NEW DELHI: Twenty five years ago this day, nine Indians made mountaineering history by scaling the world’s tallest peak, the 8,848 meter high Mount Everest, four times and three of them, still active, have no plans to hang their climbing boots yet.
Celebrating the silver jubilee of their success here, the leader and the deputy leader of the expedition, Capt. MS Kohli and Col Narinder (Bull) Kumar, recalled three month long fateful odyssey on the mountain, saying, “ It was an ordeal, but in retrospect well worth the agony.”
The success of the mountaineers mostly from the armed forces and allied services, erased some of the stigma of reverses suffered by them during the 1962 Sino Indian conflict and led to the foundation of advanced mountaineering, and adventure schools and revamped the winter warfare school.
Of the nine who made it atop the Everest, four are dead, two ailing and only three Gombu, Wangyal and Vora fighting fit for further climbing.
The reunion had a sparkle but also a tinge of sadness as the 16 member depleted team met here. There was sadness for the their dead comrades with whom they had ever binding ties of sharing a climbing rope over the Khumbu ice fall, Lhotse Face Geneva spur or the South Col on the way up to their world’s largest summit. But their was sparkle too, as Nawang Gombu, 56, the only man. to have climbed Everest twice and nephew of the legendary mountaineer, Tenzing Norgay regaled the August gathering with anecdotes of the historic climb and asserted that his climbing days were not yet over.
The deputy leader Col Kumar, led the first forays of the Indian Army to the world’s highest battlefield the Siachin glacier. He also pioneered river rafting, canoeing and skiing.
In 1977 he led the Indian army to scale third highest peak 8611 meter high mt Kanchenjunga from the untrodden tough north east spur route. He was the commander of the prestigious army winter warfare school Gulmarg for a number of years. Team climbed the peak with dedication, reverence and perservance. He hoped that the youngsters today would take a leaf out of the climbers and adopt more, “positive, adventurous and dedicated” approach in life.
Indeed Everest seems to loom large on the families and next of the kin of the 16 member 1965 expedition team. Major Harsh Bahuguna who was team member died on the same mountain in the International expedition in 1971. His younger brother Major Jai Bahuguna also perished on the mountain in 1984.
Article extracted from this publication >> June 29, 1990
