Uttarakhand avalanche | Trekked up with friends, back alone: ‘Not sure I can ever sleep peacefully’

Trainee mountaineers Rohit Bhatt, Vinay Panwar, and Kapil Panwar, all between 21 and 23 years of age, who had met in the last week of September at the training camp of the National Institute of Mountaineering (NIM) in Uttarkashi, had struck it off instantly. Over the next few days, they would share tents, food and water, and laughs.

Uttarkashi: Search and rescue operation underway after mountaineers of Nehru Institute of Mountaineering (NIM) went missing following an avalanche in Draupadi’s Danda-2 mountain peak, in Uttarkashi district, Sunday, Oct. 9, 2022. (PTI Photo)

The photograph they had taken would be for keeps, they agreed, part of the many they planned to upload on social media — a story that had to be shared with the world. Little did Rohit know that he would be the only one left to tell that story, one that took a grisly turn on October 4, when an avalanche hit their team of 41 mountaineers, killing Vinay and Kapil, besides 25 others. Two of the mountaineers are still missing while 12 have been rescued.

On Saturday, waiting at the ITBP camp in Uttarkashi was Kapil’s family, clinging on to all that was left of their son — his clothes, documents and travel diary.

A video shot by Rohit Bhatt, a day before Utkarshi avalanche took place. Bhatt is the only survivor among the three trainee mountaineers who had met for the first time in September at the training camp of the National Institute of Mountaineering (NIM).https://t.co/PBsaaAbI3k pic.twitter.com/z2zT5rw8eR

Over 150 kilometres away, at his home in Tehri, Rohit says, “It has been over five days and I am still not able to sleep. All I see are the faces of my friends and the snow… It was all over in five minutes. I am not sure I can ever sleep peacefully.”

This is Rohit’s story.

September 13

The trainees had started arriving at the NIM campus for the ‘verification process’ the next day. Over 50 trainees, who had applied for the advanced course in mountaineering after completing their basic course, had to submit their health and basic mountaineering course certificates, besides identity cards.

Rahul, who has an ITI diploma, did his basic course at NIM in October last year. “My dream is to climb all the major mountain peaks across the world one day. There are a lot of jobs around mountaineering in Uttarakhand — I can be a trainer or join an adventure firm. I haven’t decided yet,” says Rahul.

It was on September 14, as he stood in the line, waiting for his documents to be verified, that he met Kapil, who introduced him to his cousin and friend Vinay.

With their documents verified successfully, the three had qualified for the advanced mountaineering course, as part of which they would have to trek over 10,000 ft up to Mount Draupadi ka Danda-II (DKD-2).

But before that, they had to undergo a training session.

“Those days at NIM were fun. It was essentially a refresher course of all that we learnt in our basic course — physical training, rock climbing techniques, map reading and other survival skills. Evenings were reserved for theory classes,” says Rohit.

September 27-October 2

The trainees and their seven trainers left NIM on September 27 and reached Tel Camp, at a height of 8,200 feet. “We were in eight to nine groups, with about eight members in each group. It was already cold, but then it rained and the temperature came down further. We set up around 15 camps, with the instructors getting their own tents,” he says.

The following day, after seven hours of trek, the team reached Gujjar Hut (11,000 ft). On September 29, after two hours of trekking, they reached the Base Camp (12,300 ft). After two days of training here, at the Dokriani Bamak glacier, and three hours of trek, the team finally reached the Advanced Base Camp, at a height of 13,600 feet, on October 1.

“The best part of the journey was the view and the food. We got warm water to drink, along with tea and soup. For meals, we got chicken, egg, paneer, sabzi, roti, daal, and chawal,” he says.

The team trained at the Advanced Base Camp for the next few days before heading to Camp-1 (15,800 ft), the last camp before they were to set off for Mt Draupadi ka Danda-II (18,600 ft).

“On October 2, some of us talked to our families on satellite phone. I briefly spoke to my dad about a family wedding scheduled for December, and also quickly updated him about the expedition. I wanted to talk to my mother too, but I was given just two minutes and there were others in the line after me,” says Rohit. For many, that was probably the last time they spoke to their families.

On October 3, around 45 of the trainees, including Rohit and his friends, reached Camp-1. “Some stayed behind due to bad health. In the evening, some of us went for a small walk and made videos.” However, the team turned in early, by 6.30 pm, as they had to conserve all their energy for the following morning — the Big Day, when they had to start their trek to Draupadi ka Danda-II.

October 4

Around 1 am, the trainees woke up to snowfall. The temperature was down to around -17 degree Celsius and it was pitch dark. The group of 41 had to start their trek at 3 am, so there was a flurry of activity over the next couple of hours as the trainees assembled their gear, helmets, harnesses, carabiners, jumars, pulleys, and more.

“We were really happy and excited for the journey ahead. A few minutes of climbing and we started noticing more snow. We took out our gear and roped up in groups of 7 or 8. The trek was getting tougher but we were expecting that. The wind was blowing at a normal speed, and to beat the darkness, we had our head torches on,” he said.

After a few hundred metres of the trek, they took a small break, during which some ate energy bars, others munched on apples.

By 6.30 am, the sun was gleaming off the pristine, white snow, with their destination, the DKD-2 peak, only a few hundred feet away. The plan was to reach the summit by 8 am and return at least by 10 am.

“By 7.30 am, we got to a point from where we could clearly see the DKD-2 peak ahead of us. Anil sir (Naib Subedar Anil Kumar, one of the main trainers), was much ahead, while another trainer, (national-record-holder) Savita Kanswal, was with us. Anil sir then directed all of us to use our anchors. We were all moving ahead slowly,” said Bhatt.

It was then, around 8.45 am, when Rohit was about to attach his anchor to the rope, that the avalanche struck. “I didn’t know what hit us. Those who were above me came sliding down, rolling and their bodies slammed against the ice. I couldn’t understand what was happening. I looked up and it seemed like the whole world was crashing down. People were shouting and crying for help. It was terrible,” he added.

Some 200 meters below the peak was a crevasse, around 60-70 feet deep, and one of the groups that was roped up plunged into this deep crack, buried under the snow that was rapidly coming down with the avalanche.

“After the people fell into the crevasse, we heard their screams for a minute or two. Then everything went silent. I was fortunate — my ice axe was stuck in the ice. I got up and began howling. Anil sir tried to comfort me,” he says.

Snow from the avalanche, which had lasted around five minutes, had filled up the crevasse. This is where the rescue operation had to be carried out. Some of the instructors decided to go inside the crevasse to see if they could find any survivors. “I screamed my lungs out for some of my friends — Nitish, Vijay, Deepshikha. But I got no reply. I couldn’t stop crying,” he says.

As the instructors descended into the crevasse, they found three trainees — Sunil Lalwani, Deep Thakkar and Suraj Singh – and roped them up. “I had to then pull the rope and get them out of the crevasse. My hands were freezing, but somehow, I felt this strange power inside me. They were out. We then pulled out four others, tried to give them CPR, but it was of no help.”

For the next 2-3 hours, the instructors kept searching for those stuck inside the crevasse. “I was scared that another avalanche might hit us. Around noon, they came out. We knew our friends were gone. We had failed to save them,” he said.

Around 9 am, the team sent a message to the camp, and help soon arrived. Information about the tragedy had reached the Defence Ministry and by 2 pm, Air Force choppers had arrived.

By 6 pm, the 13 survivors reached the Advanced Base Camp with the help of the support staff. They were served tea and soup, after which they started their descent to the base camp, where they were given medical aid.

The next day, they were airlifted to the ITBP camp in Uttarkashi. Rohit, who had suffered a neck injury, was shifted to the Uttarkashi District Hospital, and then to AIIMS Rishikesh. He was later discharged and allowed to go back home. Naib Subedar Anil Kumar suffered a fracture in the leg.

“It’s not the physical wounds that hurt. People keep telling me I am strong. But even a lifetime won’t heal my wounds,” he says.