WOMEN POWER
Jogin-I& Jogin-III:
Historical Duet Climb
by Women Climbers from India.
 |
| At the Summit of Jogin I |
“Mountaineering inculcates in
person courage, comradeship, the capacity to bear hardship and the ability to
take deliberate decision which may often entail consequences that may result in
death”.
It is true that the
courage, comradeship, the capacity to bear hardship, physiological tolerance,
mental endurance and the deliberate decision could reach us at the top of
Jogin-I (6465m) which has been unclimbed by many expedition teams before us.
9th June 2008---
was a red letter day, when Simasree Banerjee, Chhanda Gayen, Mita Dhar and Umme
Kulsum along with HAPS Chandra Bahadur, Sarban Thapa, Sadan Bom and Bhim
Bahadur (cook) reached the summit of Jogin-I (6465m) after negotiating a
difficult climb in an adverse weather condition. Consequently, upon completion of
the first peak summit, they again climbed Jogin-III (6116m), which turned out
to be a historical feat in the scenario of Indian Mountaineering by any team to
climb both the peaks on the very same day and that too by the very same
members. The other team members were Namita Dutta and Dr. Monoj Kr Das and I
had the opportunity to lead the expedition.
The team faced tremendous
hardship to accumulate fund for the said expedition. Ultimately, the expedition
was flagged off by our president Sri Durgadas Saha and many other mountaineers
and members of our Institute. Sri Amulya Sen (Adviser, West Bengal
Mountaineering and Adventure Sports Foundation, Govt. of West Bengal) was also
present at Howrah Station to inspire us.
We reached Uttarkashi on 25th
May 2008. A very heavy downpour of rain had delayed us to disembark from the
bus. I along with Simasree and Dr Monoj met Karan of Chandrasang Adventure
Foundation to arrange porters which was already informed to them earlier.
Next day we spent at
Uttarkashi for hiring equipments from Nehru Institute of Mountaineering and for
some official work with DM office, local police station and Forest department.
We started our trekking on
28th May from Gangotri after offering our homage to the temple of
MAA Ganga. Due to Obstructions on part of the forest office Gangotri, our
journey got delayed for an hour. The trek was through the gorge of the Kedar
Ganga and we kept on climbing 6 kms at a stretch and started ascending
gradually towards the slope of Bhuj Kharak where the tree line had ended. There
we set-up our transit camp-I at Bhuj Kharak (3990m).
The second day of trekking
route passed through beautiful and serene meadow with gorgeous and tantalizing
views of high snow clad mountains, till just before the start of the moraine.
Then we came to a place which was the most dangerous on our trekking route. Here, about 500 meters of the path had gone through the scree and boulder fall zone which comes down frequently from the height of 500 to 600 ft. Here, one need to keep watchful eyes and step to avoid accidents. After five hours trek, we established our transit camp-II at the height of 4300m.
“
The spell of bad weather
became longer and continued up to 3-30 A.M. The summit party was fit to move
for the summit and they departed from the camp at 5-30 A.M. on 9th
June despite of poor visibility. They had walked very slowly and steadily on
the soft snow of 60˚ gradients where they had to negotiate dangerous hidden
crevasses. The walk prolonged for 1 hour and 15 minutes and they reached near
the ice wall where they needed to fix the rope of 720ft. The weather kept deteriorating.
The total area filled with fog, forcing them to stop at the spot for an hour.
After weather clearing, they climbed slowly and cautiously up to
the saddle of Jogin-I & III. The weather deteriorated further with clouds
so thick it became white-out conditions. Visibility was so poor as they even
could not see and find each other. They were fully exhausted and almost left
hope for the summit. Some of them wanted to come back. But Simasree took time
to take decision and waited there for another hour. Meanwhile, HAP Chandra
Bahadur could see the west ridge of Jogin-I where they needed to fix the rope
on slope of 70˚ to 75˚ gradient up to the peak. Without fixing the rope,
climbing .could has been a suicidal attempt. After resting for a while, they fixed
the rope of 2 coils (720 ft each) and 2 climbing rope of 120 ft each. Again, it
took more than an hour. Finally, they made up their mind for final assault,
followed the south west route diagonally and reached the summit at 1-40 P.M.
They could not believe themselves that they are on the top of Jogin-I!! They
unfurled the National flag and Institute’s flag and paid their homage to the
Almighty for his mighty influence to help them to get to the summit of jogin-I.
Chhanda clicked some quick photos and Mita used her video camera as photographs
and recording are most important and circumstantial evidence of the great
success. The view from the summit was disappointing because the peak was deeply
enveloped by thick clouds. However, they could find the Thalay Sagar &
Bhrigupanth at the east, Gangotri group of peaks at the west. Mt Manda stood at
the north. Rudugaira at the north-west, at the south there was khatling
glacier. They spent half an hour on the summit.
They were completely exhausted and were in great
hurry to return. After eight hours of rigorous battling with bad weather, it
was the time to take precaution for descending as most of accidents occur due
to fatigue. .Almighty had given them power to handle such a grave situation.
They climbed down very cautiously and carefully up to the saddle of Jogin –
I& III. After reaching the saddle, the clouds disappeared and Jogin – III
was easily visible to them. While they
were preparing to climb down to summit camp, then Chhanda was so enthusiastic
that she asked “Can’t we try for Jogin-III”? Chandra Bahadur (HAP) was ready to
accompany with Chhanda. They took few minutes to take the decision and
ultimately decided to climb Jogin-III (6116m). After catching breath, they
started climbing and reached the summit of Jogin-III (6116m) at 3 pm. They had
a quick a session of photography with National Flag and Institute’s Flag. Now
the weather was very clear and they could see the panoramic surroundings very
clearly. After sparing 15 minutes, they started to climb down carefully and
return to summit camp at 5-35 pm. 
Though the fact of making history
was not known to us. We only came to know when Sri Kankan Roy (President of
West Bengal Mountaineers and Trekkers Confederation) congratulated me and said,
“You have made a history in Indian Mountaineering”. I quickly conveyed the
message to all members of our Institute and will cherish the moment for ever. 
Our third leg to reach the Base Camp, involved ascending medial moraine of the valley. Though the distance was not much but we enjoyed the trek and reached the Base camp at Kedar Tal at .a height of 4750m. Kedar Tal --- an ominous and beautiful lake covered by snow bed and surrounded by magnificent and picturesque peak of Thalay Sagar and Bhrigupanth at the south and Jogin –II on the west. Jogin-I & III was not visible from the Base camp.
According, to our plan we
spent next day at Base camp for acclimatization and re-packing the loads for
higher camps. We were restricted to establish three camps for attempting the
summit of Jogin-I (6465m) which was our first and topmost priority.
1st June, dawned
with dark clouds surrounded us. After two hours the clouds started declining
slowly and we .were ready to ferry the loads to camp-I. The route for camp-I
followed a ridge of right lateral moraine of kedar Bamak. We ferried the loads
for two days as we had to carry a huge quantity of rope and equipments for our
further adventures climb.
After ferrying the loads,
we decided to send 4 members (Simasree Banerjee, Chhanda Gayen, Mita Dhar &
Umme Kulsum) along with 3 HAPS (High Altitude Porters) and a cook. We two
(Namita and myself) stayed back at the Base Camp as a support team. They
established camp-I at the height of 5050m.The following day, they carried out
route recee and ferry the loads for camp-II. From camp-I, they started climbing
through rocky zone, gaining height with gradual slope and reached the top of
the ridge, where they had to cross fairly flattish glacier so they needed to
put on their crampons and cross the ice fall zone with innumerable open and
hidden crevasses in quite a few places. After walking an hour, they found a
slope of hard ice where they had to fix the rope of as long as 150 ft. As soon
as they fix the rope, the avalanche rolled down with the rope. They dumped the load
in a safer place and came back to camp-I. Next morning, i.e. on 5th
June, while they reached near the point of fixed rope, they found avalanche had
buried their fixed rope. All the loads were retrieved and they established
camp-II at the height of 5300m.
Establishing camp-III was
more hazardous and difficult. More technical climb was involved in this part.
After walking 45 minutes on the glacier, they negotiated 70˚ to 75˚ gradient
ice wall where they fix 840 ft rope. Here, they needed front point climbing in
some places and used Jumar for safety reasons. While Simasree was climbing,
another avalanche rolled down just beside the rope. Thank God she survived!
After negotiating the ice wall they climbed 50˚ gradient snow fields and
reached the summit camp at the height of 5900m.
On 8th June, the
day was schedule for the summit. But since last night the weather was extremely
bad. The core idea to attempt the summit had been dropped. The Strategy in
mountain climbing resembles that of chess, instant decisions have to be taken
and previously made plans often have to be relinquished. At about 12 A.M. the
weather was clear a bit and they decided to open the route for the summit. But
the clear weather did not longer. They could reach the ridge of Jogin-I and III
and came back to the summit camp.
The spell of bad weather
became longer and continued up to 3-30 A.M. The summit party was fit to move
for the summit and they departed from the camp at 5-30 A.M. on 9th
June despite of poor visibility. They had walked very slowly and steadily on
the soft snow of 60˚ gradients where they had to negotiate dangerous hidden
crevasses. The walk prolonged for 1 hour and 15 minutes and they reached near
the ice wall where they needed to fix the rope of 720ft. The weather kept deteriorating.
The total area filled with fog, forcing them to stop at the spot for an hour.
After weather clearing, they climbed slowly and cautiously up to
the saddle of Jogin-I & III. The weather deteriorated further with clouds
so thick it became white-out conditions. Visibility was so poor as they even
could not see and find each other. They were fully exhausted and almost left
hope for the summit. Some of them wanted to come back. But Simasree took time
to take decision and waited there for another hour. Meanwhile, HAP Chandra
Bahadur could see the west ridge of Jogin-I where they needed to fix the rope
on slope of 70˚ to 75˚ gradient up to the peak. Without fixing the rope,
climbing .could has been a suicidal attempt. After resting for a while, they fixed
the rope of 2 coils (720 ft each) and 2 climbing rope of 120 ft each. Again, it
took more than an hour. Finally, they made up their mind for final assault,
followed the south west route diagonally and reached the summit at 1-40 P.M.
They could not believe themselves that they are on the top of Jogin-I!! They
unfurled the National flag and Institute’s flag and paid their homage to the
Almighty for his mighty influence to help them to get to the summit of jogin-I.
Chhanda clicked some quick photos and Mita used her video camera as photographs
and recording are most important and circumstantial evidence of the great
success. The view from the summit was disappointing because the peak was deeply
enveloped by thick clouds. However, they could find the Thalay Sagar &
Bhrigupanth at the east, Gangotri group of peaks at the west. Mt Manda stood at
the north. Rudugaira at the north-west, at the south there was khatling
glacier. They spent half an hour on the summit.
The bad weather not only
continued in the higher camps it remained same too in the Base Camp. I was
restless at the Base Camp and could not sleep until they return to the Base. I
used to send Bhim Bahadur every day at Camp-I. On 10th June, I sent him early
morning but he did not returned up to 5 pm. We (Namita and I) got ready and
started for camp-I with the torch. After walking an hour, we were taking a rest
for a while suddenly I noticed a very small point moving towards the Base Camp.
We sat down on a boulder waiting. Bhim Bahadur came running towards us yelling “climb ho gaya”. My first thought was whether they
were all well or not. He assured me of their safe return to camp-I. We offered
him some biscuits and water, spent some time there and returned to Base camp.
We .made arrangements for welcoming them. The summit team returned to Base camp
on 11th June and a very warm reception was given by us.
Thus ends our successful
ascent of Jogin-I & III. The climb was remarkable in term of high team
spirit and administration coupled with good cooperation and coordination. We
felt no problem whatsoever any where except at the Forest Office in Gangotri.
Everything was rolled according to our plan.
I would like to end this write
up by conveying the information that
this expedition used 3 coils of fixed rope( 720 ft each), 4 climbing rope, Ice
piton-12, Snow Bar-10, Carabiner-34, Jumar, descender, Harness and sling for
every member.
By Arati De
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