On the Siachen Glacier, 1998

by Harish Kapadia

Part 6: First Ascent of Bhujang (6560 m) on the Teram Shehr Plateau

Divyesh Muni narrates...

The main team left for the Indira Col and we descended to Camp 3 to attempt the peak. From 10th to 14th July we built up a base camp across the main Siachen glacier, on its eastern bank. 15 July: Climbing steeply over loose scree and mud slopes.we reached the steep ridge coming down from Bhujang (6560 m). At about 5570 m we reached to a suitable site for a camp. It was a sheltered spot with a grand view of the peaks and glaciers around.

20 July: From 15th to 19th July we had to wait as weather was poor. Sherpas ferried loads one day and on the 18th we two also moved up. But again a day of poor weather intervened. We decided to retrieve the ropes and equipment left at about 6000 m on the mountain. We were within reach of peak 6560 and it would be a pity to go down without giving it an try.

We started early and moved fast, up the mountain. Cyrus and myself front-pointed up the initial 500 m of climb to the point where the ropes and equipment were left. The Sherpas moved up the rock route along the ridge. From this point we studied the route ahead and found a safe passage to traverse onto the col. The route from the col to the top was an easy angled climb over snow with a few patches of ice in-between. We were at the summit by 11.30 a.m. We started down by 12.15 p.m. On the return, we took a long time carefully making our way down the loose rocky ridge back to the summit camp. We reached the camp by 4 p.m. with all our ropes and equipment. Two lengths of fixed ropes had to be left behind on the mountain.

This was the first peak climbed on the Teram Shehr plateau. As this peak rose like a serpent we decided to christen it Bhujang, the legendary serpent associated with Lord Vishnu.

We moved down the mountain quickly now on and reached the foot of the Siachen glacier by 24th July and travelled to Leh. Waiting for others to return we climbed the ever popular Stok Kangri on 29th July 1998.