Table of Contents
DISAPPEARED
- The disappearance of three established international mountaineers while attempting to scale the world’s second highest peak, K2, in winter has spotlighted the extreme version of the sport – winter climbing.
- The Indian Mountaineering Federation (IMF) has started to encourage Indian climbers to attempt this; it also had a dedicated course at the Nehru Institute of Mountaineering (NIM), Uttarkashi, Uttarakhand, last month.
MISSING
- But winter climbing is still far from popular. The dangers have been underlined by the unknown fate of the three mountaineers who have been missing since February 5 – Ali Sadpara of Pakistan, Jon Snorri of Iceland, and Juan Pablo Mohr of Chile.
What is winter alpine mountaineering about?
- December, January, and February are considered the winter months in mountaineering. In India, summer, pre-monsoon, and post-monsoon expeditions are very common, but there are very few takers for winter mountaineering.
- ‘Alpine style’ mountaineering involves ascending with only the minimum number of breaks, and without the assistance of porters.
What makes winter climbing especially challenging?
- Haryana Police DSP Mamta Sodha, who in 2010 became the first woman mountaineer from Haryana to scale Mt Everest, listed the challenges
- “Winter climbing is always tougher than pre-monsoon, post-monsoon and summer climbing.
What special equipment, preparations, and training does winter alpine climbing require?
- The core mountaineering equipment required is the same for all seasons.
- However, winter climbing in the alpine style especially requires lightweight equipment and ropes of good quality, and light, thin, but warm clothes. The difference in cost between equipment of this quality and the normal mountaineering equipment is very large.
What are the challenges other than those presented by the terrain?
- There are many – including costs, lack of exposure and experience, and the absence of private sponsors, without whom it is very difficult to meet the expenses of the expedition, Lt Col Yogesh Dhumal, Vice Principal of NIM, Uttarkashi, said.
How are Indian mountaineering institutes promoting winter and alpine style climbing?
- “We organised the first dedicated course on ‘Winter Alpine Skill Climbing (WASC)’ and trained 20 mountaineers at NIM in January 2021,” Dhumal said. The NIM and Indian Mountaineering Federation now plan to make WASC a regular course in the syllabus.
- Two other prominent mountaineering institutes in the country are the National Institute of Mountaineering and Allied Sports (NIMAS) at Dirang village in the West Kameng district of Arunachal Pradesh, and the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Institute of Mountaineering and Allied Sports at Manali in Himachal Pradesh.
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