Manmohan Singh Kohli

Without any hesitation, I replied, “Aye, aye, Sir”.

But my destiny took another twist. Barely a month before we were to leave for the Nanda Kot Expedition, John Atkinson developed a minor heart ailment. He called me to his cabin and said, “Kohli, my wife Barbara and I feel I should not go to this expedition. I believe you are the most experienced mountaineer in the Indian Navy today and I think you should take over the leadership.” I could not have said no to such an offer. It was to be the very first Naval mountaineering venture in the Himalayas. It seemed my ardaas was bearing fruits.

Changuch (left, 20,736ft) and Nanda Kot (22,504 ft). Rowan Castle

Nanda Kot is one of the well-known peaks of the Kumaon Himalayas. It is a satellite of Nanda Devi (25049 feet). I had no knowledge of this mountain at that time. But I was to discover later that Nanda Kot is a formidable challenge, much beyond the scope of a team with limited experience.

In 1936, a Japanese team, led by Y. Hotta, had reached the summit. The first known climbers to attempt this peak, whose other name is Kulhari (from its axe shape), were members of the 1906 British Expedition, led by Dr. Longstaff. In 1926, T.H. Somervell wrote after examining its northern aspect: “It seemed to us that the whole mountain was in danger of slipping down in snowy crashes.”

My team was comprised of surgeon Lieutenant Y.C. Sharma, (late) A.S. Pabreja, two sailors, KP Sharma, Yeoman of Signals, and B.B. Ambastha. We engaged Sirdar Ang Tshering of Nanga Parbat fame and his son, Da Temba, as higher altitude sherpas. Porters and mules were to be hired on the way.

Before leaving Delhi, accompanied by my father, I visited the historic Gurdwara of Sis Gunj to offer ardaas. This was the first expedition that I was leading. My enthusiasm knew no bounds. Though it was a blind date, I was confident that the power of the ardaas will see me through. At that time I was quite ignorant about the hazards and obstacles that mountaineers face.

We left Delhi by train on April 27. After reaching Tanakpur we proceeded to Tejam by bus. From Tejam we trekked for a week to reach Base Camp, north of Nanda Kot.

After a month of hard work in setting and stocking various camps we were ready to attempt the peak.

On May 23, the summit party consisting of K.P. Sharma, Sherpa Ang Tshering and myself moved up to our last stage, Camp III. Early next day, after breakfast of soup and cocoa, and filling our pockets with dried fruit, we left the Camp at 7.30 A.M. with the intention of making it to the summit.

About two hours after we left our camp, the wind started blowing hard. It soon developed into a strong blizzard. We were blue in the face and our progress was checked by the blinding snow storm. A mist gathered all around us and visibility became poor. I was keen to ascertain whether we were on the right route and wanted to continue for a little while. At about 11.30, Ang Tshering, who was rather exhausted, refused to go further. I looked at Sharma and found that he was equally tired. With no sign of the storm abating, I decided to beat a retreat. Two hours later we returned to our tents. We shut ourselves in from the storm, cold and wet weather discouraged us to face another sleepless night in Camp III. The storm had cost us a valuable day. After an early supper at 5.30 p.m. and another dose of sleeping pill and vitamin tablets, we buried ourselves into our sleeping bags, hoping that the storm would blow itself over by next morning.

The sleeping pill had no effect and I could hardly get about two hours sleep. The whole night I was praying silently for the weather to improve. At night I had an exciting dream. Guru Gobind Singh, riding a white horse, came up near my tent, blessed me and disappeared. My thoughts went back to Gurdwara Sisganj where I had prayed for the Expedition’s success and safe return. I regained my hope and confidence.

At about 1 A.M. I woke up and looked out through the small ventilator of the tent. I was overjoyed to find a beautiful, clear, starry sky. The storm had blown over. I thought the only way of making a successful attempt was to have an early start. So I woke up Sirdar Ang Tshering telling him it was 2 O’clock. In my anxiety to make a very early start, I advanced the time by an hour. He was feeling rather sleepy and said “Burra Sahib, teen baje uthaiga” ( Big Boss, I’ll get up at 3 A.M.). So promptly at 2 A.M. I again shook him up and asked him to prepare soup. He immediately got up and lighted the stove.

We breakfasted on a bowl of soup and some dried fruit and we filled our flasks with cocoa. After offering prayers to Guru Tegh Bahadur and Guru Gobind Singh, and thinking of goddess Nanda Devi, we left our Camp at 5 A.M., confident that we would reach the summit.

I decided to head the rope. Proceeding on previous day's route for about an hour, we decided to gain the main ridge. For this we had to climb a near vertical slope about 150 feet high. Held on the rope by Sharma and Ang Tshering, I cut steps and in less than an hour we were on top of the wall. To get to the ridge from here we had to traverse about half a dozen crevasses. At about 7.30 A.M. we gained the main ridge. From here we had a glimpse of our lovely peak which was still far off. Half-an-hour later we were at the foot of a big dome leading to the summit.

The dome was covered with hard ice. We put on our crampons and started in a light breeze. Traversing innumerable crevasses we gained the top of the dome at about 10.30 A.M. We were now about 800 feet below the summit and had plenty of time at our disposal to make it. The dome was connected with the summit by a steep ridge which fell vertically to the Nanda Kot glacier, 5000 feet below. The northern face of Nanda Kot was so steep that it looked almost vertical.

We had now to cross over a knife-edge ridge to get to the northern face leading to the summit. From here, we could see both Camp I and Camp II. The twin peaks of Nanda Devi presented a spectacular sight. We all shouted “Nanda Devi Ki Jai” and our shouts were acknowledged by people below. We soon spotted seven “dots” moving up from Camp I.

Sirdar Ang Tshering, who was accompanying us, was moving up with some difficulty. He was one of the most experienced Sherpas, and one of the few survivors of the ill-fated German Expedition to Nanda Parbat in 1934. He declared that it was impossible to go up such a steep face. This was the spot from where the unsuccessful British team, led by Longstaff, had returned in the past.

Years later as I write this account, I think he was right. I asked Ang Tshering to unrope. Guru Gobind Singh had given me the green signal. Sharma and I were quite determined to push on, and we both continued on the hair-raising face. Sharma, half-asleep with fatigue, was dragging himself up. I was very much inspired by the dream and the proximity of the summit. I had suddenly acquired exceptional energy. I was like a man possessed. I felt Guru Gobind Singh was nudging me on.

As we inched forward, I kept goading and cajoling Sharma at every step. Our safety now depended on firm belaying of each other and we did it very carefully. Sharma was getting slower and slower. I started doubting whether he would be able to belay firmly and make it to the summit. I asked him whether he would like to rest and I should continue alone. He said “Sir, I can’t leave you alone. We shall go slow and will do it.” I admired his courage. He had worked hard with devotion during the expedition and deserved to get to the top.

We seemed to be on the frontier of life and death, but there was no question of turning back. At 2.20 p.m., after three hours of a breath-taking climb, I found myself below a large cornice extending from the summit. I made a hole in it and lifted myself through it. I express my gratitude to Guru Gobind Singh and shouting ‘Nanda Devi Ki Jai”, I crawled on to the summit of Nanda Kot.

I could not believe it. But I was there. I looked around to make sure I was on the summit. Our long cherished ambition had been fulfilled with Guru’s hand at my back. Tears welled up in my eyes, tears of joy. It was amazing to find Sharma, who I had reckoned would take some time, crawling up the summit within three minutes. The sight of the summit had sent a sudden spurt of energy within him. Spontaneously, we embraced each other for a while.

It was calm and clear. A grand Himalayan vista unfolded before us. We could see the twin peaks of Nanda Devi, Trisul, Pancholi and the Tibetan plateau. Far away in the north I had a glimpse of the Kailash massif. We hoisted the National Flag and the Naval ensign. Another National Flag together with a pair of gloves presented to us by the Naval Officers’ Wives Association and some Prashad were buried. We had thought the summit would be a platform about 500 feet long. It was only about 25 feet long and hardly 15 feet wide. It had not been described by the Japanese Expedition of 1936.

At the Nanda Kot Summit we treated ourselves to a tin of peaches and took a large number of movie and still photographs.

After an hour’s stay on the top, we began our descent. Cumulus clouds were now appearing on the horizon and the weather was once again deteriorating. Still on our crampons and roped together, we moved fast. Ang Tshering, who had been waiting on the top of the dome and had seen us reaching the summit, congratulated us.

Photo Credit

Nanda Kot: Rowan Castle

Copyright ©2003 Mohan Singh Kohli. About The Author