2 years ago , i got to know about the various mountaineering courses that big institutions like Himalayan Mountaineering Institute in Darjeeling offers . Those courses were namely - Adventure Course , Basic Mountaineering Course , Advance Mountaineering Course , Search and Rescue operations , Method of instructions . While some other institutes like NIMS (Nehru Institute of Mountaineering) offer Ski Course as well ! I remember i applied for BMC in November 2015 for the course no. 317 which was supposed to be held on 17th November 15th December 2016. Convincing my family was not an easy task but some like minded people had really motivated me to take up this interesting project and that was when i decided there's no going back and only climbing up ! The total fee of this course is around Rs. 7400 which includes EVERYTHING ! Food, hostel, travel in and around during the course, trainer fee, equipment rental and what not. Its a very subsidized fee although they do give you a list of the things that one must carry when traveling to extremely high altitudes. I started preparing for this course around 2-3 months prior to my date of travel to Darjeeling which was 16th November . I use to run for about 30 to 35 minutes and stretch and do some yoga postures after that which really helped me in building up a little bit stamina for the course. The rest they will build you up, to be honest ! NOT KIDDING ! It’s a complete expedition training and you will come out as a true mountaineer.
So the day had come ! I was flying solo to the hills and it was a strong feeling. Especially when you are traveling somewhere you always wanted to and it was going to be all about the mountains ! I used to sit alone at the terrace watching airplanes jizzing through the vivid city skies while mentally preparing myself for the crazy ride i had chosen . It was finally the time to be in an airplane and there was no coming back to the cities for a month. And at the same time it was scary with all the what ifs and what not boggling in my head..i was feeling the adrenaline already !
The nearest airport from HMI is Bagdogra Airport , one can take a sharing cab from the airport to Darjeeling. Its roughly a 2 -3 hour ride . The taxi driver dropped me at the gate of the institute and i walked towards the hostel where i met Karma(From Ladakh) and Kung (From Himachal) who were from Army and had reached the same day . I was eagerly waiting for the next morning to take the view around the hostel. And when i woke up and took a good stroll around the hostel and their was this little viewpoint around the Principal's House where i witnessed the sun rising on the 3rd Highest Mountain in the world - Mt. Kanchendzonga . The campus was huge and it also has its own Zoological Park and a History Museum of the Institute.
There were people from across the country. Himachal,Ladakh,Delhi,Mumbai,Andhra,Chennai,Orrisa,Assam,Mizoram,Rajasthan,West Bengal, you name it ! Foreigners can also apply for this course but in our batch there weren't any.
The next morning when we had our first Fall In , the instructors did a quick head count and Mr Ngodup Bhutia ( Course Director and Everester) introduced himself and and the other instructors ( Lekhraj sir, Avhi sir,Sunam Sir, Abhishek sir and Ratan Sir). Our instructors were really good mountaineers and great teachers. We were told about the rules and regulations of the hostel that had to be followed anyhow. Everything at the hostel was like in the Army. We used to start 5 minutes earlier than the scheduled time.
We were 64 people in total so we were divided into 8 groups . Each group was given a fixed rope which we had to keep with us till the end of the course and show up with it every time.
Sandeep Bhaiya who was from Navy was made our Rope Leader and all the members of the rope had to become a leader at least once and their leadership was judged by the instructors. This Course was divided into phases , which were namely -:
1. Intense Physical Training
2. Rock Climbing/Craft & techniques.
3. Ice climbing/Craft & techniques.
4. The Expedition ( Mt. Renok 16500 FT).
We also had lectures through out the course on various topics such as -
1. Mountain Hazards.
2. Mountaineering equipment such as Ice Axe,Ropes,Harness Jacket,Rucksack etc.
3. Acclimatization techniques.
4. Mountain terminology.
5. The Himalayas
We were also given basic lectures on Rock Climbing before going to the wall. The next day we went Tenzing Rock( A tribute to Tenzing Norgay Sherpa, The first person to climb Mt. Everest) which was a 10 minute walk away from our hostel. We were told the 3 basic principles of Rock Climbing and bang on we started. It was my first time on the wall i was pretty scared but our instructors made sure we were safe at all points. All of the instructors were trained professionals and really good Mountaineers. We did easy phases of climbing and rappelling on the first day and rope by rope we moved to the difficult phases of climbing and rappelling . The difficult phase rappelling was the best one and i loved it, i remember i was baffling inside looking down that 45 m cliff thinking i would not be able to do it and how i climbed back on the cliff to do it again after my first try because that was something !!! The feeling of being on the wall cannot be defined in mere words. When i climbed the top of a rock and i saw the view from there it filled me with bliss . As i reached the top of the rock every time , i used to just sit back there for minutes in solace and breathe in the view and that would take all of the stress and pains away. I must say climbing has its own euphoria .
My palms and knees were really bruised up.. The instructors would literally scold us if we went to them asking for band-aids for bruises and cuts because that is nothing comparable to the accidents that can happen in the mountains. That is why we were told to be mentally strong and quotes like "Its all in your mind" and "Don't be a Gamma in the Land of Lama" were heard all day long. Me, Shaswat, Kartik, Vignesh and Avi would wake up late to sneak out at the back side of the hostel and look at the stars for hours and talk about our daily routines. How this course had totally changed us and the love of mountains had led us on this journey. We knew this time mountains had really called us for something big and we were loving the flow of it.
We practiced at the rock for 5 days and then we went for a practice trek to Tiger Hill ( The highest point In Darjeeling) where we could see Mt. Rathong (The location of our Base Camp) and the surrounding peaks. It was an adventurous sight where we could see the place we were travelling to in another 2 days. The trek to HMI Base Camp is the third most difficult one in Asia where the base camp is situated at an altitude of 15,000 Ft. Most of the trek was completely uphill with rough terrain.It was a 3 day trek which had the following rest points;-
1. Yuksom (Overnight Rest)
2. Bakhim ( Rest and Acclimatization)
3. Dzongri
4. HMI Base Camp
The trek as they said was really tiring and long with rough uphill patches and Sikkim’s most unpredictable weather conditions. It started with the extremely dense and beautiful forests of Kanchenjunga National Park. Sikkim is considered to be the most wet region of the Himalayas. The first two days of the trek were really tricky with clouds forming and vanishing within minutes followed by the cold Himalayan winds pinching the bones making it even more difficult. The only good thing about walking under clouds with cold breeze is that one does not feel like taking a lot of rest as it gets even colder when the wind hits your warm body. We pushed ourselves and everyone else like we all were in this together. The trek got even more difficult when we were about to reach the 3rd point where we crossed the treeline i.e. Dzongri as the vegetation was rapidly decreasing evidently and so were the oxygen levels in our body due to increasing pressure in the air. Water, food and sleep were the best remedies to Acute Mountain Sickness. We got refreshments and energizers at all rest points. The 3rd and the final day of trek to the Base Camp was the easiest as there were comparatively less uphill patches and the sky that day was also clearer than before so we could stop and take the views of the beautiful peaks around and motivate ourselves to go further. (Our home for the next 10 days for the 64 of us) It was cloudy with zero visibility for 4 days till we reached the Base Camp. Next morning we woke up with clear skies and thanks to god we could see the peaks around. Following peaks were visible from the Base Camp :-
1. Mt. Pandim - 6691 M , 22,080 Ft.
2. Mt. Tenzing Khang 6010 M , 19,833 Ft.
3. Mt. Japanu 5936 M , 19,588 Ft.
4. Mt. Kopthang 6147 M
5. Mt Kopthang North 5758 M
6. Mt. Rathong 6679 M
7. Kabru South 7331 M
8. Kabru Dome 6600 M
9. Kabru North 7338 M
10. The Three Forks
11. Renok 16,500 Ft.
12. BC Roy 18,000 Ft.
We went to Rathong glacier for 5 days which was about 5 KMs. Away from our base camp where we learnt different ice craft techniques . The ice was really hard as it was December. The days at the glacier were the best ones. I went slipping down the ice wall countless times without ropes in the beginning which took all the fears away. Our instructors made us focus on the techniques really well and made sure that we were not afraid of falling hence made us practice without ropes in the beginning at easy phases. The experience we all had at Rathong Glacier was incomparable. I remember our first walk towards the glacier from our base camp it used to look as if it’s just a wall and we can reach it in no time but it took us about 2 hours to reach on the first day and when we got there we witnessed it was a world of ice in itself. And how on the last day of glacier training it hardly took 1 hour or so for us to reach the glacier. It was visible that we were growing tougher and better each day and it was the love of mountains that was taking us places. We were not walking in the mountains anymore, we were floating.
But that was not all . People had gotten used to the tough routines. Everybody used to wake up till late cracking funny jokes, getting nostalgic missing our families at home and got more curious about The expedition which was supposed to be held on our 2nd last day at the Base Camp Training Mt. Renok (16,500 Ft.). It was the first expedition for the most of us. We started marching towards the peak at around 7 a.m. and we reached Renok’s peak in less than 3 hours. The view from the peak was something out of this world and we could see the splendid craft of nature for I don’t know how many miles. There is no feeling like being on top of a mountain after conquering yourself. Everybody has different reasons for climbing but we were all the same, filled with the love of mountains. Eyes got wet and the souls were on fire. We saw Nepalese Himalayas were also visible from the peak. We rested there for 20 minutes and then we started marching back towards the Base Camp. I remember the smiles on faces congratulating each other for the expedition and everyone's eagerness to go back home.
At the last day of the Base Camp we did cleaning in and around the camp site, picked plastic waste and took 5-10 food tins each back to the cities, to where it comes from. The Base Camp had started to feel like home. It was getting hard to believe that we will be leaving from here soon. After that we started packing our rucksacks to leave tomorrow morning. This time we had to complete the 3 days trek in 2 days(Straight Bakhim from HMI Base Camp in one day, about 22 km.). Going downhill sounds easy but it gets really tiring for the knees and we also had a long patch of wooden path in our way with all the weight on our backs. Got a lot of cramps that day but when I heard cars beeping horns out loud. It was one of those moments when you realize you are close to the end point and you are extremely tired but you still gain pace. 28 days away from home, technology and comforts had engraved a lot in me.The best lessons were the ones i learned in the lap of Himalayas by some of the most influential teachers i ever met in my life. We got to the hostel in our taxis where we had our sports climbing competition and graduation for the next 3 days and we dispersed after that. Those 28 days and their mesmerizing journey had come to an end with an extreme depression in the altitudes and state of mind . It was like going back home where you know everything will be the same but something in my mind had changed, the most terrible feeling to deal with alone. But I’m sure that my walk in The Himalayas has just begun. There’s way too much more in the store left to learn and explore. Long live The Himalayas !
