Saar Pass 2013

The Expedition
It all started when I had seen one of my friends photo on FB from Himalayas in 2012. On inquiring i got to know that he had been on Sarkundi Pass trek organized by YHAI.
An "organized trek" in Pir Panchal range or the Himalayan ranges of Jammu and Kashmir where I belong is something unheard of, so I never got a chance to do one. And since this organized trek was conducted by reputed YHAI, I immediately fell for it. In the end decided for SAR pass as it is currently most physically demanding trek offered by YHAI
It was a 10 days trek, 3 days for acclimatization with high altitude (6000ft) at the base camp kasol which is necessary for low landers and rest 7 days for trekking through the mountains, the finale being the Sar Pass at 14000 ft.

The Mountains
We reached the Sar Pass on the 8th day and it was out of world experience. Just a week before my expedition I would have never imagined to stand shoulder to shoulder to Himalayas in direct eye contact with the Himalayan peaks

The clear skies gave a crystal clear view of the surrounding peaks and snow around us. It seemed the peaks were in best attire welcoming us and were in awe on seeing us conquering their altitude in a matter of 5 days, the height it took them millions of years to achieve. The snow lit with the bright sunlight was an unbearable sight for naked eyes and we had to wear goggles for protection. While walking through the pass, the snowfall a day before had removed any traces of foot steps from earlier trekkers. We were waking over a 60 degree inclined slope and so could only mange to create space for one foot. There were some scary moments too.

The final accent to Sar Pass was a 50 mtr 90 Degree steep climb. When I was told by the Sherpa that we need to climb it, I thought he was joking. But when Sherpa told me that even 140 kg man had conquered the steep slope, that gave some confidence and I mustered the courage to be the first from my group to climb it with the help of a rope that was put on the slope for assistance

The journey till now had been eventful and climax had to live upto its expectations. The clear sky of the morning now greeted us with a heavy snowfall in the afternoon. Now we had to slide downwards through the heavy snowfall and clouds, and none of us had a clue to which abyss the slide would lead us. . Initially hesitant ,we were literally forced through the slide by shepras. It was a wormhole ride for alice in wonderland which directly took us to a tea point 1.5 km beneath. At the tea point we started to counting of members and it was a moment of great relief and joy on realizing that all of us had safely conquered the Sar Pass.

The People SP7
Our group name SP7 was half of the regular size groups for SAR pass, and this helped us to knit well individually. We came in all age groups from 16 to 50, from all sizes 40kg to 100kg, from chennai down south to JammuKashmir up north. Absolutely loved the company of Mama for his humor, kapoor ji for his one liners and photography, ashok ji for his fitness, Rashmi Deskhmuk for being the gritty lady, for Mangesh and his wife for being the perfect adventerous couple, shivram for his dance and tempo shout, the chennai gang and all other SP7ans.
And lastly the three amigos or 3Ms, Me MasterJi and Munawer who were my tent mates for those 9 days.

At the age when people retire from service and life, MasterjI is taking up the the life head on and was an inspiration to all of us .
"Growing old is mandatory but growing up is optional" and Master ji lives up by this.

And for Munewar my initial prejudices about him waned as day passed and I must say that I liked him even when our interests seemed quite orthogonal . Even though his occasional philosophical lines did not make much sense to me but they helped keep my mind in action which would have otherwise frozen in cold for lack of any activity.

YHAI
This wonderful experience would not have been possible without YHAI. The daily schedule for trekking, the acclimatization program, the arrangements at the different camps and the attention to minutest detail are were done with military precision. I really owe this experience to YHAI and will surely thank them by being a volunteer once for any of their expedition in near future.

The Star
In the entire trip on thing which caught everybody's attention was the one which turned everybody on, was one which first itself needed to be turned on. It was a humble Rs 499 Philips radio.My experience in remote villages in J&K told me that higher we go the better reception the radio will have and I was sure, it would work at high altitude. Before my expedition , I exhausted almost all retail outlets but could not get hands on any radio and had thought it to be extinct, but finally got it delivered through Flipkart.

At an altitude of 14000 ft when almost every modern gadget with Lithium -ion battery failed due to freezing temperature, the good old radio with its older dry cell technology was making us dance to hindi and punjabi tunes. This simple device humbled every modern gadget in the expedition. Thanks to my radio I was called " Man with the Rhythm"

I am in Love again
On the first day of our SAR Pass Expedition orientation, our field director at base camp Kasol had said

If you have a bitter experience on mountains
you will vow never to come again
And if you have a great experience
you will love to come again and again.

And this love affair has just started. In my to do list is now to do a basic mountaineering course from Nehru Institute of mountaineering .

As I headed for my first day to office today, I just could not get the feeling out of my head. The laptop bag on my back felt more like a Ruck Sack, the formal shoes more like the Hunter Shoes, the stairs of the office looked like uphill trek, office floor like a Sar pass and looking at the guys glued to their laptops, I could not help but smile on what they missed !!!