Nagadhiraj Himalaya A Review of the Indian Himalayan

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Kumaon :- If I am asked to name one Indian peak which I like the most-I would say Nanda Devi. I have seen it from, almost all directions and at close quarters. ln fact it is the centre-piece of the Indian Himalaya. The exploration of routes to its base by Eric Shipton and Bill Tilman in 1934, its ascent in 1936, and all other subsequent expeditions are part of mountaineering history. They left a permanent mark on the history. To its east lies the Milam glacier. The Poles who climbed in this valley in 1939, made the first ascent of Nanda Devi East but two of them were unfortunately killed later whilst climbing Tirsuli peak.

Further east in Kumaon stands the 'Mountain of Long life' Chiring We, on the Kalabaland glacier. My team from Bombay made the first ascent of Chiring in 1979 and it has not been climbed since. There are several peaks on the Kalabaland glacier which are attractive. A special mention must be made of unclimbed Suitilla, which could be called the 'Changabang of Kumaon'.

To the west of Nanda Devi, on the outer rim of the Sanctuary stand the Bethartoli Himal peaks. In 1970, I climbed the South peak but we lost four climbers on the main peak in an avalanche. One of them was Ang Rami, a charming personality from Darjeeling. Bill Murray had tried this main peak first, in 1950. Finally it was climbed by the Italians after our attempt. Nearby stands Trisul, the 'Longstaff Mountain'. In 1907 Longstaff had climbed it speedily and it remained a 'height record' for a long time. To my mind, it was when Gurdial Singh climbed Trisul in 1951, that the beginning was made of the age of mountaineering for the Indians.

The inner Sanctuary was closed to expeditions for some time. The first expedition entered the abode in 1974. Chris Bonington and his Indo-British team climbed Changabang, the northernmost peak of the inner Sanctuary. It was an extraordinary achievement by any standards. The southernmost peak of the inner Sanctuary, Devtoli was climbed by my team within a few days of the above climb. Whilst returning from the summit, I fell in a crevasse and was carried on a makeshift stretcher or piggyback, for 13 days, to be rescued by a helicopter. As I wrote then-looking at the peak from air- 'Devtoli, the honours are even' !

In 1992 the honours went to two brave Indian Air force helicopter pilots as they rescued injured Stephen Venables from higher slopes of Panch Chilli V. With snow slopes inches away from the helicopter rotors they landed on ski of the chopper and lifted Venables to safety. This Indian-British team had climbed Panch Chilli II and made first ascent of Peak V when the tragedy had struck Venables. A loose piton made him tumble hundreds of feet injuring knee and ankle, till the spirited historic rescue saved his life.

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