A 12-Year-Old’s Journey to the Summit of Friendship Peak
Authored by Pulkit
One from my bucket list, Summit the Friendship Peak (with Boots and Crampons)
This is an unforgettable experience for a 12 year old. This trip to Manali, Himachal Pradesh couldn’t have been better. I couldn’t have asked for more, people, the expedition, or the snow. I could have asked more from the weather though. I was enlightened on the difference between the a trek, hike and expedition. A trek is more like walking on a low altitude (about 50-100m) surface. A hike could be of walking a hill and very minimal gear like full sleeves shirt and jacket and some full sleeve pants. An expedition is climbing a mountain/summit with gear ,many layers of clothes and basic technical expertise. For this expedition we didn’t need oxygen cylinders as the oxygen content was enough for us to survive in. I came with my family which is my mother and father. I am going to divide the trek into days. There were a total of 6 days. At each stage we would acclimatize for the following day.
Day 1
Day 1 was an expected to be gradual progress to the expedition but a heavy snow blizzard. We were to Camp at pitstop one, Bhakarthach however snow blizzard had different plans for us. Vegetation covered with a blanket of snow. The first half was comfortable hike through gradual gradation, with lunch among the pine tree. The climb from the start (Dundee) to the lunch area was gradual but if you do it slowly you won’t feel tired. The lunch was accompanied by a snow blizzard.
The last patch was a bit inclined. So, during the blizzard, we decided to go back to a hill near Dundee and camp there since the distance between Bhakarthach and Camp 2 (Lady Leg) could be covered on the 2nd day. When coming down in a snow blizzard, the ground becomes slippery, and you start to loose balance and fall. I fell about 4 times. We reached the hill and every evening there would be chai/tea, hot water, soup and some snacks and in the night, there would be sumptuous dinner. The food was better than I expected. It was simple yet tasty and delicious. So, we all had our dinner and went to sleep in the sleeping bags which were warm and comfy. I advise one to take a pillow because it makes the sleep comfier.
Day 2
In the morning, we ate our breakfast and started for Lady Leg. The trek was 6-7 hours while one would normally do 4-5 hours. There was some snow left from the day before. The snow greeted us again on day 2, as heavy and consistent as day 1. The climb was tiring. When we reached Lady Leg, support team set up the tents and we put all the stuff in our tents. The heavier stuff is carried by the mules. I was very tired by the time we reached Lady Leg. So, I went into the tent and lied down. At Lady Leg there was a lot of snow left so it was very cold. I stuffed my stomach with snacks. While i wanted to sleep however the pasta in dinner didn’t allow me. So, I gobbled the pasta up and fell asleep with my family
Day 3
Sun greeted us!! There is always light at the end of tunnel. In the morning, we had our breakfast. But this day was different. It was practice with Snow Boots and gaiters in the first half of the day and the second half we were going to the advanced summit camp just to see how far away it is and get conditioned with the route. The first half there was a guide explaining us all the components needed for a trek. The were many components like Snow Boots, Crampons, Gaiters and more. The Snow Boots was the heaviest item there (around 1.5kg per boot). Snow boot has two layers, one was the outer covering which was white, hard and snow resistant. The second layer was the inner layer. This was the complete opposite of the outer covering. It was soft, grey, and prone to snow. The snow boots give excellent grip on the snow and hence is called Snow Boots. Next comes the Ice Axe. If you see a normal trekking pole, the parts of it are not very sharp. But the Ice Axe has all its parts sharp (except the holding part). This is for penetrating the Axe through the ice. It gives much more grip than a normal trekking pole on ice. Then comes the Crampons. The Crampons are very sharp and is attached/detached to the Snow Boots. It is used to provide grip on ice for the Snow Boots as Snow Boots easily slip on ice. These were not needed for this trek luckily because they added extra weight, and no ice was spotted during the trek. Finally, the gaiters. They are used to cover the snow boots from the top and not let any snow slip in from the top and make the snow boots wet. The second half was pretty tiring. We all had to go to advanced summit camp, which is about 4400m, and we were on 3900m. It was very inclined at first but after that it became a little flatter and then inclined again. I was about 1hr away while some people had reached it. It was time to go back. I was a bit disappointed but when the push happens, we can cross it and try to hit summit. In the night, we celebrated one of our trusty fellows’ birthday with immaculate cake made by the chefs.
Day 4
As we woke up, the rays of the sun hit our eyes indicating another sunny day. This was the same day as Day 3 but we added crampons to our practicing list. This day we had ample of sleep in the morning and afternoon times since we had to push for summit at 12:00AM on Day 5. The last night some of the guides did trailblazing and found out that there are chances of avalanche at summit. So, our end point was Col (around 4950m). We slept like logs throughout the day and at evening we had a bit and woke up at 11:00PM on Day 4. Before that we asked Romil Uncle if we can hit summit. He said “It is tough since there is a chance of an avalanche. We’ll see.” We also climbed Bindal Kund hill. It was steep but not much in height. It was just for our practice. Continuing, we woke up at 11:00PM, wore our gear and just in case we carried our crampons. We ate noodles and porridge. There were some people who didn’t want to do the trek knowing that they’ll get tired midway. After eating and setting up our head torches, we set out to hit Col…
Day 5
The people who were slower set out first followed by the faster one’s. First half is a gradual inclination, with the gradient becoming steeper I advise one not to take too long breaks in between as the blood allows to keep the body warm. Then the faster set overtook us and were going at an amazing pace. Me and my father then met Romil Uncle. Romil Uncle set the pace for us; we took smaller steps however consistent steps. Allows one to breathe consistently. The next part of the story was just to follow the path until the much reached 3-feet snow. It was already trailblazed luckily but was too cold. The heavy cold breeze dropped the cold weather to sub (-) 20C. The multi layer of packing from head to toe was dwindling to the wind and terrain. Keep in mind it was still dark. The sun would come in about 2 hours. The cold weather and constant pauses made hands numb, I was tired until the worst possible thing happened. I vomited a bit of water. Ater that event, I continued for a bit but couldn’t make it to Col. I was about 2hrs away. Coming back was okay but throughout the trip back to camp I thought about what I did. I felt happy with what I have achieved, and I am prepared to do it again if I had to. Even if I take one step extra, I would have been more happy. At least I travelled 4600M. The sun came out and we met with the friends of ours at camp. At about 8:30AM we saw some faces coming down. The sun was shining bright. We met them and asked about how was the trip to Col. All of them had the same answer. “It was amazing.” Surprisingly there was mobile data over there and all of them called their parents, friends, siblings and relatives. We had lunch that was noodles and Manchurian. Classic. Then the same routine of snacks, dinner, and sleep. The next day was a bit sad.
The gang was amazingly supportive. Days the camp was full of positive energy, camaraderie and good food 🙂
Day 6
We went down the mountain. Romil Uncle played songs and others talking about what they are going to do after this. At mid-way of coming down we got Wi-Fi. Me and my family got an important family emergency, so we took a bus to Delhi the same day. We all came down and whoever had to leave early had checked into the room first. It felt good to take a bathe after a long time. After that we went to eat lunch and distribute certificates. while giving the certificate, the people shared their insights about the trek. Romil Uncle gave us a My/Why band and then we set off to Delhi. We said goodbye to our friends and headed off.
Many thanks to Boots and Crampons, this was part of my bucket list of life. Romil Uncle, thank You thank you thank you soooo much. If one has to go for an expedition, he will want you around him.
All in all, this trek was fabulous, and I couldn’t ask for a better experience. Thank you to Romil Uncle, Giri Uncle, Ravi Uncle, The chefs (which I forgot the name of), Santhosh (Vicky), Pratheek, Ajit, Devesh, Chandrashekar, Mallik, Sweta, Sarthak, Navin, Satish, Sandeep, Sri Ram, you all have shaped my career in trekking. I hope the reader can experience this trek. For now, goodbye!
