The following is an account of a winter mountaineering expedition to Parang la, 5600 meters, from 21 – 23 March, 2022.
We set out on a winter climb to Parang la (5600 m) on this day. For a person new to mountaineering and especially the expedition style of it, I could not help notice that the preparation was substantial – rations, gear, and most important of all the belief in oneself that you can do this. For the amount of time we intended to spend there – about 3-4 days in all, being well fed was necessary. This makes expedition style mountaineering a pre-planning heavy affair. This winter climb is my foray into this sport.We had our personal gear sorted out the previous evening – warm layers, trekking poles, snowshoes, gaiters, crampons and a few miscellaneous items that we would need. The pass connects south eastern Ladakh to Spiti over (5600 m/18370 ft). This wide glaciated pass is itself in Spiti, Himachal Pradesh and is the traditional trade route between Spiti, Changthang and Tibet.We looked up the valley. Scanning the peaks of the mountains rising up, it did not appear intimidating or worrisome, it felt inviting and privileged, for the next few days, we, a party of five, are the only ones up these mountains. There are no other climbers. Even though this is classified as a ‘trekking peak’ by the Indian Mountaineering Foundation (IMF) there are barely any winter attempts on it. This is what brought us there – a winter climb. The exclusivity is a privilege which is of course brought about by a variety of reasons.We started off at 9:15AM and climbed up with our loads. Nine hours later we reached basecamp 2 which is considered 60% completed. On the last kilometer to camp site the sun bid goodbye for the day. There was the elusive Mt.Gya to the North-East, and eastern slopes of Kibber range to our west. We had camped facing East, looking down into the valley that leads up to Dhar Parang. It felt remote being in this pocket of mountains and more so with the winter landscape that brings a tinge of isolation with it. After setting up the camps. We sat in, all five of us, in one tent discussing the day’s climb, weather and mountaineering stories, with some ginger tea and Chhaang. There is an unexplained draw for mountains and being in them for some people including myself, which is hard to understand. All the men here, whatever might be our personal ethics and ideas, seemed pure and united in our attraction for the mountains. Our guide spoke of weather, clients, expeditions, disasters and deaths. In his stories, people often just disappeared. Not to be seen again. Mountaineers seem to inhabit a different world.The temperatures fell further at night and for a while the night felt strenuous and crappy when it started to snow at around 3AM.
We were completely snowed out. It began snowing by late night yesterday. It had continued uninterrupted since then, through the night and continues even at the break of light. There was about 3 – 3.5 feet of snow deposited overnight around the tents. It was cold, the weather was an assessment of my human ability to endure these changing variables and along with it also withstand the high altitude. We were looking at a full day of sitting inside our tents, waiting for the weather to clear. We had decided that, If beyond that day it didn’t clear up then we would abort the summit attempt and head back down. We had to clear the snow from above our tents every 15-20 mins. We did the same through the night. The snowfall was heavy. It was falling with the sound of a tropical rain, which felt louder in the silence there. The ground outside the tent had risen by about three feet and continued to rise.~ 1:30 PM At this time, snowfall has stopped. I had taken a few photographs of the hills around us. The visibility had improved and with it our spirits were lifted too. It had snowed for nine hours straight. There was close to five feet of snow around us by now. There was a mild sense of worry looking at the way the weather was persisting and with heavy precipitation. It overwhelmed us. We had been shoveling snow and keeping a perimeter of clear space around the tents. We heard the snow falling against the canvas of our tent for eight hours. After a point it became a bit meditative, but laced with concern when it increased. We had to shake the tent’s dome vigorously to let the deposited layer slip down and unburden the canvas.As of then, our chances of summiting looked weak. The route had been overwhelmed with snow and there was risk of avalanches. We had heard snow sliding down from the mountain faces all day. At that moment I was reminded of the conditions that Sir Edmund Hillary wrote of on South Col in his book A View From the Summit. “Tenzing called it the roar of a thousand tigers. Hour after hour it came whining and screeching in an unrelenting steam from the west with such ferocity it set the canvas of our small Pyramid tent cracking like a rifle range.”By the end of the evening, we caught a glimpse of sunlight on the Dhar Parang range before the day faded. That sliver of clear light in the sky and a faint glimpse of evening sun caught on the peaks was so uplifting. Mountains unravel us in ways that life is incapable of. The day had been a lesson in the force and strength that these geographical forms hold, it is a space that teaches much. It can turn a person respectful and submissive to its will.
After it stopped snowing last evening it was a restful night, although very cold. The weather changed by the hour in the morning. It was foggy to start with and later clear blue skies blessed us with visibility. We were three hours away from the summit. After our morning breakfast, Our guide and friend Mr.Dolma Tenzing made an successful attempt to find the trail through the heap of snow.We successfully traversed the snow caped mountain and reached the summit. Summiting a mountain is a breath-taking experience! an overwhelming feeling of a deep sense of joy, exhilaration, gratitude and reverence coupled with the satisfaction. The experience shakes your core and you are never the same again. And after you reach the place where you started, you have a sudden rush of relief! rushing through your tired body and the coming to terms with what you’ve just accomplished in the last couple of days.
