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‘Too Much’ to ‘Almost Too Much’ in Two Expeditions: A Tale from CB13 & CB14

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‘Too Much’ to ‘Almost Too Much’ in Two Expeditions: A Tale from CB13 & CB14

Written by

Aparna Rastogi

29 Jul 2024

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‘Too Much’ to ‘Almost Too Much’ in Two Expeditions: A Tale from CB13 & CB14

4:00 PM, 4th July, 2022

While my legs felt like they were caught in a gentle breeze – swaying and faltering, I was looking at him with a curious gaze. His felt like they were made of jelly, causing his tall figure to crash into the ground with each step forward. He then would lift himself up and take another step to meet the same fate. Four painfully long hours of this bizarre dance. His legs misshapen bending in random directions as if they had no bones but were filled with fluid instead.

We both staggered into the summit camp two hours after the other climber, our guide and one of the two Sherpas. Same as us - they all wore an expression of mortal fatigue. The joy of reaching the summit was hidden somewhere behind the feeling of extreme exhaustion.

Two Years Later: 3:00 PM, 5650M, 17th June, 2024

As soon as she reached Summit Camp and took off her heavy snow boots, the look of exuberance on her face of having returned from the summit, quickly contorted into something suggesting deathly fear. The thumb of her left foot had turned ultramarine blue and was double its usual size. What was scarier than the visual was the feeling – the thumb felt nothing. Her eyes met those of her peers – two who had returned half way from the summit after injuring their legs, two who reached the top with her and had spent the last ounce of their energy making it into the tent, the two Sherpas and two expedition guides. Their silence and ghastly expressions confirmed her fears; her thumb, in fact, was in deep trouble.

The Scars from CB13

The two stories above are from two separate expeditions to CB13: one in June of 2022 and the other two years after, in June of 2024. The two expeditions started 15 days apart and that made a world of difference in the terrain. I was part of the one in 2022 which started towards the end of June when all the snow had melted down the mountain. We experienced a mountain of crumbling rocks and boulders. The one in 2024 which began towards the start of June experienced a mountain standing erect under a firm bed of snow – almost unrecognizable in its white costume.

Left Image: The dry terrain of Advanced Base Camp with CB13 under the sun’s light in 2022.

Right Image: Snow covered terrain of Advanced Base Camp with CB13 right in the center in 2024

The two times in the last three years, that we have dared to tackle the star mountain of Lahaul, we’ve been successful. But we’ve also come back from it with scars both times – and each one tells a story.

I want to take you through both these expeditions in more detail to unpack the differences and similarities of the two times we successfully made it to the top of CB13. We’ll talk about CB14 a bit later. But before we get into that, here’s a little description of our protagonist – the Thirteenth of the Chandrabhaga Range of Mountains.

Chandrabhaga 13: Lecter of the Himalayas

“CB13 is not everyone’s cup of tea,” said one of our climbers as soon as he laid eyes on the peak from our Advanced Base Camp.

This isn’t doable. Where even is the route? Are we sure we are looking at the right mountain?”, said another. My thoughts exactly!

With its uneven landscape and impossible slopes, it almost seemed unwelcoming at first sight. A beauty to look at – its strong, unassuming personality – the self-assuredness with which it stands, it feels like the mountain is looking at you like a lion would a gazelle. Charming as it may be, the mountain makes its intentions to harm very clear right at the Base Camp when it sends an army of rocks hurtling your way every few seconds with a thundering sound to add to the scare. It is enchanting but it handles you with a cold, clinical detachment while also forcing its way into your mind till it becomes that all-consuming thought which is hard to shake off. If you think that sounds like Hannibal Lecter, that is exactly what I was going for – CB13 is the Lecter of the Himalayas! (Disclaimer: The opinion expressed here is solely my own and does not represent the opinions of, well, anyone else because how could it – this bizarre analogy bobbled around in my head for hours until I had no choice but to let it out! But I will let you borrow it if you may ever need to.)

Climber on the route between ABC and Summit Camp on CB13 (2024)

What is CB14 like then? I don’t know, chunky like The Thing from Fantastic Four, maybe? It is rockier, if that’s even possible and has vertical gullies with a gradient that would be hard enough with snow but is rendered implausible with its loose terrain of rolling rocks.

The Start of Something New

“According to our Sherpas, CB13 is far more challenging than Kang Yatse or even Mt. Nun”, Somenath, our Head of Expeditions, informed me when I asked him what his experience had been of leading two successful batches up this menacing mountain.

“On Mt. Nun, it is all snow. Right from the Base Camp, all the way to the top. You can put on your crampons and navigate that terrain easily. But on CB13, where there’s alternating snow and rock negotiations - now, THAT is tricky.”

I remember when we were packing up for our expedition in 2022, there was a lot of excitement at our store – which usually is the case. Each time we go to tackle something new. This was the first time we were going to attempt this dual climb. We had no idea what was in store for us – no wonder we were filled with the carefree exuberance that usually accompanies ignorance. We had done our research on routes and watched enough videos to witness what it looked like, read articles to understand the tricky sections – all of it. We didn’t see anything worrying; we were filled with confidence.

Left Image: Summit Camp in 2022.

Right Image: Climbers out for an acclimatization walk circa 2022

As Somenath would say, “The mountain shows every climber where they stand”.

It sure showed us as we bumped into challenges every step of the way. Generous servings of rockfall, deep crevasses – open and covered, witnessing the plane wreck from 1968, the surfacing of human remains at the site, thundering rains, flooding tents, 8 hours on a vertical slope with snow much like quicksand that was determined to swallow us alive, a raging snow storm, and a summit push from hell. The mountain put us through a world of pain - it knocked the wind right out of us. So much so that it took all the climbers half a second to make a unanimous decision that we didn’t want to attempt CB14 for sure.

I have never witnessed a team decision being made so fast.

Sunset over the CB range of mountains from the Summit Camp

(For a detailed story of the expedition, read: A Deeply and Distressingly Personal Tale of the Horrors & Hilarities on Chandrabhaga13)

Course Correction Two Years After

After all that happened in 2022, we had wised up by the time we were leaving for the expedition in 2024. Firstly, and most importantly, we dropped the cockiness that we carried the first time around after we got a reality check from the mountain. Secondly, this time we moved the expedition to early June to catch the snow before it melts, easing the climb considerably. Thirdly, we charted out a better route and also carried 1,200M of rope – 3 times more than we did before.

Did Our Minor Adjustments Help?

Hell, yeah! Call it luck, the effect of our educated decisions or a mix of both, our expedition of 2024 went by a lot more smoothly. The terrain was stabler with a bed of ice, no signs of any crevasses and the weather was a lot more supportive (this one we can attribute to good fortune!). Our team started out from Batal towards the Base Camp alongside the murky Chandra without much hassle. The load ferry and shifting of camp from Base Camp to Advanced Base Camp went by fairly smoothly as well. The team made a move from the Advanced Base Camp to Camp 1 over a stable terrain which in 2022 was a difficult climb. Camp 1 to Summit Camp was easy as well – the stretch of the climb that had made the climbers in 2022 call out to whatever supernatural forces that exist out there to help them get through it.

Left Image: The unsteady snow and broken trail on the way to Summit Camp in 2022.

Right Image: Steady snow on the same route in 2024

The weather in 2024 only acted up once the team descended from Summit Camp. The snow was so thick, it even hid the signs of death under its blanket – if you didn’t already know about the aircraft debris and the remains, it would be like nothing unfortunate ever happened here. Despite the expedition becoming much easier (strictly in relative terms) this year, the team made a unanimous decision to give CB14 a miss – just like in 2022! Do you find yourself wondering why?

Here’s Where the True Challenge Lies! The Summit of CB13 is a Moving Target

The answer to why the team from 2024 decided against CB14 even though everything seemed to be going right lies in the similarities between the two expeditions and not in the differences. The Summit Push.

“Here’s the thing – the summit camp is at an altitude of 5650M and the summit at 6264M. The summit push is all of 614M of elevation gain – which if you compare to other mountains is not a lot. However, here’s the catch -it is 614M in less than a kilometer which means the summit push of CB13 is at no point lesser than 70 degrees. To add to that, the terrain alternates between patches of snow and vertical patches of rock making it harder still. On a tough gradient you can walk on snow with front point, but you can’t do that on rock. To walk on rocks with crampons is very hard.”, said Pankaj, deputy expedition leader on the 2024 expedition.

Negotiating vertical rocky sections towards the end

Somenath added,” Towards the end, the rock sections are actually 80 degrees in gradient. To be able to pull your body weight up with each step takes immense effort. It tends to exhaust everybody no matter how strong you are. Me included.”

“The summit push is so vertical that you can see your tents at Summit Camp the whole way – you don’t lose sight of them even for a minute”, stated a climber.

On inquiring further why CB14 still remains unclimbed, the leaders were of the opinion that as much as a dual climb is challenging, it is also a lot to do with the mind.

“This time, we had decided to climb down from the summit, rest for a bit at Summit Camp and then head down to Advanced Base Camp the same day – the camp from where we would climb CB14. But once you see a tent after coming down from the summit, the body just gives up. All you want to do is curl up in your sleeping bag. That’s what happened. We never made it to ABC - ended up staying the night at Summit Camp. And then to go down the next day and think about making another 1000M ascent to CB14, it is a very difficult call to make.”

In and around the Summit Camp (2024)

Since, as per plan, the team was supposed to come down to ABC, there wasn’t enough ration stocked up at Summit Camp. While the climbers got a full meal, the Sherpas and leaders settled for some leftovers from the nights before. Tending to the thumb of the female climber and making a quick descent to get her medical assistance was their primary concern.

With its tricky terrain, the summit of CB13 is a moving target. As soon as you think you are getting close, it moves farther away. Distance is only an illusion on this mountain – you’d spend hours after excruciating hours to cover a measly kilometer.

Climbers on Chandrabhaga 13

While the last two batches were shy of CB14 after success on CB13, we are still waiting for a batch which will be able to achieve this dual climb for THE VERY FIRST TIME.

What Happened to the People from Our Opening Stories?

Oh, before I end this, I must complete the stories I started with at the beginning. In 2022, 3 of 6 climbers (including me) made it to the summit. One returned fairly quickly while me and another climber struggled on our descent quite a bit. While for me it was an intense fear of descending on slippery vertical rockfaces with crampons on, for my co-climber it was something much more tangible. The previous day we had spent an excruciating 8 hours getting buried in snow from below and above. He, while helping a fellow climber, had managed to get completely drenched, his feet plastered in snow inside his boots. He had soldiered on to the summit but upon return his feet felt numb – they had no sensation. His feet felt like even though they were on the ground, they weren’t landing anywhere. His legs from the wet clothes and from being cold for long, had lost sensation too. Once we reached the warmth of the summit camp, he recovered very quickly.

Climbers on Chandrabhaga 13

From the second story, the leaders gave her antibiotics and dressed her wound frequently till they got back to Manali and in the care of a medical doctor. The doctor called it Cellulitis – a skin infection. Her skin had to be fully peeled off to clean the pus that had filled her thumb. It is going to take a few months, but there is no permanent damage. She is expected to make a full recovery.

In Conclusion…

The mountains in Lahaul are a different breed. Each time we go there, our fascination for these formidable peaks only grows.

Like the Bolivian climber Lito Tejada-Flores rightly said, “You never climb the same mountain twice, not even in memory. Memory rebuilds the mountain, changes the weather, retells the jokes, remakes all the moves.”

We learn something new each time we attempt these peaks, but also each time we tell our story of these fantastic climbs.

(P.S.: If you remain undaunted after reading the story of these two climbs, I’d say you need to get yourself here. And if you are shaken by what you just read, I’d say you definitely need to get yourself here!)