My experience in climbing both Kang Yatse (6250 meters) and Dzo Jongo (6240 meters) in less than 3 days!— — — —
So, five days after the UT Kangri trip, it all began.
It was decided that I would return to Leh for the third time this year and start my ascent of Kang Yatse and Dzo Jongo, which are located at 6,250 and 6,240 feet, respectively.
I had to start my fitness and diet regimen back with only about 18 days left before my excursion.
originally took it softly before gradually picking up the pace.
But the one thing I regretted was that I didn’t consume enough junk food after UT Kangri because it was decided practically immediately.
I, therefore, began my diet, exercise routine, nighttime walks, and of course, school.
After around 18 days of consistent, rigorous exercise and dieting, I was once again prepared for the next expedition.
In contrast to UT Kangri, which was brief and steep, Kang Yatse and dzo Jongo are longer and considerably steeper, so this one will test your consistency.
I did my research, watched videos, read blogs, and talked to a variety of climbers.
I had to prepare for the worst since the majority of those trying this climb were too exhausted to complete dzo Jongo.
So, a party of 3 mountaineers and I set off from Hyderabad.
We had a flight scheduled to Delhi, then on to Leh.
I was especially excited about this excursion because I was going to meet Gayatri ma’am, the incredibly skilled mountaineer who helped and inspired me on my trip to Mount Kilimanjaro!
So, after eating lunch and seeing a little on the day we arrived in Leh, we went on an acclimatisation hike to the Shanti stupa the following day.
These two days were very important because it was essential to properly acclimate and get to know the 15-person group.
The group was a lot of fun, with members ranging from the most humorous man to the most ambitious man in life (I probably fall somewhere in between😂).
The day had finally arrived. After a 2-hour drive to a location a little to the rear of Chokdo, we began our 2-hour hike to our campground.
After two hours, everyone had figured out the team’s “rabbit.” We then had lunch and set out to climb the Sandhya peak (which we formally titled ,T&C applied).
I basically ran through the downhill, which was amusing because it was a steep incline and would have been a dizzying plummet.
Then, after creating a few of reels, nobody followed the leader, Gayatri ma’am, but we still had a tonne of fun!
We then ate dinner and went to bed because the next day we would be out for a long walk.
The following day, there was a rather lengthy walk — between 7–9 hours — from Chokdo to Thachugtse.
We had a packed lunch on the way to camp, but despite the lengthy distance and gradual rise, it was really fun due to numerous river crossings.
After much walking, we eventually arrived at the campsite where we set up our tents and enjoyed Sandhya Ma’am ‘s delicious peda and Mysore pak, not to mention the spiciness of Kartik’s spicy kharkhas!
Amazing stuff, truly.
After that, we quickly ate dinner and went to bed early since the next day we had a hike to Nimaling, where we would pass Kongmaru La, from whence we could see all of the other peaks and, essentially, where we would receive network.
After reaching Kongmaru La, the arduous ascent was worthwhile because of the breathtaking scenery. For our second packed lunch, we had Puri and chole curry, which I had for the first time in about 7 months.
Upon arriving in Nimaling, we rested, ate dinner, and went to bed before returning.
The following day, we made a short ascent of only a few of hours to the base camp of the formidable Kang Yatse, from which we will attempt to reach its summit.
After a delicious lunch prepared by Sandhay Ma’am, we began our climb.
We arrived at the base camp despite the poor weather, and I was now looking forward to joining Kartik, my new tent buddy.
Wonderful person to talk to!
And it was a night when I suddenly started having my period.
In actuality, I didn’t give a damn, even though it was my first time menstruation while on an expedition!
After all, it was a novel experience.
The following day was a day of rest before the summit assault.
As a result, despite the fact that the epic film “Vikram” is intended to be seen in a theatre, Kartik and I stayed in bed until rather late the following morning.
Although we preferred to watch the doctor strange multiverse of madness, the movie was still excellent.
Vikram, though, wasn’t any less.
The weather didn’t seem good even though it was pouring hysterically, so the following day was just a rest day and training day with boots and crampons to the closest hill.
After that, we conducted a little photo shoot in which the entire team participated, and we managed to get some incredible shots of both the squad and the sherpas!
Due to the bad weather, we decided to postpone our summit push until the following day. The following day, we watched two additional movies, one of which was Everest. I also reviewed a lot of biology, during which I learned how to maintain the strength of my diencephalon and cerebellum in order to release sufficient hormones and maintain balance in my body during the climb 😂 (philosophical me exaggerating biology).
Unfortunately, the weather was awful again the next day, so we were unable to try.
We therefore slept a little later than usual in the hope that there wouldn’t be a summit attempt the next day. Unfortunately, four of us had to depart for Chokdo the following day since they had flights to catch.
We had to wave them off in the most hurried manner possible.
But the mountains will remain for all time!
Due to the severe weather in the morning, we thus believed that there might be a summit push today as well. For this reason, we had watched another movie. However, after learning that we had to push for the summit that day, we went to our sleeping bags.
I used the bathroom tent a lot that night due to my anxiety caused by the bright sky full of stars.
Having done acclimatisation walks up and down during the previous three days of bad weather, I was somewhat familiar with the path by the time we set out at precisely 10 o’clock at night.
I was walking behind Nima sir, the most calm and composed climber I’ve ever met, and I was moving rather quickly as we got going.
About two groups were in front of us and two groups were behind us.
I had to go the restroom three or four times in the first hour due to anxiety and chills.
Around 1pm, after moving slowly and steadily, we eventually arrived at the crampon point, where we switched into boots and crampons and began the ascent.
The extremely, really long ascent up Kang Yatse 2 begins from its back.
As a result, we tied ourselves up into two separate ropes, with three of us in one rope and the other four including Bharath sir on the other.
Even though it should have been the other way around, we were quite slow and they were fairly fast.
We were moving slowly, and I was having wired thoughts about skipping the peak because the weather might only get worse.
We soon arrived at the fixed rope point, where Kartik and I fastened our ascenders to ourselves and began ascending; however, Dhananjay Sir opted to wait and lent me his ascender, for which I am incredibly grateful.
Kartik was with Dawa Sir, while I was with Pemba.
When my blood sugar levels abruptly dropped while I was around 10 to 15 minutes ahead, I quickly grabbed three chocolates and ate them all at once.
The deadly combo of the sunlight, wind, and a 70-degree hike up which seemed to never stop literally gave me a sugar high right away and made me feel very energised.
I continued to ascend with Pemba Sir.
When I finally reached a spot that felt vaguely familiar, I later learned that it was the ridge.
Finally, I was joyful, and Pemba Sir wanted to go home, but I had persuaded him to come for his first-ever Kang Yatse 2 summit instead!
We were a little ashamed to be the last ones as we carried on walking and watched folks come back, but that’s okay!!!
We continued to trek until we could reach the summit, and despite my eyes becoming fuzzy (not from crying), nevertheless, of my normal mountain affliction, snow blindness!
Out of sheer overwhelm, I caught a wave from the pinnacle and realised it was Bharat sir!
When I arrived at the summit, everything happened so suddenly that I had to call my parents and Romil sir to let them know. It took me some time to regain consciousness.
Then, of course, I called my mother; she urged me to treat myself to a chocolate bar as a reward for reaching the summit.
She and the chocolate are irrefutable..😂
Similar to what I had on UT Kangri, I had a 5 star and an apple up there.
Then, of course, I had to snap a picture of my Ronnie Coleman ( GOAT OF BODY BUILDING) muscle with the Indian flag, school flag, and special flag dedicated to my parents.
As they say, getting there is only half the battle; we also need to descend.
Now that it’s time to descend, allow me to lead you to the unhappy, frustrated, and most painful part of myself.
I was quite conflicted and didn’t know whether to be thrilled or cry about it.
We did have a lot of group falls as we descended, and they were amusing enough to make the experience worthwhile.😂
It was a lot of fun, and after that we hurriedly managed to reach the crampon spot.
Oh my goodness, Dawa Sir, look at that beautiful juice flowing our way. The smile on his face made us all smile.
We unleashed our crampons and boots to further our descent to the base camp after juice; this took us 1.5 to 2 hours. I rewarded myself at the base with Kurkure puff corns, which I hadn’t had in a year!
Then I met a variety of people from other adventure organisations who had travelled to attempt Kang Yatse, which was truly rather wonderful.
After eating dinner and enjoying a slice of apple pie baked by the legendary Dawa sir, we went to bed.
The following day, I awoke at 11 a.m. after a typical 12-hour nap.
I slept in the sweltering heat that seeped into our tents while wearing a -40 jacket, another two layers of thermals inside, and three layers of fleece and thermals for my legs, and I still managed to sleep soundly.
People were perplexed as to why I hadn’t disappeared.
We then enjoyed a sunny-side up brunch and chatted away the time.
We made the decision to go to Dzo Jongo base camp after lunch. As we were walking, I realised that I wasn’t actually exhausted and that I was moving at a very good pace, but I needed to be sure to maintain it until the following summit day.
We took around 5 hours to get to the camp, and as we weren’t given permission to set up camp higher, we had to lower the pitch of our tents.
We relaxed, ate dinner, and slept soundly that day.
The following morning, I awoke feeling completely weary and devoid of all vitality.
I had a little more food for breakfast since I believed I was hungry and wanted to eat something, but it didn’t seem to help.
When I asked Bharath sir, he responded that I shouldn’t have slept in the -40 jacket and that I should have kept my tent a little bit open for air circulation, both of which I did not do.
My body became dehydrated and started to lose energy as a result.
Then, after asking the sherpas for some energy powder to mix with the water, they gave us Tang, which tastes great when combined with water, but I wasn’t aware of my dehydration until I drank some water, at which point I nearly downed the entire container in one gulp, which tells you all how dehydrated I was.
Due to dehydration, I then probably drank approximately 4 of these bottles that day.
We had to start the summit push at 9 o’clock that evening, so everyone had to check their harness sizes before supper, eat early, and get some sleep.
My first error was consuming paneer, a dairy product that increases the risk of diarrhoea. My second error was consuming daliya which was milk again that increases chances of diarrhoea.
I decided to continue even Though I was experiencing strange, foul-smelling burps of vomiting when we first started. I thought that it could stop later when the food digests.
The team was exhausted from climbing Kang Yatse, so even though the crampon point was only two hours away from the camp, it took us almost three.
We then proceeded to the crampon point, where we began donning boots and crampons. From that point on, the route was flat with a moderate incline, which I didn’t perceive as a problem at all. I spent the majority of the time following behind Nima Sir, who was leading the course.
Due to severe chest pain, Shivraj sir regrettably chose to turn around after approximately half of the summit push.
We all carried on gently as the sun slowly rose, providing all the warmth we needed.
To get to the pinnacle, we had to climb an insane 70-degree wall.
This didn’t bother me either; the only issue I had was an upset stomach.
Without a jumar and using only the rope, I was willing to accelerate that walk.
We chose to stop and wait for others before facing another large, lengthy wall that would take us directly to the summit. During that time, we were aware of the dangers that lay ahead, in the mean time we were insight of Kang Yatse 1 and we were able to see Alpinists climbing Kang yatse 1 from Dzo Jongo.
Before the sherpas could install ropes for our continued ascent, we stopped for a few drinks.
It took us all about an hour to reach the peak with all the complexities of the jumar, ropes, and changing of ropes. We all drank coke for quick energy before beginning our ascent to the summit. I was behind Nima Sir and Reena Ma’am was behind me when we started.
When I did reach the summit, I took off my harness and sat down to enjoy a snack while taking in the majesty of the mountain. As each person arrived, we snapped pictures and decided not to attempt the east side of dzo Jongo since it was too arduous due to the narrowness of the ridge.
we decided to go back. I really needed to use the restroom up there, so I did that before we descended.
I wasn’t feeling well as I descended; I had a fever, an upset stomach, felt lightheaded, and had no energy.
I nevertheless managed to reach the crampon spot.
After that, I took off my crampons and boots and drank a lot of coke to give me the energy I needed. Man, that stuff worked like crazy!
My energy levels soared, and my pace picked up crazy; I felt like everything was back to normal at this point.
I suppose Coca-Cola is the secret of my energy (I hope Boost doesn’t mind 😂 ).
So, after arriving at base camp, where we were given warm juice, we continued on our descent to Nimaling, which took another around 1.5 hours. The time passed quickly as I imagined the first Maggi I would be eating in 7 months (yes, I love Maggi; who doesn’t?!).
As soon as we arrived in Nimaling, I set my suitcase down because the next day, we were be travelling directly to Chokdo, a descent that would take 8 to 9 hours, followed by 2 hours to Leh.
I finally received Maggi after 7 months, and I devoured it!
Then, the next day, Dawa Sir gave us another surprise in the form of a cake.
And yes a cake baked at almost 4,500m!!
So we moved down and waited for signal and network at Kongmaru la for an hour.
After that, we kept travelling, stopped briefly for lunch along the way, and arrived at Chokdo by 4 o’clock.
I fell asleep by 3:30pm after our two-hour drive to Leh, where we stopped for a little break, did some shopping, and attended a party.
and got up at 6:30 in the morning to say goodbye to two team mates.
I didn’t actually eat breakfast before heading to the airport to bid Leh farewell for the third time this year.
I discovered on my expedition that a comeback is always better and greater than a setback!
I was able to succeed despite all the difficulties I had throughout this voyage and in the past because I was able to bounce back.
Even though the last four days have involved 21, 5, 20 and 8 hours of walking each, the mental toughness has always been a key factor in success.
Even though I first experienced my menstrual cycle while hiking in the mountains, I overcame it by treating it like a new experience.
The entire crew, including the sherpas and guides, consistently performed at their very best and offered everything they had.
I want to thank all the guides, teammates, and sherpas who assisted me by lending their support, advice, and trusted in me
Finally, I’d like to express my gratitude to my parents, coaches, and mentors who supported and trusted me all along the way!
Many thanks,
Hasvi
