c u on top - satyabrata dam

Any climber, however intrepid, insane and outrageous he or she may be who says has never felt fear of death is bullshitting. On return while laying our aching limbs next to a lumbering fire with a pint in our hand we may be pouring out boisterous songs and ‘devil-may-care’ attitude, but mark my words friends, up there when the elements were trying their best to nip our lives, we had forgotten all our cockiness and had only a silent prayer on your lips and thought only of surviving through the day and through the moment. It’s not so much as the fear of death as the familiar world of the living that we don’t wish to give up yet. Do we ever actually fail or it is the pre-eminence of a failure that puts us in a quandary! Why is it that we can walk comfortably on a thin line of 6 inch in width on ground, without ever stepping out of it, whereas put a similar sized and equally sturdy plank 10 ft above ground and we would perhaps not find it that easy. Take that plank 100 ft up and perhaps on...

In order to begin our journey onwards along the TOCAP, I felt it would be nice to recap a bit and then go forward. So let’s just return back to the Atlantic Coast when we hit the desolate beach in the Namib-Nauklaft National Park in Namibia. We already know about the skeleton coast and how really rugged, arid and spectacular the landscape is. For the very reasons that normally drive away people, many diehard adventurers from across the world flock here each year to try their hand at something exciting. Going ahead we also make a stop at Swakopmund, Namibia’s second city, a place with strong German connections, where Mein Kampf and photos of Hitler are still on sale in the local curio shop. Namibia used to be a German colony and the country has a dark past: German colonizers killed tens of thousands of locals in a forgotten genocide, in German ‘concentration camps’ in Namibia. We would try to watch pack of Cheetahs who often roam around the Namibian wilderness in search of food and if p...

As soon as we leave Paraguay, we enter an area generally called the Brazilian Highland. Funnily enough, despite its vast size and neighboring Bolivia and Argentina and every country in Latin America except Chile and Ecuador, Brazil doesn’t have any high mountains and the highland ranges rarely exceed that of 1000 m. So in terms of climbing I never did find Brazil exciting though in terms of natural diversities and people it’s a wonderful place. I have few very good Brazilian climbing friends. We first go through Parana province that is a major agriculture area of Brazil. We can make a short day / night halt at Londrina thereafter. Actually the route along TOCAP through Brazil is rather boring and flat till we hit Sao Paulo and that’s we are headed exactly. Soon enough we enter the great metropolis of Sao Paulo. This is not only the largest city in all of South America but is also the largest city in the world that falls exactly on TOCAP. My friends Paulo and Helena live here. Paulo i...

Well my navigational tables and sun fix tells me that we are somewhere close to N 23 deg 30 min & E 112 deg (wherever that is – LOL) and after having braved the maddening seas of the Pacific we are nearing our Easter Isles, the island of legends and mysteries. So it is time for us to set course to true 125, now let’s get our boat in that course using the steering wheel. We now put the wheel to starboard 20 and watch the tilt as our boat cuts across the blue ocean like a dolphin. Well, by now we are only two days away from the Easter Isles and the dolphins have started following our wake that cuts a white foamy trail across the waves. As we approach Easter Isles after our long journey, we start seeing the distant volcanoes that jut out like a gigantic trio out of the misty horizon. As we come closer they become bigger and more overwhelming. Now we enter the official territorial waters of Chile. Easter Isles of Rapa Nui as it is called is a whopping 3700 km away from Chilean mainland...

To imagine that Tonga is actually an independent nation by its own right is nearly unbelievable since it is so tiny and is actually a collection of miniscule islands, with Tongatapu Group, of which Eua is the southernmost, being the largest of all. I wonder why it isn’t under any other countries occupation or sovereignty! Landfall means the first sighting of land and as the lookout with a telescope stuck to your eyes, you are supposed to scream from the crow’s nest at the top of your voice ‘Land ahoy!’ and then the all-knowing captain would come down, snatch the telescope from the novice’s hand and shrug, ‘Hmmm, you just got lucky, I would have seen it if I wasn’t drowning in wine.’ So we make ground in the bay of Tufurai. This postage stamp sized island measures only around 12 miles at its longest and 4 miles at its widest. Despite that it remains one of the least explored islands of Polynesia. Almost all of it falls under the national park and is hilly and covered with volcano ash, t...

This is the first of an odd series of posts woven around, within and about the Tropic of Capricorn. Odd since I have not personally done all that I am going to chronicle in these posts though a vast tract of it have I traversed and also odd as to the genesis of these posts. They arise out of a chain of correspondence I did a while ago with a very dear friend who is born under the sign of Capricorn. She is an armchair traveler, till now, and a dreamer like me and when I wrote these mails to her, dedicating them to her zodiac, I had intended to fill her up about some of the remotest and prettiest locations on Earth. So I took her on a whirlwind trip around the world staying near the circle of Tropic of Capricorn. After our virtual trip ended, I felt that this needs to be shared with a wider readership since we all dream of such wonderful places and incredible voyages that I have been fortunate enough to have undertaken. So here it is, for all of you, whether or not you are a Capricorn. R...

This is a simple tale of a human being who is totally unknown to me but who had touched my life briefly very recently. He is not a climber, nothing extraordinary and we cross people like him by the hundreds each day. Here's the story: - Recently I was in Mumbai and had to go to a friend's place, which is rather close to the Bandra local train station. I got out of the station in the impossibly sweltering heat looking for respite from the sun. There were many autorickshaw fellows, but all of them refused my fair since I was traveling only a little distance or they asked for a much higher fair. But for the sun and my parched throat I would have perhaps taken a bus. Finally I waved down an autorickshaw with a puny little old fellow in white dress. Hearing my destination he smiled and asked me to hop in. He quietly lowered the meter and off we went. He put on a music and offered me a sip from his water bottle. We reached my destination and the meter read a paltry sum of Rs 13.00 on...

Things happen to each one of us all the time. As long as you are alive on this planet (and may be thereafter too!) not a day could possibly pass without something happening to you, around you, with people whom you know, at places you have been or wish to be. Incidents and happenings, like our thoughts are an integral part of our lives. Some of these things happen due to our own actions or inactions, and some times they are dictated, executed by others, and even then affect us and change our lives in ways we may or may not wish to. Now the point that I am trying to drive here is; what happens after something happens? How do you take it, how does it affect you? Broadly speaking any incident or happening that influences us can be in only two ways: bad or good / encouraging or discouraging / positive or negative. That should make you realize that in reality how simple life really is. Just two options to choose from and at the end it really is upon us to choose the one that we would take aw...

Your face on canvas I drew Are you real, are you true Have we met before! Why do I want you more? In the rising sun I see you Like rainbow in morning dew Upon the grass as I stride You smile and walk by my side I watch the birds, with them I sing Ruffling my hair, in my arms you swing Through the day I think of you You stay within me like a heady brew When I return to my empty house You hold my hand you hold me close Walking alone beneath the starry sky I often seek and I wonder why? When I know you are nowhere Why do I see you everywhere? Are you real or only in my mind! Your touch I feel; is it your hand! On your eyes I long to kiss Feel heaven and the sheer bliss But where do I find you Are you real, are you true!

In the mountains we have a thumb rule that we apply when we are hopelessly lost and come to a cross road from where one trail is going down and one that is going up. Obviously the one that is going down is more tempting to take as it is an easier one, but in the mountains we always take the trail going up for three simple reasons: if this is indeed the right trail then you are ok, if this is the wrong trail then all you go to do is descend which is easier on the face of tiredness and a wrong route, and as you gain altitude you are also able to see further since your horizon widens and you can see more landmark etc that you may be able to recognize to reorient yourself. None of these would have happened if you took the trail going down that was apparently easier. Same thumb rule can be applied in our normal lives too. Always take the trail going up, even if it is the wrong one. At least on it, you would have the satisfaction of knowing that now all you have ahead of you is the easier pa...

This is perhaps my first post that is essentially aimed at seasoned and experienced climbers. If you are not then you may like to skip this post. I will be using techniques and terminologies that a non-initiate may find hard to grasp or visualize. But read on nevertheless, since in this post I am going to give a brief beta on almost everything that you need to know to experience the toughest form of climbing possible. In the world of natural climbing grounds we can divide it into three prime categories: rock climb, ice climb and mixed climb. I specialize in the latter two, though my best trad rock lead has been a modest 5.12 b. It’s on ice and then on mixed ground that I find myself most comfortable and intense. While rock and ice climbing is easy to grasp and understand, it is the mixed climb (MC) that is often misunderstood and hard to master. But before you begin mixed climbing one must be a seasoned ice climber and a modest rock climber. So let’s get our racks and boots and ice too...

It’s summer time now, the spring is all but gone, many of my friends are right now struggling to stay alive in the higher echelons of Everest and some of the other highest peaks in the world as many of you are now gearing up for the summer treks, and planning your holiday in the hills. Any trip to the mountains, high or low, alpine or Himalayan proportions certainly calls for some experience and expertise to deal with personal injuries and health conditions that may arise on ground. The entire field of mountain medicine is too vast and yet uncharted for me to discuss here, so maybe I would break it down in smaller segments. The majority of the casualties and deaths that do take place in high altitudes are due to just that, the altitude, which plays havoc with the human body and mind. But even in the lower hills, a sudden chilly downpour, an accidental fall in a river or storm can catch you unawares and lead to cold injuries. While not fatal (like high altitude ailments) by themselves, ...