What is left for the armed forces to achieve now? Conquered battles, sailed Olympics, and now, the summit of the Himalayas.
In a major feat, 9 members from a team of 13 mountaineers of the Eastern Naval Command (ENC) successfully climbed Mt. Kamet in the Garhwal Himalayas in Uttarakhand on June 2, setting foot on the highest peak in the country.
Here is how the story goes:
- The expedition was flagged off by Vice-Admiral HCS Bisht on April 29, 2016.
- The team embarked on the mission in early May led by Commander S. Karthikeyan. The team of summiteers included Lt Yogesh Tiwari (the deputy leader), Lt BP Upadhyay, Lt Rajinikant Yadav, Lt Anant Kukreti, S. Sehrawat, Rakesh Kumar, Maharana, and A.S. Rana.
- The expedition, which spanned almost 40 days, saw the team negotiating dangerous terrain muddled with deep crevasses and long rocky moraines before ascending near-vertical rock and ice slopes and unfurling the National Flag and Naval Ensign atop Mt. Kamet.
- The trek commenced from Shibuk near Joshimath with the base camp set up at Vasundhara Taal (4600 metres) while the summit camp was set up at Meades Col (7080 metres).
- Two peaks flanked either side of Mt Kamet including Mt Abi Gamin (second highest in the region).
- The team, assisted by six Sherpas continued their ascent and established five higher camps, with the summit camp at an altitude of 7,080m. The team would rest for a few days at each camp to acclimatise themselves.
- Eleven out of 13 members reached the summit camp while the remaining two members including the team doctor reached camp III set up at 6,300m.
- Kamet, at 7756 metres, is the third highest peak in the country and the highest peak that is open to mountaineers in India. Mt. Kanchancunga and Mt. Nanda Devi are prohibited for climbing, and remained unclimbed for the past eight years from the Southern route.
- This is the first such successful attempt of Mt Kamet located in Uttarakhand since 2008 amidst challenging circumstances.
- Soon after descending from Mt Kamet and coming back to the summit camp, four of the naval team members including Lt Yogesh Tiwari, Lt Rajnikant Yadav, Lt Amit Rathi and ME -1 Amit S Rana continued with the Mt Abi Gamin expedition and successfully summited it on June 4.
- The expedition team returned to a rousing reception in Visakhapatnam this week and was felicitated by ENC Commander in Chief Vice-Admiral HCS Bisht this week on its glorious accomplishment.
- Earlier in May, seven members of the ENC were part of another successful naval expedition to the twin peaks of Jogin I and III situated in the Gangotri region at a height of 6,465m and 6,133m.
Such an expedition is a true test of your stamina. Judge it through their words, “We had to face hostile weather conditions such as blizzards or snowstorms, continuous cold winds, go without water as everything gets frozen, the body doesn’t feel like eating anything. We had to climb formidable steep rock and ice walls too and finally we successfully summited the highest peaks.”
Next year, a team of Indian Navy climbers, which would include many from this expedition, would attempt to summit Mt Everest. With these successes, ENC is confident to attempt unfurling of the Naval Ensign on Mt. Everest in 2017.
