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Sweet Victory After a Long Quest: Success on Mt. Deo Tibba (AT LAST!)

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Sweet Victory After a Long Quest: Success on Mt. Deo Tibba (AT LAST!)

Written by

Aparna Rastogi

16 Aug 2024

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Sweet Victory After a Long Quest: Success on Mt. Deo Tibba (AT LAST!)

When we first met Mt. Deo Tibba, it wasn't love at first sight—at least, not from the mountain’s side. We were wholeheartedly smitten, but it was a one-sided affair. The relationship remained rocky, with the mountain inviting us close to its crown only to mercilessly push us away each time. On multiple occasions, we were turned around just 300 metres below the summit. Once, we got as close as 180 metres before being forced to retreat yet again. It almost seemed like the mountain was teasing us, keeping us at arm's length no matter what we did.

Walking towards Mt. Deo Tibba

Picture Courtesy: Sanjay Singh Rawal

A Streak of Unsuccessful Attempts

May 2019: Our earliest expedition to Mt. Deo Tibba was in May 2019. Despite the team's best efforts, they made the prudent decision to turn back from the Col after witnessing a life-threatening avalanche that enveloped the team in front of them. Part of the glacier had caved in, causing an avalanche, and the remaining block of ice dangled precariously above. If our team had continued, they would have had to navigate this dangerous mass. Our leaders rushed to help the other team, and fortunately, no one was fatally injured. After this harrowing experience, the team unanimously decided to retreat.

June 2019: The next attempt came just a month later. Somenath, the leader for both batches, was hopeful. He knew that if the glacier still dangled mid-air beyond the Col, he would turn back without hesitation—safety was paramount. To his relief, the glacier had fallen, making the ascent safer. Summit night started well, and by 5:50 AM, it seemed certain that success was within reach. But in a matter of minutes, clouds rushed in, and the mountain took on an angry expression. Somenath quickly turned around and ordered, "Turn back RIGHT NOW."

(Mt. Deo Tibba: 300M to the Summit for an unabridged version of the tale).

Left Image:The mountain suddenly looked livid.

Right Image: Wrapping up the campsite to rush down

June, 2021: As the world shut its door to the outdoors in 2020, we sat tight and strategized, giving the 2020 attempt a miss. We got our next opportunity in the pre-monsoon season of 2021. This time, we were prepared—strong climbers, experienced leaders, and a perfect strategy. The team began their summit push at midnight, making excellent time. They crossed the vertical ice gully and had only an hour-long gradual incline left. The sky was clear, and the team was already celebrating. But at 5,788 metres, just 212 metres short of the summit, the weather turned. Clouds gathered rapidly, and snow began to fall heavily. The team had no choice but to descend, navigating a whiteout with visibility reduced to mere metres.

October 2022: This expedition, which I was part of, started strong but ended differently. Knowing the history of our attempts, I was aware of Mt. Deo Tibba’s temperamental nature. But nothing could have prepared me for how quickly the weather changed. We reached Camp 1 under sunny skies, but the next day, as we climbed the second gully to set up Summit Camp, the weather turned. We barely made it to the top before being forced to retreat into our tents. Once again, we had gotten close but not close enough. The descent was treacherous—a tale for another time.

Top Image: Woke up to the tents half buried under snow at Base Camp.

Bottom Image: Climbers wading through the snow trying to find their way down

Mt. Deo Tibba (6,001M): Hill of the Gods

Legend has it that Mt. Deo Tibba is where the gods convene for their strategy meetings—hence the name Deo (God) Tibba (Hill). Is it any wonder, then, that the slopes of this high-altitude peak are so pitiless?

Deo Tibba is not just the second highest peak in the Pir Panjal range of Himachal Pradesh; it’s a fascinating mountain with a personality as mercurial as its weather. It toys with climbers like a cat with a mouse, awakening a primal spirit to survive. Its dome-shaped structure and unpredictable moods make it a firecracker of a mountain, constantly keeping climbers on their toes.

“I’ve climbed Black Peak and Kang Yatse. In comparison Deo Tibba is definitely a lot more challenging because of its technical sections, vertical gullies and most importantly, you can never let your guard down on Deo Tibba because anything can change at any time”, explained Sanjay (one of our senior Expedition Leaders).

Some key moments on Deo Tibba

Picture Courtesy: Sanjay Singh Rawal

Success At Last?

It hasn’t always been disappointing. Among many struggles, we did have some successes like in June 2022, when we did manage to reach the top of Deo Tibba. It felt surreal to stand atop this fastidious peak which had been challenging us more than any other. We were holding on to these wins and thought it couldn’t get any better than this. But,

then came,

THE GRAND SLAM!

Two successful summits in FIVE days!

Little did we know that our patience and perseverance are going to pay off. In June of 2024, two consecutive batches made it to the top of Deo Tibba each experiencing the mountain's dynamic nature in different ways.

Prepping to take the epic summit photo!

Picture Courtesy: Nitin Soni

I asked Sanjay, who led both batches, if he had a strategy in mind, knowing our history with this mountain.

“Because of our experiences in the past, the motivation to reach the summit this time was very high. As for me, all I had in mind was that we have to get to the top and I am grateful that it happened. I am extremely humbled by this experience”, he said.

Was It a Smooth Ride?

Since the mountain is famous for being notorious, I asked Sanjay for some details on the two expeditions. When we set out for the first batch of June, we had an airtight plan – weather reports, routes, a solid day-wise strategy. The mountain, of course, threw us out of whack each day.

Sanjay narrated, “Everything went smoothly up until Seri. Just that there was some snowfall in May which made it impossible for mules to come on this track. No biggie. We got porters instead. But we couldn’t source as many as we would need so we had to leave some stuff down at Seri.”

Top Image: Approaching the campsite (view in the front).

Bottom Image: View at the back

Picture Courtesy: Nitin Soni

It Was Too Good to Last

From Seri, the weather worsened. The team had to set up camp an hour earlier than planned, and the next day, they faced snow all the way to Base Camp. This delay prevented the scheduled training, and the team used the day to ferry loads to Camp 1 instead. Despite the challenges, they adapted quickly, hiking to Chota Chandratal to acclimatise and keep spirits high.

Dropouts and Decisions

The weather opened up the next day and the team was in possession of all they needed for training. After a hard day of going over some essential techniques, the team called it a day. The next day they were to leave to occupy Camp 1. This is when the first climber dropped out.

The remaining team felt the clouds closing in as they pushed ahead.

“By the time we reached the base of Duhangan Col, there was a white out. We couldn’t climb the gully on the top of which lies Camp 1 originally. We had to set up an ad hoc tent a little below Duhangan col that night. Although there was good enough space to do that, it just meant we have more distance to cover the next day”, Sanjay reported.

When the leaders spoke over a Sat phone to get a weather update from our team at the base village, they got news that the weather was looking bad all of next day as well. They stayed put and rested below the gully, losing valuable time.

The raging weather at the campsite

Picture Courtesy: Nitin Soni

Some instances of bad weather during transit

Picture Courtesy: Sanjay Singh Rawal

Weather Continued to Play Spoilsport

After a day of rest and random exploration, the team started up the vertical gully, one of the three most daunting sections on the expedition, Duhangan Col. It started out as a clear day but quickly turned bad when they were half way up.

“The weather, in fact, got so bad that we were thinking we might need to turn back. However, we stayed put and it cleared out in about a half hour. Good thing we didn’t make a hasty decision.”, said Sanjay.

The team finally made it atop Duhangan Col and at Camp 1 – where they should have reached 2 days before. After a day’s rest here, the team started to push out towards the next gully. This one, equally menacing, with Summit Camp waiting on its top.

It’s always a good idea to take some orchestrated candid pictures when you have nowhere to go!

Picture Courtesy: Nitin Soni

Sanjay said, thinking back, “Just as we were about to start climbing the second gully, one more climber said he didn’t wish to go on. Now, the trouble was that we didn’t have enough resources to send one person down with him. We were in a quandary yet again.

This is when we decided that we will camp at the base of the gully instead and attempt the summit push from here. This was a tough decision because the summit push was now 750M of elevation gain instead of a mere 300M if we set up the original Summit Camp atop the gully. But we weren’t worried because it was a very possible feat.”

Climbing up the gully

Picture courtesy: Nitin Soni

Navigating vertical and rocky sections in the gullies

Picture Courtesy: Sanjay Singh Rawal

According to Sanjay, it all worked out for the best in the end. They used another buffer day to rest it out here. On their summit push, climbing the gully proved to be much easier during the night since the snow was stabler. With the remaining climber, they started around 12: 30 AM and were at the top of the gully by 4 AM. From here, it took them another 5 hours to get to the summit.

“The most difficult section after the gully is the 150M vertical ice wall, 150M below the summit. This 80-degree slope was all hard ice and we had to employ front point climbing, four-point climbing and all the advanced climbing techniques. It was quite challenging.”, Sanjay reminisced.

Some images of the campsite

Picture Courtesy: Nitin Soni

All's Well That Ends Well

Though the expedition didn’t go as planned, the leaders made the right calls at each juncture, achieving what they had set out to do.

“We got small pockets of good weather, and we made optimal use of those,” Sanjay said.

The team’s patience paid off, and their determination led to success.

The second batch, which summited just five days later, faced no glitches—perhaps a gift from the mountain to Sanjay for standing strong in the face of adversity the first time around.

Some wide expanses on Mt. Deo Tibba

Picture Courtesy: Nitin Soni

Upon his return, Sanjay received a grand welcome. No one celebrated harder than Somenath, our Head of Expeditions, who had led all the previous attempts but was yet to reach the summit. This victory was six years in the making, and it belongs to the entire team—including our strong community of outdoor lovers.

Let’s make a pact to never stop climbing!