Ten climbers, including the legendary Nepalese mountaineer, Nirmal Purja, were reported missing after an avalanche struck Broad Peak in PoK on Thursday.
The mountains have been silent.
Broad Peak, an 8051-metre peak in the Karakoram Range in Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir – not too far from the world’s highest peak K2 – now carries the weight of tragedy. Ten climbers, including the legendary Nepalese mountaineer, Nirmal Purja, were reported missing after an avalanche struck on Thursday. A day later, the death of four climbers was confirmed, while the whereabouts of Purja and five others are still not known.
Amid the growing concerns over their disappearance, some of the world’s leading mountaineers spoke to NDTV’s Senior Managing Editor, Vishnu Som, about Purja’s legendary climbs, the extreme risks and unforgiving conditions that define high-altitude expeditions, and the challenges of survival above the death zone.
Arjun Vajpayee, an Indian mountaineer, praised Purja – who has climbed all 14 of the world’s 8,000-metre peaks in just six months and six days – shattering the previous record of nearly eight years. Purja later returned to summit all 14 peaks again, but this time, without supplemental oxygen. He ended up becoming the fastest person ever to do so in under two years and five months. Calling his approach rather “risky”, Vajpayee said it is “what it takes to push things to the next level and to achieve them”.
“Hats off to Nims (Nirmal Purja) for what he’s been able to achieve. I’ve known Nims for quite some time now, before he started his projects. We’d seen him earn the respect, not only from the mountaineering community, but from the world, with his hard work and his diligence. It is not easy to do any kind of winter ascents on any of these 8,000-metre mountains. Above 8,000 metres in spring and autumn itself, it gets very difficult. In winters, it gets even crazier,” he said.
The Indian mountaineer expressed grief over the avalanche incident.
“It is just unfortunate that this one wasn’t just a snow powder avalanche. It came down with a lot of rubble, I guess. Hence, we are getting the news that they are finding some climbers and some parts here and there, which is very, very disturbing,” he said.
Vajpayee, however, said that risk is the nature of their sport. “Mountaineering comes with a lot of challenges, and this is part and parcel of our game. Nobody can detect avalanches. Mitigating risk is something Nims was very good at. Unfortunately, this time, we are all praying to the very end that we are hoping that some good news comes out of it, but as the hours are passing by, hope is getting lesser,” he added.
Norwegian mountaineer and former cross-country skier, Kristen Harilla, said scaling all 14 peaks in just a few months is “very very hard” – which Purja had achieved.
“It’s super challenging and risky, as we know these mountains are. It’s very challenging to climb this 8,000-metre either way, if you go with oxygen or without. But without it, you need more time to acclimatise, and you will move slower…you will be colder. It’s harder on your body. So it’s a big difference, but we know Nims has done a lot of 8,000 metres without oxygen and he’s always well-acclimatised because he goes to the mountain all the time. So I wasn’t very worried about him going without oxygen again,” she said.
According to Kristen, if a person stays above 8,000 metres for a long time, they would die.
“We take a long time to summit one mountain to acclimatise, to be ready to actually do it. So you kind of prepare your body for that. But if you stay there in the end, you will die,” she told NDTV.
On Broad Peak, the Norwegian mountaineer said there is a high risk of avalanches on the lower parts of the mountain.
Lieutenant-Colonel Romil Bartwal, who has climbed Everest, told NDTV that what Purja achieved in his life is “commendable”.
“It’s unbelievable, not just for the common man, but for the mountaineers as well, what he had achieved. Because I remember the first time he did Everest on that day, there was a long queue of people. But what he has achieved is unbelievable. And obviously that comes, one, from mountaineering, doing the repeated climbs time and again, and then again, the mindset of a Gorkha and that too from the best of the best Special Forces in the world. So that’s where the mindset he has developed all through the years has made him what he is on the mountains,” he said.
Born in Nepal, Purja had a distinguished 16-year military career, spending six years in the elite Gorkha regiment and 10 years with the UK Special Forces (SBS).
‘Lot about the mind’
Bharat Thamineni, the founder of ‘Boots and Crampons’ – who has climbed Everest, said that climbing a mountain is a lot about the mind and the preparation, alongside physical abilities.
“Coming to mind versus body, it’s always on mountain, you have to be in a controlled way, whatever you take the decisions, at one point, in the altitudes mainly, body generally gives up, you’re tired, you’re handling a lot of things, so most of the time, it’s the mind which has to be under your control to take the proper decision – Even when you are handling the teams, even the team leader, even though the body is tired…It’s all about the mind,” he said.
Trained for avalanches?
According to Bartwal, mountaineers can theoretically predict the kind of slope where there are higher chances of an avalanche, but in practiciality – things are different.
“There is one thing called theory and there is one thing which happens on ground. Theoretically, you can predict the kind of slope where the avalanche chances are high or the weather conditions like in this case. Once you start climbing, then everyone has a different opinion, but as regards our experiences concerned or our teachings in the army, the moment you see an avalanche, you’re supposed to turn back, leave the way, but then it’s all in the theory,” he said.
Bartwal said that before one realises, they end up engulfed in the avalanche.
“…It’s the fast pace of the avalanche. It said that once an avalanche happens, the chances of second avalanche is again very high. First thing you do is you leave the path on which the runaway zone, what we call it, on which the avalanche has happened and then you try and leave that way and then you gather all your gears because chances are you would have lost your goggles, your trek poles or ice axe, those kind of things. Then you try and get down, look for your teammates, who’s surviving, who’s where and then try and get out of that way at the earliest,” he added.
“But on ground, things are very, very different,” the mountaineer said.
‘Climate change not a myth’
Climate change is no more a myth and it is in fact a reality, Vajpayee said.
“With the climate change happening, glaciers receding, the weather patterns have obviously been a little off the charts. We do see a significant change. Climate change is no more a myth, it is in fact a reality. We do see bigger crevasses opening up, a lot of erratic snowfall when it should be snowing…There are various factors which lead to avalanches. Crossing the glaciers, yes, it has become a little difficult. Some places it’s just rock now. We do see a lot of change,” he said.
The mountaineer added, “It is real, especially with the Broad Peak. If you go to look at the geography of it, the physiology of the mountain, we as Indians, we have not been there yet. Kristen has been there twice, but I am sure she would agree that the hanging parts, the hanging glaciers over there, with climate change, it does not make it any more easier. There are a lot of risky parts now which are just hanging over your head and they can come down anytime.”
On avalanche, Vajpayee said, “When it starts to break, all you hear is that sound of the avalanche breaking and the ground starts to shake and by the time you start to put your theory together, it is already over you. There is no way that you can run away from it. Sometimes all you can do is put your eyes deep down inside and try and take a cover. Sometimes if it is soft and too big, you can try to float up upon it. Nobody can predict avalanches and sometimes they engulf you.”
According to Thamineni, though they get reports about the weather conditions at the base camp, it is not 100 per cent right since winds may change any time.
‘Summit fever’
Bartwal spoke to NDTV about the ‘summit fever – where a person, when they feel they are close to the summit, they end up neglecting other aspects and pushing themselves.
“Ideally speaking, and as per what you are supposed to be doing, if you have the discipline, you are supposed to turn back and that is what many, many people do, but as we said, it is very easy sitting in Delhi in a cool environment saying that we can turn back, but once you are close to the summit, even once you feel it is close, you will reach in about an hour, it takes about five to six at times, ten hours to reach there, that is where the mistakes happen. So, a disciplined approach would make sure that you do not succumb to summit fever, but otherwise, considering all the logistics, all the pressure, a good team leader would definitely ask the team to turn back,” he said.
