It took me more than a year to realize that I have not posted anything in my blog since Jan 2, 2016! Really? No posts, no updates, no reports whatsoever. It was such an active year! An year full of climbs, explorations and adventure. Yet, what was I thinking? Facebook of course. I was busy posting almost daily updates on that monstrous social network and getting sucked up in the process. Now, finally I have been able to ( at least I would like to think that I have) distance myself from Facebook a bit. It is now time for me to write down in brief about the things that happened in my life in 2016 ( as if that matters to someone).
The first big adventure of 2016 for me was climbing the north face of Batian (Mt Kenya). Together with my good friend Martin Boner we gave big Batian a try. Here is a photo of the North face of Batian from near Shipton's Camp. We followed the standard route. Chris, our Kenyan friend also joined us in the climb at the last moment. Thus it was a party of 3 attempting the big wall.
But no, we could not reach the summit of Batian. We had to turn back due to poor visibility ( a few more complications). It was my first ever Big Wall climb and I must say I learned a lot and have become determined more than ever to go back and finish what we started. Here is a video clip taken from our turn around point. Here you see Martin starting to abseil. We abseiled till 9pm that day and only then could reach the safety of the valley.
In April 2016, the first thing I attempted in the Indian Himalaya was a solo climb in Garwal. I had my eyes set on a particular mountain (which I do not want to disclose now) and after walking two days from the road head I got to the base camp. After a couple of days of acclimatization and recce, as I was getting all set for the final push, it started snowing. And it snowed, and it snowed. By the time it stopped the slope was ripe for slab avalanches and I decided to quit this project.There will be a next time, I told myself and headed down.
May 2016, did not turn out to be great either. I was fortunate enough to be a part of an Indo-Scotish expedition aiming to explore and do first ascents in alpine style. I was stoked but I got sick. The whole trip was foiled due to my illness and it felt really depressing. It was a small team of two. Susan Jensen and myself. Here is Susan's report (to the Alpine Club, London) of that trip:
http://www.alpine-club.org.uk/ac2/documents/expeditions/reports/MEF_16_30.pdf
Thankfully enough my lung did heal (over the next 4 weeks of rest and medication) and the next big adventure was an attempt on the 7134m high Peak Lenin in Kyrgyzstan. Once again we were a two men team. In July-August, 2016, Athol Jake Preston and myself had decided to climb the mountain unsupported and keeping it as pure as possible. We named our little expedition 'Friendship Expedition'. Two friends set out to climb a mountain in Central Asia, meeting people and making friends in the process. What could be more exciting and rewarding than that! After making 3 camps on the mountain we were stopped by a snowstorm ( and almost buried) that continued for 3 days. We had to turn back from 6134m (Razdelnaya) Camp 3. No we did not get to the summit, but we did give it a solid try and that too entirely by ourselves. No porters, no guides, no set up camps etc. The Base Camp and ABC facilities of our agent Ak-Sai was amazing though and if we come back (of which there is a high chance) it will definitely be with Ak-Sai. Here is a photo of my dearest buddy Jake in Camp 3 holding our team flag (and message: Stop Killing Start Climbing):
Right after our adventure on Peak Lenin it was time for me to head back to Garwal Himalaya to climb Satopanth (7075m). I was part of a Indo-German team that climbed Satopanth and another 6000m peak. No ropes were fixed beyond the col and Satopanth was climbed by Lakpa and Chris, while the 6000m was climbed by Aloke, and myself. Here is a view of Satopanth from the summit of the unnamed 6000er.
After spending 4 weeks on Satopanth I got a few weeks of rest with my family. It was nice as this was the time for festivities, Durga Puja and Diwali. A nice time to be with your near and dear ones. After Diwali, it was time for me to head back to mountains once again. This time to an exploratory expedition to North Sikkim with my old ( and new) Irish friends. During this expedition we explored Zumthul Phuk glacier and a few unnamed glaciers due north of it. We were rewarded with a few first ascents of peaks and passes and with that the active. Here is a photo from that trip:
And this sort of encapsulates the year 2016 for me. Some day soon a more detailed report of all of the above trips will be written and published. We live in hope. Till then have a great 2017 folks!
