c u on top - satyabrata dam

  Once I knew a spirited shepherd from the Himalaya, who lived an extremely excited life, though all his compatriots thought he was insane. To him everything was a reason for excitement, merriment and a deep sense of wonder. Though completely illiterate (by our bookish scale) and ignorant of anything outside his village and his grazing ground and the mountains where he lived, he was perhaps one of the wisest people I have ever known. He had cracked the code of a happy life.   He would wake up in the morning and worship the sun, with this big gleeful face and sparkling eyes as if he had never seen a sunrise before. And he would declare to no one in particular that what an amazing day it was and how amazing it would be. Then he would light fire, again full of gratitude and prayer to the fire gods, uttering that this was the best fire in the world and then make tea and utter loudly that this tea was better than any beverage in the world, befitting for the gods. He would then ...

It was the international winter climbing meet in Scotland in early Feb, few days before my birthday. I had landed in Glasgow, where I was representing India for the meet. They invited the top two ice climbers from each country’s climbing federation. We were housed in a beautiful manor of stone and woods with all modern creature comforts; that we welcomed after a hard long day of harsh climbing. The climbing mostly occurred around Ben Nevis National Park and the primary ridge of Cairngorms. In winters, Scotland is truly a mad crazy ice climbing paradise or hell depending upon your attitude. Scottish winter climbing grades are still highly revered and can only be applied to Scotland winter conditions since these are so specific and specialized. I was a real bad ass climber in those days, hanging from the edge of my fingers type and took rather masochistic pleasure of attempting to kill myself in the most challenging manner. That I didn't succeed proves that I wasn’t good enough...

I am curious to visit and experience new places, especially those that are labelled difficult to reach, hostile (geographically) and otherwise out of main touristic destinations. Since Kosovo declared her independence in 2008, and formed itself as the youngest and newest European nation, it has been on my travel wish list. Formerly considered a war torn and ravaged nation, it is presently a haven of peace and tranquillity. Finally this year, during my European trip, I decided impromptu to dip into this small nation of wonders. Needless to say, I am primarily attracted to the natural bounties, mainly mountains and forests, of a nation. Other attractions like culture, history, craft, museums, and any kind of manmade structures, aren’t that high on my list. Though I like unplanned trips, which takes twists and turns according to my impulses, it never hurts to do a bit of research, especially when Uncle Google is so accommodating. And during this research I came across an absolute ge...

Whatever I learnt in life the mountains taught me how; so is about love. The following lessons of love I learnt are invaluable and I have tried to apply them in matters of heart. How far have I succeeded can only be confirmed by the women I have had the privilege of being loved. I have used the word mountain as a synonym to love. Read on and apply, and let love happen.   Mountains are much farther than they appear to the eye. Be patient, keep going and you will reach A mountain can be viewed in totality only from far. Sometimes distance is necessary There is no pot of gold on the top of a mountain but the climb is full of priceless treasures, cherish and enjoy the climb A mountain no matter how big or small can only be climbed one step at a time. You must begin your climb from ground with one step, only then would you understand what your second step should be and the next one and the next thereafter. Each step will define and create your next step A cli...

The year of 2013 is nearing its predestined end. Even though we are still a fortnight away, I am offering my regular year end post bit early as from tomorrow I would be in situations from where a post may not be practically feasible; and perhaps where a post or internet would not be a part of my itinerary at all. Yes, you guessed it; I am off into my mountains. Barring a few, who have sighted me recently, perhaps most of you out there who know me only vicariously by now presume that I am no more, not in the physical sense since my last post happened more than three months ago. But I am here once again to disappoint you. I am alive, very much so, and laughing at the paradox of it all. Though I must say if not for the year end post, I would have written another post only in 2014, since till now I had written exactly 13 posts, and that seemed beautiful for the year 2013. But alas, as so much in life is unpredictable, you will now have 14 posts in my blog for the year 2013. And...

I am motionless as a spider spying upon its prey. I am stuck on a sheer column of ice, no thicker than few inches with visible ground far beyond my eyes dare to travel. I feel like a spider but wonder (the most irrelevant notion at that moment) if ever a spider has ventured across icy terrains of such smoothness and vertical travesty. Even as my eyes, though still, look for places where I could place my ice pick, my four limbs glued to the element begins to grow weary. Precious seconds are ticking away and all I can do is gasp, breathe, and pray for a miracle. With mother Earth nearly 100 m below I am venturing upon a new ice route in the cold frigid mountains of Colorado’s Telluride town deep end of box canyon on one of the most treacherous and iconic winter routes of all, the dreaded ‘Bridal Veil’ graded WI 5-6 under normal conditions. It is a tottering column of such jumbled ice sculpture that from the bottom you cannot see even 1/4 th of the way up.

Climbing mountains is my journey through life, a pilgrimage and a quest for my own true self. Reasons I chose this path of exploration are many and diverse; breathtaking views, infinite possibilities, solitude and redefining my own boundaries are primary among them. And the fact that they are there only helped. People say that I do things that very few in the world do and when they ask me why, I reply ‘why not?’ Though in my opinion what I do is not so uncommon; you and I, we all climb our own mountains of body and mind and of soul and your journeys are no less exciting or unpredictable than mine and at the end we all do wish to reach the top and then get down safe and happy back from where we began. And perhaps in this regard our climbs begin to differ.

A wise man had once told me 'in today's world it's not always important what you do, but what you can prove for others to see.' While mountaineering is an ethical sport where much is believed from the climbers and summiteers without the need of any proof whatsoever and I personally don't necessarily subscribe in the wisdom of the aforementioned wise man, it has now become more necessary than ever before to understand how to prove your ascent conclusively to an independent body that you had indeed climbed a peak and it is not a false claim; either intentionally or non-intentionally. These days when we are more concerned about media and publicity and setting of records than the pure pleasure of climbing for your own sake, the mountaineering world at large has become more competitive and fierce in claiming and proving ascents. Record books are more important than anything personal or spiritual that a climber and adventurer should ideally gain. Therefore it is more impo...

My Blog came into existence exactly on this day in 2009. Today is its birthday or as they say, 'Happy Birthday'. Seriously speaking, even till the day I actually sat down to create and put up my first post on 29 April 2009, I had never thought that someday I would be a blogger, and going by the reports, a popular one at that. But my blog is due to several of my friends and of course due to my readers who keep encouraging me with their comments, emails and endearments. So while this is a time to celebrate (at least for me), it is also the time for a quick review, acknowledgements and few statistical tidbits. Enjoy and celebrate with me, and do wish 'many more to come' or 'many happy returns of the day' at least that way the collective wishes of all of you may keep me alive for some more time. Let's go back and begin at the beginning. I was and am still a techie greenhorn. I don't understand anything about computers or techno-gadgets. In my simple down to ...

I have seen perhaps thousands of avalanches, big and small, of all sorts all over the world in the span of my life so far. I have rescued buried people, or dug out dead bodies, while being buried myself on dozens of occasions. I teach people wilderness survival and a substantial part of my mountain travel workshop is dedicated to avalanches. I have written scores of articles on the phenomenon and must have contributed to at least fifty research projects on the issue. There’s little or nothing at all to add to what I have already said on the topic or to the vast data and information available in today’s public domain at your literal fingertip. Yet, the point is that avalanches are the biggest killers on the mountains and they kill not only novices but also seasoned hikers, climbers and skiers with a shocking regularity every year, every season. The reasons can be two: either we are not heeding to the information or warnings or we don’t think that it is a real danger, until it hits us or...

This was the toughest list to come up with since the choices were countless and I could include 100 treks of equal merit. But limitations are good since it then narrows down the field to something manageable. To be absolutely unbiased and fair to the entire world, I have therefore selected an odd number like 18 treks. This would represent three treks for each of the six continents, leaving Antarctica out of the field since even a walk of few hundred meters anywhere in this continent ranks among the best. Since I have a list of top ten treks in the Indian Himalaya, my real backyard, no treks from Indian Himalaya is included in this list, though there are a few that would definitely rank among the top treks in the world. Asia is a vast continent with magnificent mountain landscape and innumerable hikes through them and to offer a wider selection I have included only one trek from the Himalaya (which is most unfair).  Even I had a hard time reconciling to this self-imposed restrictio...