TRAPPED IN AN ICY GRAVE

THE DEATHS OF 29 MOUNTAINEERS IN AN AVALANCHE IN UTTARKASHI HAVE PUT THE SPOTLIGHT ON THE DANGERS CLIMBERS FACE IN THE HIMALAYAS

- Pradip R. Sagar

Rohit Bhatt was all set to accompany Savita Kanswal to conquer Mount Elbrus, the highest peak in Russia, later this month. Kanswal is well-known as the first Indian woman to climb Mount Everest and Mount Makalu in just 16 days, a feat she accomplished in May. The two climbers were part of a group of 41 trainee mountaineers and instructors hit by an avalanche near the Dokrani Bamak glacier, barely 100 metres short of their objective-the 5,670-metre peak of Mount Draupadi ka Danda 2 (DKD-2) in Uttarkashi, Uttarakhand. Bhatt is undergoing treatment at a hospital in Tehri Garhwal and Kanswal is among the 29 fatalities in the biggest-ever tragedy to strike Indian mountaineering.

"While we were on our way to summit this peak (DKD-2), we were already excited about going to Russia to hit Mount Elbrus on October 27. We were planning to complete the Elbrus ascent within seven days to set a world record. But now, without Savita, I will not go," says 21-year-old Bhatt, who survived only because he detached himself from the long rope barely a minute before the avalanche hit.

Disaster struck the group of 34 trainees and seven instructors from the Nehru Institute of Mountaineering (NIM) in Uttarkashi on October 4. This was to be the culmination-the practical leg of the 25 days of training. While ascending DKD-2 at around 8:45 am, there was a slab avalanche large chunks of snow or ice sliding down the mountain face-that dragged almost the entire batch 300 feet down, into a deep crevasse. Tonnes of snow and rocks piled on top of this icy grave. Twenty-seven trainees and two instructors lost their lives.

Bhatt recounts that the weather was perfectly fine when they all started at 3:15 am to climb the peak. As he was not feeling comfortable on the long sling, he decided to self-anchor with a small rope. The decision probably saved his life. He had been in the 18th position on the long rope.