Paradise regained: How Kashmir mountaineers beat odds to scale  Mount Haramukh 

SRINAGAR: A six-member mountaineers group has created a new milestone by scaling the main peak of Mount Haramukh.

Haramukh Massif consists of a total of four peaks. Three peaks surround the main peak (middle peak) in the Northwestern Himalayan range. It is the third-highest mountain in Kashmir, located in Ganderbal district.

On September 5, an eight-member team of Alpine Adventures began an expedition hoping to summit the main peak of Mount Haramukh. Team Alpine Adventurers previously summited Mount Haramukh in September 2015 under the leadership of Aadil Shah, which was the first in 35 years.

“Leaving Srinagar in the early morning, we started our journey towards Kudara in Bandipora.  Before we could start our expedition, we had to face a multitude of oddities. The only thing that could have stopped us was the weather, but the day was ours and the sun was shining brightly with profuse intensity. Upon reaching Kudara, we along with our porters started hiking toward Sarbal Lake which was where we set our base camp,” Aijaz Ahmad Sofi, Joint Secretary of Alpine Adventures.

The climb from the base camp towards the advanced campsite was steep and treacherous. “Forthright, I say if you are successful in setting your advanced camp on the glacier then consider the job is almost done. One could set the base camp near Sarbal Lake and take the route toward the advanced campsite via a possible gully.  The route is replete with scree while the final ascent almost turns vertical. Each step taken is to be wisely muted else a stone displaced at times would trigger an avalanche of stones,” said Sofi.

Many years back, Mohammad Ashraf and his team had to call off the mission to Haramukh when he was caught in a large stone fall and a small boulder hit him on his knee causing excruciating pain and thus resulting in Haramuk’s failure.

However, team lead, Arshid had to retreat, as he had an ankle twist.  “It was a big blow to our mission as the two most experienced members were retreating to the base. Hence Kursheed took the lead. The scree turns at a gradient of 65 degrees, and unlike a hike in the hills, not easy to push oneself up with the Load. We pushed ourselves to the top of the ridge and landed into the colossal snow fields and set our ABC (Advanced Base Camp),” he said.

On September 7, the team left for the summit push. “Nothing would avert the Spartans from hitting the pinnacle of the Main Peak of Haramukh and hence reached the summit point of the main peak at 11 am, we could easily locate the Gangbal and Nundkul Lakes along with Indersar and Shoksar Lakes apart from the Karakorum Range.  On the way, we reached the spot where Rajinder Kaul and the party had raised a few poles. These poles were raised as a mark of their successful summit. The poles were still standing tall as a mark of respect for the adventurers the nature had conserved,” he said.