Climbing
Zen and the Art of Mountaineering: Another Inquiry into why we climb | Deo Tibba Expedition (6,001 m/19,688 ft)
It’s the fifth day into the climbing expedition for Deo Tibba touted as a practice peak for Everest aspirants. Most of our group members have decided to turn back after yesterday’s load ferry attempt to Camp 1 at 5100 m through the treacherous 250 m high gully that was highly technical to climb. I myself couldn’t complete it in the time we had stopping 30 m from the top.
My motivation levels were at an all-time low as the expedition leader having failed my team yesterday to provide the much needed confidence and support.
With a heavy heart and an even heavier rucksack filled with supplies I start the climb along with Jagdish, the only remaining team member. Surprisingly, we reach the top to Camp 1 pretty fast with the help of the guides. And glad that we did as the weather turned bad within an hour. However, we felt confident. Personally, with a 100% summit attempts record with peaks higher than Deo Tibba, I was confident.
For the next three days we waited inside our tent perched precariously on the ridge aka Duhangan Col next to the large snowfield completing a magnificent landscape whenever the weather took a breather to let the Sun in. I spent three sleepless nights in my summit clothes waiting for the weather to clear up as we waited for the right window to summit, braving the sub zero cold, holding our ground (and tent) against the high-speed winds, clearing the snow that was continuously beating down our tent, listening to the high decibel rumbling of the avalanches nearby and of course the non-stop chatter from the tent mate, who was another version of an highly energetic sub-atomic particle as visualised by Werner Heisenberg while postulating his Uncertainty Principle.
On the fourth morning at Camp 1 we decide to come down to the base camp and glad that we did as the weather further worsened and we reached the base camp totally exhausted and drenched from all the snowfall that continued unabated for the next couple of days.
While walking back to Manali, I thought of the following sentence to summarise the experience.
“After laying siege to the mountain for three days, we failed to conquer it.”
But this very sentence reeked of egoism as I was reminded of the following quote that someone shared with me after my first 6000 m peak summit way back in 2011.
“No one can conquer mountains. They let you climb them.”
Past records and achievements don’t matter. Every mountain is different. Each day is a different day.
There’s no place for egos in the mountains. This experience reaffirmed my faith in that statement and the very reason why I keep on going back…to be humbled.
Missed all the team members at Camp 1 as It’s always special when you share an experience with your friends and comrades. – Amol Karnik, Anant Vijay, Arathi Mohan, Dipak Bhatt, Kohila Palanisamy, Ritu Agrawal.
Special thanks to the support staff for keeping us safe and well-fed
– Harsh ji, Rohit, Rajesh, Nanak, Chandan (Lambu), Gurung, Sonam and of course Deepak Thakur.
Elevation: 6,001 m/19,688 ft
Summit: Climbed up till Advanced Base Camp @5,200 m. Abandoned summit attempt due to bad weather
Mountain Range: Himalayas, India
Some pics from the expedition 
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