Manaslu Dairies
What it takes to climb an 8000er?
A vision that was hibernated for a very long time existed like a mirage in my dreams, made its inception inconspicuously and in a peculiar way. I had to give away my fear of participating in a life-challenging expedition. Within the first few days, I lost hope, and I nearly gave up. Every time I thought of it I dreamt, the next year it would be which I could not until August 2021. Once the thought triggered in the brain it is almost impossible to eradicate. It intensely persuaded me in the deepest depths of my Interior most folds of mind every now and then; it began again. But it is neither fully formed nor understood. If it actually works, my life may change, positive. A decision was taken over a belief system.
The most unfortunate thing in anybody’s life is to witness dearest people’s death. In what I say the horrifying time; in spite of tireless efforts you are just a spectator. My grandmother just leaned on my hands and rested to leave all of us behind. The chaos of deaths and uncertainty jolted my brain; the end is simple, abrupt and inevitable. All these days, an impossible time and inaudible mourning, for this loss in my presence, made me go to the death zone, yet the anguish would not go. As an Indian I am, I believe that her departure ritual is incomplete and the gates of heaven are still not open to her, which is the primary reason to attempt this mountain, Manaslu – The spirit of the soul. It triggered the suppressed gutsiness to perform beyond possible activity. I wished to pray to the power of nature by reaching closer to the sky and request for smooth sailing in her last sojourn to the final destination. This is the least gratitude I did do for all the sacrifices she made for our descent. I now truly trust that she pushed me to the top from my behind, protected me from every inescapable dangers on this mountain. I am happy I did not let her down.
Dreams and achievements are the words I have been hearing every day since my return. However, keeping success aside for a moment, I do have some serious personal reasons for this feat, like establishing the fact to myself that I am capable of doing this rather gained myself and of course paying tribute to my beloved grandma. In reality the fact sheets of risking your life equally weights on the finances up on your safe return especially when you put stake of every possession/penny you have to attempt the climb without any financial aid. I tried to gather some financial/logistics support but it would take me back to square one and I felt attempting the mountain is easier than convincing people. I knew I was risking everything and it would cost me a lot of time to rebuild my kingdom but I was sure once the mountain is pleased with your effort and hard work, everything else will follow. This is not to create an impact or gain popularity, I am unsure if the mountain would have been so pleasing/supporting to allow me step my foot on her without a clean thought.
A task that began on 18th October 2020 ended on this day, and the most beautiful moment occurred, boosting additional adrenaline and better targets in my life. This was the moment I had been waiting for for so long. Manaslu – The mountain of spirit, at last, allowed me to be on the summit.
Climbing a mountain above the death zone doesn’t come just like that. It was a long, long persistent journey. A combination of time, mind coordination and penance. This journey was not the easy one for me, both Emotionally and Physically. I see unlimited running miles, uncountable sleepless nights, and several other hurdles as I look back a year. However, all those are sweet memories now. They had just vanished when I sneaked into thin air and stuck my nose into it. Manaslu gave me a warm welcome. I stood there above the clouds, and I found fearlessness; and tranquillity, a word that puzzled me if it was real for quite a long, long time. Another step forward in my endeavour.
The normality of the extreme, cruel and stable, describes the actual definition above 8000 meters. My venture into the death zone has various reasons, both personal and social. Deo-Tibba 6001m, this mountain illuminated me to stand up against absolute failure. On the first attempt, the mountain pushed me back with an opposite force. Yes, failures are stepping stones. Three years later, I tried to do it with double speed and hit harder on the target; however, another blow. The second time I managed to reach up to Duhangan col ~5400meters. The rest of the mountain was impossible in that bad weather with frequent avalanches. Much learning and getting better with mountain skills, snow and ice crafting; nevertheless, the summit did not happen on this mountain in both times. But, I managed to add the first Himalayan climb in my backpack, Nobru’s summit 5226m on the second trail. I lived through many crises for a while and rose against all odds. I worked on my fitness to become a professional mountaineer, and Manaslu lifted the spirits of my soul to become one.
I plan to climb more mountains in India and Nepal, and the rest of the world. My preparations are on the go to go for more adventures – challenging, analytical and technical. I am ready to take any mountain opportunity on this journey\.
You can call me Venky, an engineer, a mountaineer, and published writer. I was born and brought up in Kondasamudram, Andhra Pradesh. Being a village kid, I dreamt, fascinated about city life. However, urban living is nothing special. I was an expectation and reality basis impression. As the times ran, my aspirations to become an explorer were almost lost. Some inspiring acquaintances thrived my explorative attitude; my Himalayan adventure began in 2014. This vocation with the high altitude of the greater Himalayas, my composure for a larger than life vision had woken my insight. When I look back in time now, I have actually visited Everest base camp more times than the number I went to my village in the last 4 years. At last, I have become one of the very few individuals from India to scale and stand on the top of a mountain that grew above the death zone. One day I wish to climb up to the top of the world – Mt Everest.
WOW!!!!!
AMAZING!!!!