Ramnagar at 3.30 am. In the national park, we could locate everything like spotted dear, barking dear, samba, tigers footprint, tigers was to mark their territory, tigers shit etc but we couldn't locate tiger. Perhaps tiger was afraid of coming in front of us. We took two safari to see a tiger but we were not lucky. One elephant safari in the evening and one jeep safari in the morning.
We started from Bangalore on 25th Jan and came back on 5th Feb 2006. It was quite cold there and we were prepared for it. The bus journey was very tiring though. We played Uno (cards) in the train. I'll remember this journey as I lost quite a few times in the game.
General Information on Corbett Tiger Reserve (source : Corbett booklet)
Corbett Tiger Reserve lies in Ramnagar (Nainital, Uttaranchal). The main office is at
Director, Corbett Tiger Reserve
Ramnagar - 244715 (Nainital)
Tel 05947-251489, 251376, 251012.
- Year of establishmen of National Park : 1936
- Area of Square kms : 1288.32
(i) Corbett National Park : 520.82
(ii) Sonanadi Wildlife Sanctuary : 301.18
(iii) Reserve Forest : 466.32
- Main rivers flowing through the Reserve : Ramganga, Sonanadi, Mandal, Palain.
- Tigers : 143 tigers as of 2004.
- Wild animal seen
Mammals : Wild elephants, Tiger, Leopard, Jungle Cat, Barking Deer,
etc.
Birds : Over 580 species of resident and migratory bird
- Opening Time : 15th Nov to 15th June
(2006-02-07 18:30:00.0)
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Sunday December 18, 2005
Marathon in Bangalore Yesterday (18th Dec 2005), Uncle and I participated in Bangalore Half Marathon of 21kms. It was my first experience in any such event. This event was orgainshed for charity purpose. The Marathon started at 7.00 am from Sree Kanteerava Stadium. There would have more than 600 people those who participated in Half Marathon. I took 2 hours 35 minutes to finish this 21kms marathon. The winner took 1 hours 6 mintues to win the race. Just great and no words. I think it's all about maintaing the pace and rhythm so that you're not stressed out in the marathon. When the marathon started all of us very enthuastic. I was trying to maintain the pace as I didn't do any practice (not getting enough time due to work commitments). The rhythm was there but at times I did struggle but I didn't stop. The Winsor Manner bridge was the most difficult part. I had to walk fast and it was putting lot of strain on the kness. This clearly shows that we are fit however I need more practice. Muscular pain is still there but it will away in two days. I met a person working in Motorola and he finished marathon in 2 hours 45 minutes. Overall it was a fanstastic experience. In fact there were lot of people finishing the marathon in 2 hours 30 minutes time. We all got a certificate of honour which I'm going to put in the office (but they have spelled my name incorrectly). The price distribution ceremony was equally good. National champions were also there. Thanks to all of those who participated in this marathon and to Bangalore traffic police also.
There was a full Marathon (42 kms) in May 2005 but I couldn't participate due to work and personal reasons. I hope to participte more in such events. There would be another marathon in Coorg in Jan 2006 and it will be full marathon. I'll update once I have more information.
More details on this marathon can be found at http://www.bangalorehalfmarathon.com/index.htm
It was organised by JSW (steel company).
(2005-12-18 17:55:00.0)
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Sunday November 20, 2005
Wayand (Kerala) : Trek cum Drive This is my first trek in Kerala. Now that I may be moving to California US, I decided to do trekking in Kerala. After having done so many treks in KarantakaWestern Ghats, it's now time to see the Nature in Kerala. This weekend (18th Nov 2005), Dipankar and I decided to drive to Wayand. We started from Bangalore at 5.00 pm on Friday (18th Nov) and had crossed Mysore by 7.30 pm. I didn't have plans to drive upto Sultan Bathery on the same day, so we decided to stay in Bandipur National Park. We slept in the car close to a Dabha (small hotel). It was cold and we didn't carry any wollen cloths with us. Anyway somehow we spend the night there and at 4.00 am next day we start our jounery towards Wayand National Park region. As soon as we crossed Gundelpet (60 kms from Mysore), we saw an accident with a lorry and KSRTC bus. It was little scary for Dipankar. At night we were looking for spotting some wild animals and Dipankar did notice a 'dear'. I was driving looking straight on the road. At 6.00 am we were in Sultan Bathery and had tea. Soon after we left of Meenmutty Falls and started the trak at 7.00 am. The trek is about 4 kms but there are many ways and you can easily lose your track. In fact we end up trekking on all the possible routes there and guess what the last track was the actual trail towards the water fall. Anyway the first trail which descends sharply towards the water fall is little tough as the descend and climb will test the leg muscles. The tea estates are also there. In fact on the whole route we noticed coffee estates. We had light breakfast near the water fall and started heading back by 10.15 am. The next point was Soochipara Water falls. This was full with people so we just spend some time there. It's a nice water fall though. The drive from Vadvanchal to Meppadi and then to water falls has many tea estates and driving there was a great fun for me. I had heard that kerala drivers are one of the worest drivers but looks like they too were scared of me :-). Anyway after seeing the water fall we geared for Chembra Peak. We first took the permit from Local forest range officer and them took the car upto the tower. There too we saw beauitful tea gardens. The climb from tower is just 4kms and what you get to see is just amazing. You can see the whole Wayanda Distt. It was a spectacular view point. We got to see the Sunset also. After spending so much time in trekking and driving, it's the time to take rest. We took a lodge in Meppadi
in Rs 100 and had good non-veg good too. I wanted to camp at the peak but looks like it's not allowed.
The next day we got up at 6.00 am and headed towards Edakkal Cave which is on the way to Bathery. Somebody told me that we should be going to Pookede Lake and a small island called Kuruva Island, but we didn't have time. After having great breakfast, we reached Edakkal cave at 8.00 am. The cave is suppose to open at 9.30 am, so I decided to take a walk in the nearby areas. It's a huge cave and you can see lot of paintings being made on the stone. 'Edakkal' means a stone which is stuck between the two rock faces. Dipankar was little lazy, so I started climbing to the peak which is at the top of cave. In fact I used some rock climbing techniques also. It's little difficult but you can make it upto the top somehow if you have courage. You get to see 360 degree view of Wayand Distt. It was simply amazing. The Sun had come out and as a result it's now little hot. But the coffee estates gave good relief. On the way back to Bandipur Forest, we were trying to spot wild animals and again we fell flat. Anyway the trek and drive was great and we enjoyed it a lot. Photographs are on the way...
Last but not least, the Kerala food and roads are just too good. The next treks being planned in Kerala are Silent Valley and Munnar.
(2005-11-20 19:31:00.0)
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Monday October 10, 2005
A long journey in Trans Indian Himalayas... I'm back from the long journey in Trans Himalayas. The journey was great but we could not complete the trek upto Zanskar range due to river crossing issues. Overall it was a spectacular trip. We did following things during the visit :-
(a) Trek from Prini (near Manali) to Chathru via Hampta Pass (4300m) [four days and avg trek time is 6-7 hours per day]
(b) Trek to Chandra Tal from Battal (in Spiti) [one day and 28 kms]
(b) Battal to Leh (570 kms journey by bus which took two days to complete). Stayed in Keylong.
(c) Leh to Nubra Valley via Khardung La pass at 18,300 feet. We also stayed in Disket and Panamik (close to Siachen Base camp in the Karakoram range).
(d) Leh to Srinagar via Kargil, Drass and Sonamarg. Stayed at Drass. It took two days to finish this journey by bus.
(e) Stayed for two days in Srinagar in a house boat (Delux House Boat) on Dal Lake.
(g) Visited Vaishnodevi temple (near Jammu/Katra).
My uncle and I were the participants. I couldn't take photographs of the trek as I had fallen into the river before crossing Hampta pass. Luckily my camera started working in Ladakh and as a result I might have been successful in capturing beautiful mountains. I'll get them developed and post it later.
(2005-10-10 02:10:10.0)
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Tuesday August 30, 2005
A long trek in Kodachadri hills and Jog Falls Uncle, Dipanker and I were planning for a trek for quite sometime. Since the Janmashtami weekend is a three day weekend (26th Aug 2005 being a holiday), we decided to visit Jog Falls and Agumbe. Initial plan was to take car but I soon realized that roads could be bad due to heavy rains and Jog falls is quite far. Since I'm the only one who can drive, we decided to catch Shimoga Express train on 26th Aug night. Luckily we got the tickets and return tickets were in waitinglist. Since we booked a day before leaving for Shimoga, the return tickets were not confirmed yet we were sure that it will get confirmed.
Day 1
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Train journey was quite relaxing and we could sleep well unlike in overnight bus. Soonafter reaching Shimoga at 5.00 am we decided to walk down to the bus stand to catch a bus to Jog Falls. On the way, we were in double mind to visit Jog Falls or Agumbe (for trekking). Once we reached the bus stand, I saw a bus going to Karwar and I suggested to visit to Karwar, but soon they didn't agree and I had to think about Jog Falls and Agumbe. Till the last moment it was looking as if we will go to Agumbe, but just when we saw a private bus standing for Jog Falls, we decided to jump in without further delay. It costs us Rs 45 per head from Shimoga town to Jog Falls. The bus journey was tiring as it stopped at almost all the villages. Jog falls is 105kms from Shimoga. We were in little hurry. But it still took more than three hours and we were little dissapointed with this. Anyway, without any further delay, we decided to descent down to the bottom of the water fall. We left our rucksacks in one of the shops there and started decending. The weather was okay but little humid. The water in the water fall wasn't as much as we had seen it last year when it was in full swing. However it was still looking spectacular. We met a guy from Spain who was travelling alone. It reminded me my journeys to Lahaul and Spiti. Anyway, we took bath and were there for more than an hour. Climbing back was little painful because of hot and humid weather. But we had to do fast so that we can catch next bus on time.
Just when we were at the top, we saw a bus going to Sagar (on the way to Jog Falls from Shimoga). We were still not sure whether we will go to Agumbe or Kodachadri. The confusion got over at Sagar when we decided to do trekking in Kodachadri and if time permits we can visit Agumbe to see the sunset. In fact sunsets are quite famous from these places. On a clear day sea could also be
visible.
We decided to catch a bus to Nittur from Sagar. It costs us Rs 25 and a free ride on a launch too. That excited all of us. I was excited because I had never taken a launch. After travelling for more than an hour the bus stopped to get into the motor boat. The motor boat was already carrying a car, two autoricksaw and few two-wheelers. We were asked to sit in the front of the boat and then
the bus was also pulled in. The bus was 35 seater bus (so not a small one). The view was as if we were travelling to an island. Looks like it was a backwaters of Linganamakki dam. The journey was of 15 mins. We were eager to do more such trips on a launch but we had to move on. We were in Nittur at 5.00 pm and started asking how to reach base of Kodachadri. Someone told that you can either start trekking from Nittur itself (jeep route) which is 15kms or you can go to Nagodi and start trekking from there (5kms) upto Hari-Ram-Hari-Krishna-Ashram. We decided to stop trekking to the Ashram as we were already getting late. The trek went through thick forest and in fact the trail was jeepable upto Ashram. It was dark by the time we reached Ashram and soonafter we got a room in the ashram. Thanks for a lady from Greece who showed the way at the last moment. We were little afraid of finding the Ashram itself as it was dark by then, but luck was with us. Anyway, they offerred for dinner but we had food. We soon slept so that we can start the trek early morning.
Day 2:
------
From the Ashram, Kodachadri is just 6kms trek. In fact the Ashram is situated in a valley and you can witness surrounding hills. There are very nice camping sites as well. By 7.00 am we geared up for 6kms trek. We noticed a jeep route again. We first had tea and asked about the route to Kodachadri hill. He showed the way and then we didn't look back. The trail went through thick forest and then nice lush green mountain hills. It was a simple trek with a steep climb at few places. We reached at the top of Kodachadri in two hours. After reaching at the top, someone told me that we can visit a cave and Shri Sankaracharya temple also. So we decided to visit these places without any delay. The cave of lord Ganesh was small. The flowers on the way were in full bloom. We then went to a temple followed by another cave which is down the hill and requires half an hour of continous steep decent. Anyway the weather had started becoming cloudy and misty so we were reliefed from humid weather at the top. The hills were looking great and Dipanker captured everything in his digital camera. We returned to Kodachadri hill after visiting these places and soonafter I realised that
I lost my Sun cap. I was little disappointed because this is my third cap which I have lost in just two years.
After taking bath and having lunch, we decided to climb down. There was a jeep route so we decided to take jeep route to avoid Leeches. We knew that this route would go down to Ashram. After climbing down through jeep routes and beautiful lush green hills, we stopped at a place were we saw two routes. We then asked where would this route go. The villager replied and said 'Nittur'. We were shocked to hear this as we wanted to go to Ashram. We soon realised that this is not the same jeep route which we saw near the Ashram. The villager insisted us to not take the route through jungles to reach Ashram. Instead he suggested to take jeep route
but we wanted to go back to Ashram as they had invited us to celebrate Janmashtami. At 4.00 pm we decided to take the unknown route in the Jungle.
After trekking for one hours (no trails as such), we reached a small village (nice paddy field), we asked a person for the Ashram. He had to come with us upto the Ashram to show the way because there was no trail in the jungle from there. We gave him Rs 100 for guiding us. We would have for sure lost our way had we gone alone. Thanks to him.
After reaching Ashram, we participated in few games, had good food and took arti in the temple. At the night uncle and dipanker had slept on the floor as they didn't bring their mats.
Day 3
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The next day we decided to return and visit a Mookambika temple of Goddess Durga ji in Kollur. After trekking for an hour (4kms) we reached a roadhead and from there we caught a bus going to Kollur. On the way we found a route which can go to Kodachadri hill and it's just 13kms of trek passing through a water fall also. Hence we came to know that there are three routes to climb Kodachadri hills. The visit to the temple was quite nice. Sun had come out and we were forced to take cold drinks. Soonafter we got a bus to Shimoga and just before Shimoga I lost my specks. Since then I struggled to see things until I reached back home. The train was at 10.00 pm and we were in Shimoga at 5.00 pm itself. So we had lot of time to kill which we did quite nicely by gossiping about our trips, experiences, share market, work and all.
(2005-08-30 21:05:57.0)
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Monday June 27, 2005
Rope leader returned from Mt. Everest Expedition
This is what my Rope leader of 180th Basic Mountaineering Course had to say when he returned from Mt. Everest Expedition this year. We all are praying for his fast recovery...
------------<8@>------------
hi everybody
it's been quite sometime even after icame back from everest that i wrote something here. ofcource everybody knows that my right hand is temporarily unservicible, but my left hand is still fine. onlything i am quite slow with it. anyway, by now everybody is quite aware abt our expedition thru media. i along with three other members tried the peak on 21st. we cud reach only upto 8400mtr and had come back because of technical problem.the oxygen system we were using was not suitable for heigh altitude. i was forced to change my mask thrice. even then i cud not fix it. in that process my inner gloves become cold and next day morning ifound my fingers are numb. 4 of us beaten back by luck rather i shud say we came back because of inexperience. otherwise we were fighting fit and till we started and faced the problem we were determind to do it. but our bitter experience paid dearly to the team. we changed the oxygen system of our second team to the traditional one and on !
our
advice few more things were also sorted out. the second team summited smootly. but sqn/ldr chaitanya caught into blizard while coming back and got lost on the way back camp 3. mountain is merciless sometime.
rt now i have 3rd degree frost bite in all the fingers of my rt hand. middle and ring finger are little serious. so i may have to lose some part of those two fingers. otherwise i am fine. presently getting treated in air force stn hindon and admitted in 11 af hospital in the same place. next time i shall try to postthe phone no of the hospital itself. bye and take care guys.
------------<8@>------------
(2005-06-27 01:02:21.0)
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Tuesday March 22, 2005
My rope leader will be part of Mt. Everest Expedition in 2005
My Rope or group leader Mr. Anupam, who was in our rope 9 during the Basic Mountaineering course at Nehru Institute of Mountaineering at Uttarkashi, will be part of Mt. Everest Expedition organised by Indian Air Force (IAF) this year. We all are proud of him and wish his team members for safe expedition. According to Anupam, the team size is 20 members and 8 members are part of supporting team and rest are climbing members. Indian Army Women team will also try summit Mt. Everest from the North ridge. Good luck for the summit!.
And I'm off to Pithoragarh, Chaukori, Munsyari and Berinag in Uttaranchal for an outing alone this Holi weekend (Holi's a festival in India).
(2005-03-22 21:58:50.0)
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Thursday March 10, 2005
Skiing at Narkanda and Solang Valley in Himachal Pradesh
This is a small diary on my experience skiing at Narkanda and Solang Valley in Himachal Pradesh. Narkanda, at an altitude of 2700m, is a beautiful place. It's 65 kms beyond Shimla on Shimla - Rampur highway. On the way I noticed loads of snow patches lying on side of the roads. It was looking great. I left Delhi at 9.30 pm on 4th March 2005.
This trip was very special because I went out after four months of tiring gap. So I had loads of fun while travelling and skiing.
Day 1
-----
I didn't do too much on Saturday because I was little tired after 8 hours of night journey. I just relaxed and went to see the skiing slopes there.
Day 2
-----
Sunday was the action day. I did six hours of non-stop skiing. I initially started skiing on flat snow surface to get acquainted ith skies and other fundas of skiing. Gradually I went onto the slopes. The slopes aren't long, but they are very good for those who have just learnt skiing. You can easily traverse on the slopes if you know basics of skiing. I just paid Rs 200 per day for the Skiing equipment including skies, skiing stick and gloves. The morning session was basically to recap skiing techniques which I had learnt in Feb 2002 at Auli (UA). During this time I must have fallen lots of times and I'll attribute my falls to not able to stop then I'm about to hit the tress, So I end up falling sideways. In skiing you must know how to fall. That's the first thing you learn among others like how to balance and body posture.
The fun started in the afternoon session when I started coming down from the slopes which took more than 20 seconds to decend. It was great. I did fell quite a few times, but I managed to recover fast. There were people falling badly. However my enthu didn't fade. I continued my skiing and started going up on the slopes. I was little tired by the afternoon mainly because you need to go on the slopes with your skies and it's very tiring unless you have ski lifts. Suddenly by 3.00 pm the clouds came and we received snow fall as well. I was having fun skiing during the snow fall. The best part was that nobody was there on the slopes except for Navy folks which were still in the learning stage.
I stayed in dormitory at Narkanada and paid only Rs 60 per day.
Day 3
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Today I spent in Travelling from Narkanda to Manali. It took more than 12 hours to reach Manali in the bus. However the Valleys were too great. They were so great that my head was out most of the time from the bus. Somehow I managed to get a hotel in Manali and paid just Rs 100.
Day 4
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As soon as I came out at 6.30 am in Manali to go to Solang Valley, I noticed that people were asking for Rs 250 for just 13 kms. I didn't like this and I started Trekking to Solang Valley. The valleys were as usual beautiful. I think had I taken a jeep or something I would not have enjoyed so much. Snow and snow all over the place. The villages were small and there was an Army camp as well. I had to trek for 3 kms on deep snow surface. Since it was morning, I had few problem in sticking my legs to the icy surface. But that's okay. It was part of the fun. I noticed a Navy guy and his wife coming my way and they were also going for Skiing. So we were talking about our past experience and all. He was great. He encouraged me a lot and especially after seeing that I'm travelling alone. I was really impressed with him.
The skiing slopes are too good in Solang. They are comparable with Auli slopes. I saw few snow scooter there. That was something which I had not seen before. The equipment rates were very expensive. They were asking for Rs 400 for two hours and in fact the skies were not so long. So I didn't like this offer. I approached Mountaineering organisation there but they said they wouldn't give skies for rent. They asked me to join the course for 14 days next time. I've promised them to come back.
Well I would have left Solang at 10.30 am and trekked back to Manali before getting a bus to New Delhi at 1.45 pm. I recached Delhi next day by 6.00 am
The photographs didn't come well because I used 200 speed roll and Fuji films which my little camera isn't used to :). So I goofed up.
/
(2005-03-10 20:03:43.0)
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Tuesday October 19, 2004
On Mountaineering
I thought I should share my mountaineering experience with rest of the world.
Happy Reading!
---------------
Saurabh Mishra
It was Rupkund Trek (Trishul Massif in Garwhal Himalays) in Sept/Oct 2002 which brought the idea of Mountaineering to
my mind. One of the leader in Rupkund trek had done this course from NIM. Three of us (Neelkath, Kiran and I) agreed
to do this course in 2003. And that's how this plan was floated. Unfortunately, Neelkath and Kiran couldn't join me.
Well, these 28-days in the mountains have been the best days of my life. I simply love mountains and especially the Indian
Himalays. Those snow covered peaks, beautiful Valleys, stream flowing between the mountains, Bugyal (green meadows), pine
trees, simple mountain people, bus journey to the mountains, chill weather, glaciers attract me every year. Since 2001, I
have been going to Himalays twice a year except 2003 when I went to see Swiss Apls. Mountains will remain part of my life.
NOTE : I hope you will find this text interesting and I also hope that you would learn something from this text,especially from the lecture on Mountain Manners. Please try to share your knowlegde with others. Feedback/comments can be given at :-
Happy Reading!
28-days in Himalays
**********************************
Time Table
180th Basic Mountaineering Course at NIM Uttarkashi
UA INDIA
In the NIM campus it used to be :
5.00 am Tea
7.30 am Breakfast
10.30 am Tea
1.00 pm Lunch
8.00 pm Dinner
9.45 pm Lights off..
In mountains (Tent) it used to be :
6.00 am Tea
7.30 am Breakfast
2.00 pm Lunch
6.30 pm Dinner
8.45 pm Lights off..
Training Schedule (18th Oct - 14th Nov 2003)
---------------------------------------------
18-19 Oct NIM
20-24 Oct Tekhla Training area (Rock Craft) (Height: 5,000 feet;Time : 2 hrs trek)
25 Oct Artifical Wall Climbing and Knot Practice.
26 Oct Tel Camp(Height: 8,200; Time: 4 hrs Trek)
27 Oct Trek to Gujjar Hut (Height: 11,790 , Time: 8 hrs)
28 Oct Load Ferry to Base came (Height: 12,600; Time: 2 hrs Trek)
29-03 Nov Ice Crafting
04 Nov Load ferry to Advance Base Camp
05 Nov Advance Base camp(Height: 13,600; Time: 3 hours)
06 Nov Snow Craft
07 Nov Height Gain
08 Nov Closing of Camp, and return to base camp
09 Nov Navigation Exersice, Written Test, Feedback, and Quize
10 Nov Trek to Tel camp, Reherassal of Graduation Ceremony.
11 Nov Trek to Bhuki Road Head
12-14 Nov NIM
15 Nov Dispersal
Mountaineering Equipments used during the course :-
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Leg Gaitors
Mittens : Hand gloves
Seat Harness (else use sling to make harness)
Pitons (Rock and Ice) : A rock piton is a metal pin that is hammered
into a crack in the rock, and is described by its thickness, design,
and length.
Ice Axe : Tool used in climbing/walking on snow/ice
Crampons : Spikes which are below the snow boots.
Helmet
Rope (s)
Snow Anchors - deadman, snow stakes (snow bars), deadboy
Pulleys for rescue
Ascender (Jumar)
Descender (Figure of eight)
Plastic Boots
Rock climbing boots
Screw Carabinars : Caranbiners are rings of solid aluminum
with a spring-loaded gate that allows them to be opened.
Normally, the spring holds the gate closed, but the gate
can be opened to admit a rope.
Simple Carabiner
Rappelling Jacket
Short sling : a very short rope
Tape sling
Choke nut : Used for anchoring on rock
NIM runs following courses (in order)
-------------------------------------
* Basic Mountaineering Course (BMC)
* Advance Mountaineering Course (A grade in BMC required)
* Method of Instruction (A grade in AMC required)
* Search and Rescue (A grade in AMC required)
* Adventure Course
See http://www.nimindia.com for more details.
Technical Terms used
---------------------
Belaying : It is the system that enables climbers to effectively
hold a fall by means of a friction device and rope handling skills.
A belayer's job is to hold the rope to stop a falling climber,
which is difficult without the aid of a belay device -- an object
capable of stopping the rope or passing it through smoothly.
There are many such belay devices, and are all easy to use,
making them very safe. One common belay device is the figure-eight
Anchoring : It is the system that enables climbers to anchor
themself by means of rope and carabiners to an artifical/natural
anchor (tree, pitons, rock, etc.)
Rappelling : It is the system that enables climbers to
effectively come down from a rock.
Anupam (Leader) from Ministry of Defence (Air Force).
Belongs to WB, but presently in Bangalore
Saurabh (member) from DL
Srikanth (member) from AP
Rahul (member) from MH
Lakshman (member) from IMF (Indian Mountaineering Foundation)
Belongs to UA
Devang (member) from GJ
Ropes used in Mountaineering :-
Climbing rope, Rappelling rope, Fixed Rope
(They are identified by diameter)
Kernamantel Rope (outer cover), Huiserlat Rope (no outer)
Pollypop Rope and Cotton cord.
Climbing rope lenght could be 40m, diameter 9-11mm,
breaking strenght 1800-2000kgs, alastisity 20-25% and
weight 4 kgs.
Rappelling Rope: 60/70m lenght, 7-8mm diameter, alastisty
20-30%, weight 3kgs, breaking strength 2000-2400kgs
Fixed rope is same as climbing rope.
Sling (a very short rope) should be 7-8mm and lenght
could be 4m.
Different types of coiling :-
Climbing coiling: Make it double. Start coiling it.
Start folding it once coiling is over. Take the end
through the loop which should be inside. Take the
other end and lock it.
Casulity Coiling: Coil it. Make '8' (figure of eight)
and then tighten it. The end should go into the loop.
Rappelling Coil: Make it double. Put a thumb knot at the
centre point.
Coiling : Take the rope's end. Use right hand to grab
the end. Stretech it passing through your chest using
left and right hand
Hand coil : Take the rope around the vest of the person
and start coiling it.
Shoulder Coiling : (I didn't write in the class)
There was lecture on Camp Hygiene by Medical Officer at 12.00 noon and then a lecture at 2.25 pm.
Knots :-
* Thumb Knot (also known as Safety Knot)
* Direct Knot : Guideman, Middle Man and FIrst man
Boiline (Universal Knot)
* Indirect Knot : Figure of Eight, Boiline of the bite
Hitch :-
* Timber Hitch (for testing the rope)
* Clove Hitch (for anchoring)
* Itilian Hitch (for rapling)
Tent :-
* Dome type
* Tunnel type
* Ridge type
Hand Holds used in Rock Climbing :-
Pinch Hold, Pencil Hold, Pressure hold, Jam hold,
Undercut hold, combination hold, Side hold, overhand hold
Foot Holds :-
Jam foot hold, opposition hold, friction hold, half foot hold.
Chimney : Crawling, Wrigling,
(Horizontal) backing up down
(Hands/leg touching) : Bridgeing up and down
'Mountain Manners' by Major Rana (VP) covering:
* Greetings
* Assume Responsibilities for yourself and your team's actions. Don't be selfish. Accept your responsibilties & team.
* Maintain a low profile and be very calm. Don't make noise.
* Respect others in the area.
* Walking manners: Maintain steady pace.
* Maintain Mechanical Rhythm. Avoid Jerky movements. Avoid overheating of body. Remove excess clothing (layers) after 15 minutes.
* Always wear clothes in layers.
* Ascend Zig-Zag
* Walk don't Run
* Intake of water must be maintained
* Halt at scheduled halts. Don't drop out on your own.
* Don't walk over growing crops
* Maintain Body Temperature during halts.
* During halts clear off the tracks/trails. Place Rucksack carefully. Never rest with rucksack on your back.
* Judging distances
* Country Courtesy
* Passing information to others
* Don't throw stones
* Don't overtake a party (overtake at halts)
* Don't have noisy behaviour
* Hut manners (Tent) [place Ice-axe outside the tent,keep the tent clean, place rucksacks near the pole in sequence, clear the snow from inside].
* Rescue Work
* Proof of Ascent (to Indian Mountaineering Foundation, New Delhi).
Mountains are HARDSHIP.
* Pollution: Campsite, Disposal of Human waste,
[LEAVE NO TRACE]
* On the march, carry key bag to clear off the trail.
* Conserve the Nature.
* Conservation of Flora
* Conservation of Wild Life
The climbing calls are like this :-
I am there -> Take the slag -> That's me -> Check the belay
Okay -> I am climbing -> Climb ON!
Rock Terminology now :-
Face : Outersurface of the object facing towards you.
Fisure : A big crack in the rock
Range : Continous running of a mountain
Auguille : Any mountain which has a pickqulier shape.
Cordee : Roping up of yourself
Glacis : Rock face which is on an inclanation of 0 to 30 degree
Slab : 30 < X < 74 degree
Wall : 75 < X < 90 degree
Overhang : 90 < X < 120 degree
Ceilling : 120 < X < 180 degree
Chimny : Gap between two rock face. Could be parallel in nature
Choke Stone : Any stone stuck inside a chimny.
Chap Stone : Stone stuck at the stop of chimny.
Scrre : Galli in which you will find lot of debree.
Ledge : Place on which any climber can find stance on a wall
Caims : Artifical landmark to show a way
Saddle : Gap bwteen the mountains
Spur : Slope of a mountain range
Constriction : Obsruction
Greasy Rock : Slipery Rock because of mosck.
Pinnacle : Any rock structure which is highest point in the shape of niddle.
Trail : Any small little path in the mountain
Higes : 90 degree contour lines
Gendarme : In french it means 'policeman'. Anything looking like a human.
Lecture on "Weather" by Col. A Abbey (Principal)
Weather is key in Mountains. Weather is the physical state of atomsphere at a given time. Climate is average of weather at the surrounding places. Weather is influenced by Humidity, wind, temperature, pressure, and state of sky. Low pressure is dangerous. Complete weather phenomena takes place at "Troposphere" (8-18kms). Sun makes the weather. Sun rays come through atmosphere and 53% of Sun heat is lost in the atmosphere. Once the rays hit the earth, it warms up. The winds pushes the warmness in the atmosphere.
Lapse Rate : For every 166 meter height gain, the temperature reduces by a degree. Cloud and Mist is condensation. Saturation Point : The condition in which the partial pressure of any fluid constituent (water in the atmospheric air) is equal to its maximum possible partial pressure under the existing environmental conditions, such that any increase in the amount of that constituent will initiate within it a change to a more condensed state. Evaporation ceases under such conditions.
Due Point : The temperature to which a given parcel of air must be cooled at constant pressure and constant water-vapor content in order for saturation to occur. When this temperature is below 0 ?C, it is called the frost point.
Relative Humdity: Amount of moisture present and expressed in percentage.One should look for Relative humidity before going into the mountains because it tells how much extra humidity the atmosphere can hold.
Four Types of Clouds :-
* Cyrus Clouds : High clouds. They don't bring rain/snow
* Stratus : Spread Horzontially. Can bring spells of rain/snow. Their apperance is uniform.
* Qumulous Clouds : Vertical in nature. They are also known as Thunder Clouds. They bring snow, rain, lighting and thunder.
* Nimbus Clouds : Low clouds, at times kissing the earth and comes towards mountains. Rain/snow is certain and hence also known as Rain clouds.
Stratus clouds are found upto 2000 meters. Stratus cloulds can combine with with Nimbus coulds or Qumulous clouds. Cyrus clouds can combine with stratus. Cyroqumuolus cloulds are thick in nature. We will find low clouds only below 2 kms. Qumulous Nimbus clouds are electrically charged and are very dangerous.
Mist (When fog is less intense it is Mist).
Due (ice on stones) and Frost (ice on plants).
The weight of the condensed particles
|||| ---> water
---------------------------------
cold place
---------------------------------
|||| ---> snow fall.
|
|
| ------> conventional currents
Once the conventional currrents can not hold the vapours then "Hail stones" takes place. From the layers of Hail stones, one
can find the number of times it has been recycled in the atmosphere. Wind : Horizontal movement of air. Air current is up side down. Types of winds : Perodic, Local and Permanent winds. Winds always move from high pressure area to low pressure area. Cold air is heavier than warm air. After this lecture we have another one on "Medicine" by Medical Officer. As usual I didn't take notes. We had dinner and slept by 9.00 pm
Types of ICE-AXE : Auawood, Hikaji, Fiber Blades, Steel
Sizes : Long (60-75cm), Medium (55 cm), and small (40 cm)
We got normal ice-axe (steel)
Parts of ice-axe : Head, ice-axe, pick, teeth, shawl, edge, eye whole,
revet, shavet, hand loop, returning ring, stud, rubber cover, ferrole and
spike.
Crampons are either adjustable (what we got) or non-ajustable.
Year 1824-30 8 point crampons were used
1910 2 point, but people used it till 1952
Now people use 10-16 point crampons.
Parts of crampons : Long strap, adjusting plate and screw, bucket,
point/pick, and front point.
Ways to walk/climb on ICE :-
Pick Position
Head/Edge Position
Support Position
Glacid Position
Intersection Method :- Take degree of three peaks using compass. Get the
back bearing using this formula :-
if X > 180, do X -180
if X < 180, do X + 180
to get back bearing. Forward bearings are what you got from compass. Use Service protector to draw these degrees on maps. The point wherethree lines intersect is your own point/place on the ground.
Avalanche.
Avalanches occur between 30-45 degree of slope. Avalanches do occur at otherdegrees, but 30-45 degrees is most common. It doesn't mean that it wouldn't occur on 20 degree slope, but the chances are less and they are not so dangerous. Snow can't stick to the surface beyond 60 degree of slope. Types of Avalanche : Ice Avalanche, Loose Snow avalanche, and Slab avalanche.
Ice Avalanche : It is the down slope movement of ice on a steep ice clif. Powder Snow Avalanche : It will occur during heavy snow fall. It is very dangerous. People die in seconds because they can't breath. To breath in an avalanche you must cover your nose and mouth. The "lee side" of the mountain is the place where sun shine and wind are less. So loose powder avalanche
will not occur on the lee side of the mountain. Wet Snow Avalanche : Lots of water contents in the snow. It has lots of
"mass", but less "momemtum". Increase in temperature or due to heavy rainfall on snow patches can produce wet snow avalanche. How to check : Make a ball and see if the size of the ball decreases or not. Soft Slab Avalanche: It occurs when there is a huge snow storm and it will face the "lee" side of the mountain. Hard Slab avalanche: It is opposite of soft slab. Snow becames hard, but not hard enough to become ice. Hard slab avalanche will occur when there is rapid consolidation of layers of snow.
Survival in Avalanche :
* Wear warm clothes
* Carry Avalanche chord.
* Run 45 degree diagonally
* Face the avalanche and start swiming
* Make a kangaroo position
* Carry avalanche transceiver
* Cover mouth and nose
Glacier is a solid block of ice which is in continous process of movement. The movement is so slow that we can't see the movement. The pressure on the head of the glacier and the slope make the glacier move. Glacier movement varies. Types :- Contiental or ice cap glaciers (North Pole), Alaskan glaciers, and Valley glaciers. Features of a Glacier :-
* Rocky Debris (Morren)
Morren: Latteral (on sides), Medium (on the glacier) and Terminal (at the snout of the glacier).
* Cravesses : Transverse, Diagonal, and Longitudinal
* Neve : Feeding point of the glacier. Head of the glacier would be like a field.
Parts of a Glacier: Head, Complete glacier itself (accumulation point), snout (where the glacier finishes also called "run out point").
Types of Rescue :
* Double Pulley or Z system rescue
* Single Pulley System or C system
* Running Rescue
* Hard knot (using three carabiners)
We first learnt C system. In this system, the personis not unconscious. So he can climb himself, but we will have to anchor the rope so that he can climb. The most funny and tiresome was the Z system because the person is unconscious. So you have to lift him.
Ascending on snow :-
* Toe clicking (lien forward like in skiing)
* Side straping (when slop is gradual. Make edge of legs)
* Zig-Zac position (when sloop is steep and short).
* Stepping
Descending on snow:
* Heal clicking
* Zig-Zac position
Position of ice-axe (pick) has to be towards the slope. The equipments usedfor anchoring and belaying used on snow are : Deadman, Deadboy and Snow bar.
Body belaying on snow :-
* Bucket Belaying
* Hip axe belaying (using ice-axe)
* Boot axe belaying (using ice-axe)
* C Band (normal slope)
* S Band (tougher slopes)
Self Arrest is arresting yourself in case of a fall and Team arrest is arresting done by the whole team for a member who fell. Falls are classified in three ways:
* Standing Position
* Half skirt
* Siting Position
Falling:
* Head down, legs up, face towards the sky.
* Head down, legs up, face towards the slope.
* Rolling.
Class on History of Indian Mountaineering :-
As late as 19th Centuary. Britishers started mountaineering in India. In 1861, Pandit Nan Singh was asked to survey Garwhal himalayas. George Everest, Surveyor General of India developed a technique to measure altitiude. And that's how Mt. Everest was named. Nanda Devi was discovered in 1905. In 1907, Trishal massif was discovered. During 1921-24 people started to think about climbing Everest. Subsequently, in 1931, Kamet was climbed by a French team and that's when Frank Smith discovered Valley of Flowers. In 1940 Doon school in Dehradhun came into existence. In 1946 Doon school made their first attempt to climb Bandar Poonch massif. However, the attempt failed. In 1948, High altitude warfare school was formed in JK. Bandar Poonch was successfuly climbed in 1950. In 1951, Trishul main was climbed. HMI was established in 1954. In 1961, Indian Mountaineering Foundation, New Delhiwas established. In this year itself and with the help of IMF, HMI Manaliclimbed Neelkanth. In 1962, Indians climbed Mt. Everest (Major Kohalli). NIM was established in 1965. Nanda Devi was traversed by Indian Army and American army in 1976. In 1977, K3 was climbed by Col. N Kumar. In 1981, French and Indian army climbed Nanda Devi again. In 1984, Indian Army climbed Everest again, but they lost 9 people. In 1988, a Bombay boy (Harish, I have a book on his expeditions) climbed Ramo Peak in Zanskar Valley (Leh). Mr Hokum Singh climbed K3 in 1991, and it was then people closed K3 for any climb. ITBP lost 3 people in 1996 Everestclimb. And in 2001 and 2003 Indian Army successfully climbed Everest.
NIM instructor - Sub. Mohinder Singh (from Kannaur HP) was in Mt. Everest expedition with Indian Army.
Good days don't last forever.
Nothing comes without hardwork.
Be a good person in life and always help others.
Give love and take love.
-Saurabh
--
Saurabh Mishra
Student of 180th Basic Mountaineering Course (18th Oct - 14th Nov 2003)
Nehru Institute of Mountainnering
Uttarkashi (Uttaranchal)
(2004-10-19 23:53:23.0)
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