Basic Mountaineering Course - Part 2

On tenth we trekked to Solang Nala via Manu temple and neighboring villages and apple fields.
Even with a 20 kg rucksack it was fun walking on the snake like path. The view was getting better and better as we moved closer to Solang.
On reaching there we were allotted dorms, which were good except for the dust.
Evening we were taken for acclimatization walk. On our return it was already dark. Only few guys had torch. I was finding it hard to walk without falling J.
Next day morning we started for PatalSupi, whose summit is at 14000 ft. We had to turn back after reaching the height of around 13000 ft because of bad weather and also because we had started late in the morning.
On 12th we moved to Bhakkartach which is at about 10000 ft.
The 12km long trek was very exhausting for me. Along with my rucksack I was carrying my teammate’s(who was suffering from a leg injury) stuff as well.
Initial few kilometers were on the tar road(till we reached outskirts of Dundi), but after that, my god, every step felt like that would be my last.

Acclimatization walk to Beas kund, Snow craft and ice craft was what we did for the next 8-9 days. Got to experience the first snow fall of my life.
Felt like some one was blowing cold flour on us. The view was AWESOME!!!!Occasionally we used to have white outs(occurs when the light reflected off the snow equals the light coming through the clouds) and you can not see anything which is hardly few meters away.
On some evenings when the weather was fine we had outdoor lectures on glaciers, ice boots, crampons etc in the chilling cold.

On one fine day we were taken for Height gain. We got up at 2 in the morning and started for KshitiDhar base camp(15500 ft), which was the qualifying height for BMC.
Some even made it to the summit(17200 ft).
The view from the camp was superb!! We could only see ice covered peaks in every direction our eyes could stretch.
The following day we had Snow/ice craft test. Felt very much relived after that.
In the evening we were told to pack our stuff in 20 mins and fall-in, instructors told we were leaving for Solang, but we knew something else was waiting for us !

After the Bush craft, we were given some Halwa and were informed that it was our survival night, in other words we had to spend the whole night under natural shelters without any cooked food(but we were allowed to eat dry fruits).
Me and Mahesh found a nice shelter. Avinash, Juley, Circuit and Raj had gathered sufficient wood to keep the whole night alive.
Next day we started our trek back to Solang. We were singing all the way.
I could feel the taste of spicy Omlet served at the dhaba at Solang!! Hmmm Yummy!!!
Washing hands with hot water, taking bath all seemed like a luxury after the horrendous climate we were in.
Called home after a long gap of 10 days.
We were told how to make stretchers using Jackets, rope, bamboo etc in the afternoon.
It was Rock craft test the following day. I did well considering the wounded finger.
Mean while Othla told me that I was one of the contenders for the “Best cadet” honor!!!
Thank you, Thank you!!!
Trekked to Manali the next day!!
Reached Insti around lunch time. Were told about the Written test we had the next day!
Written test was ok kind….Since in HP they were celebrating Dasara(which is their famous festival) the thinking hats of the insti decided to finish our course one day in advance.
We had the closing ceremony in the afternoon.
Felt great when we were awarded the badbges by army personnel.
I didn’t get the “Best cadet” award…but that’s Okay!!
I had a wonderful month which was packed with so many victories and wonderful moments that I would cherish forever!!

-PKK

Basic Mountaineering Course - Part 1

I thought I should share my(our) experiences of BMC with friends.
But u know it is quite a difficult task to write a month packed with fun, pain, excitement and expectation in few sentences.
Ok, let me give a shot at it.
The idea of doing BMC was in our(SRG) mind from a long time.
We decided to do it in October finally. Kaddi and Late dropped out due to personal reasons.
I and Othla were the one in the field.
Sometime during mid August we started with our preparation, jogging, exercise, reading blogs etc etc.
Ate Anand’s head a couple of times, even my friend Pravin wasn’t spared.
Anand was very encouraging; I should say he was the one who encouraged us the most.

We left for Delhi on 29th of Sept. The journey started in style. Our Spicejet flight was cancelled in the last moment. I troubled Othla who was in
the middle of his TOEFL test by calling him a couple of times. It was already 10 am then. We decided to go by 12:30 spicejet plane.
The way me and Othla reached airport, I think we would never forget that.(Thanks Late for dropping me in-time.)
We hadn’t booked our tickets from Delhi to Manali in advance, so went to ISBT, got a seat in 7:30 bus to Manali.
It was an ordinary, dagda Himachal transport bus. We could hardly sleep during the whole journey. Our butt, back and neck were crying for some good sleep.
Finally reached Manali at 11 in the morning, the next day.
We had to share the Dorm with 7 others.
It was a good mix of guys, from KA, HP, MH, Ladakh, GJ.
Some people came b’cos mountaineering is their passion, some because it is their bread and butter and some because they were sent by NCC.

Had our first fall-in at 8:30pm. Jagadev sir briefed us about the discipline we had to adhere to. We were also warned not to waggle our tails seeing the beautiful girls who had come for a trek.

First day: got up at 5:30, had PT at 6. Warmup exercise, which was enuf to leave us panting for breath. They took us for a run in the adjacent jungle. I enjoyed the run. After breakfast finished some official formalities; had a visit to museum.

Second day: During fall-in it was raining heavily, but instructors did not show any mercy. The run increased to 5km.
It was our first day of rock craft. The field area is very nice. Good mix of boulders, rocks in here.

For the first few days we had jogging in the morning followed by exercises and then Rock craft.
Evening it used to be “Obstacles”
If u have ever done NCC you would know what it means!!We would celebrate if on some days the Obstacles were cancelled.

We were taken to Hadimba and Sharavari temples to prepare us both mentally and physically for the treks with heavy loads.
We were given a day off to shop gloves, dry fruits etc etc required for high altitude camping.
We went to Vasistha on that day and relaxed there lying in the hot water springs.
The place is very calm and spiritual, there are Sadhus in the temple premises who can give u instant Moksha if u wish to.

(contd...)