KOCHI: On conquering the Everest, Edmund Hillary famously told a friend: “Well, George, we’ve knocked the bastard off.’’ Brigadier Krishan Kumar prefers to put it somewhat differently. “If you think you’re tough climbing the Everest, you’re wrong. You climbed it because the mountain allowed you to. One day of bad weather up there and you start believing there’s a God. A mountain is a mighty thing.’’ Brigadier Krishan Kumar, who took over as the Commander of the Pangode Military Station on Tuesday, led the first successful Indian Army expedition to the 8,848-metre Mount Everest in 2001.
He himself did not summit, allowing ten of his eleven team members to bask in that glory. A 45-year-old Colonel then, Krishan Kumar climbed upto Camp 3, at a height of 7,315 metres, but his glory was of a different kind. It was not just that the expedition was the first successful one undertaken by the Army, it was also one that was devoid of mishaps. Everybody went up and came down in one piece.
After Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay scaled the Everest in 1953, mountaineers have been clambering up and down it ever since. But a fully Indian Army expedition happened only in 1985. “But that expedition faced extremely bad weather and was not successful,’’ Krishan Kumar said.
Then came a long gap as far as the Army was concerned. The Kargil War and Operation Parakram came in between, and it was only by 2000 that things cooled down enough for an expedition.
“The Army has always been involved in Everest expeditions, by virtue of its deployment in the mountains. It has been heavily involved especially in training,’’ he said. “But a lot of things have to fall into place to have a completely Army expedition.’’ In 2000, volunteers were called for a major expedition. They were not told where. He volunteered. And it turned out the target was Everest.
Belonging to Himachal Pradesh, Krishan Kumar had begun his mountaineering career at the Western Himalayan Mountaineering Institute, Manali, during his school and college days. After being commissioned into the Madras Regiment in 1980, he pursued his passion. Several expeditions, mostly in the Garhwal and Ladakh regions, came his way. He also attended a Programme for Peace Combined Mountain Course at Swiss Army Mountaineering Facility in Andermatt in Switzerland.
In 1995, he was part of the Army team which skied all their way along the northern border starting from the Karakoram Pass. “It was a good experience. It was dangerous, but we lived through.’’
Chosen to lead the expedition, Krishan Kumar selected a 26-member group with 12 climbers. They chose the traditional route, the south-east ridge on the Nepal side.
As leader, he had to take some tough decisions, including the one where he decided to stay back with another of his team members. “It was my own decision. Everybody is looking for a chance to summit.’’ He divided his group into two, with seven members in the first group summitting. The second group, which always has the tough job as they are the ones having to mount a rescue if needed, was caught in rough weather. But three of that group also set foot atop the mountain. That was on May 23, 2001.
Krishan Kumar was later decorated with the Ati Vishisht Seva Medal (AVSM).
He has held several important staff and command appointments, including serving in a mountain brigade. During Operation Parakram in the Western sector, he commanded his unit and in Operation Rhino in the eastern sector.
Prior to his appointment as Pangode Station Commander, he was Commander of a mountain brigade in Jammu and Kashmir.
So, will he take on the Everest if he got a chance again? “Yeah, definitely! But not as leader,’’ he adds with a laugh.
tikirajwi@epmltd.com