Chasing freedom post lockdown
The outbreak of Covid19 pandemic brought the whole world to a standstill. Other than essential services everything was kept on hold across the world. But the moment the respective state government began unlocking, the mountain lovers took upon the chance to get back to the nature.
Ishani Sawant and Rahul Yelange
Since moving cars, factories, aeroplanes, cargo ships everything stopped it allowed nature to heal in its own way. The beauty was mesmerizing and avid trekkers found that the most purest form of the nature was seen around everywhere.
Pune based Ishani Sawant working as an outdoor educator in US, Hong Kong and UAE and Rahul Yelange, rock climber, working as an adventure consultant decided to explore the unexplored mountain ranges post lockdown. They shared their overwhelming experiences from their recent expeditions.
Ishani Sawant says, “In a span of one and half month, we were able to climb 6 peaks in the Himalayas, in alpine style. We drove from Pune to Manali and then we climbed a lot. This has been a very fulfilling experience. It was just the two of us, Rahul Yelange (Everester) and me. We did not hire any porters, cooks or guides. We carried gear, food and the tent on our backs. We then navigated our way through snow, ice and rocks, and summited Himalayan peaks.
It is the end of the climbing season. This means that the mountains have lost most of its snow and deep crevasses, 40-50m deep, are exposed. She further says, “On Mt Menthosa and Mt. Ladakhi, we camped in some of these crevasses.In retrospect, climbing mountains is a lot of fun. We kept remembering the way we endured the high winds each night. We also remembered climbing vertical ice walls that are actually supposed to be easy slopes, only if we had climbed during the season, in the months of May and June.”
Some plans went well ; while few went unexpectedly worst :
Some plans succeeded; some plans failed. We tested our limits. Having the right mindset makes a lot of difference. We pushed each other, took turns to open the route, coped, set up tents and motivated each other.We climbed Mount Deo Tibba (18,000 ft), summited Mount Norbu (17,100 ft), and then summited Mount Jagatsukh (16,568 ft), in span of 10 days, in September, with a team.
Ishani further explains, “After this, Rahul and I headed to Mount Menthosa on our own. We were able to climb up to 20,500 ft. but then we got blocked out by severe snow and ice conditions.”
Mount Friendship (17200 ft) and Mount Ladakhi (17536 ft) :
Recently, there have been lot of deaths in the mountains. My idol, Hayden Kennedy, one of top climbers and alpinists in world, died on 7 October. We summitted Ladakhi peak on that day, to commemorate his life and the person that he was. I aspire to be a mountaineer like him. We had further planned on climbing Fabrang and Kullu peaks. We dedicated these climbs to Mangesh Deshpande, another committed mountaineer from Maharashtra, who died in an accident in October. It was his death anniversary as well. We didn’t have the required funds. We were expecting sponsorship, but because of the covid-19 situation around the world, some of the brands and companies, could not process the sponsorships.
Future plans :
Come winter and we have plans of climbing frozen waterfalls in Himachal. We also plan on doing a lot of rock climbing in Maharashtra. Rahul and I, give motivational talks, where we share our adventure experiences to fund our expeditions. We also organise outdoor courses for all age groups.
Risks increases confidence to overcome fears :
Climbing carries many risks – random, and therefore, uncontrollable. Avalanches, rock falls, equipment malfunctions, weather etc. There is so much that the mountains teach us every moment. We take these lessons, back home with us, and apply them to our personal lives.
Mountaineering teaches us that life is fragile! We need to live it to fullest, no matter the circumstances!
(Article edited by Renuka Suryavanshi)
