KOLKATA: A satellite phone saved the lives of seven veteran mountaineers, helping them navigate and communicate through its messaging service. Seven climbers from Bengal, who had reached Mount Deo Tibba summit on June 17, could climb down safely by using aids provided by the satellite phone.
Deo Tibba, located at nearly 6,000 meters, is not a very difficult climb for seasoned mountaineers. The team of seven included two Everest summiteers, Satyarup Siddhanta and Rudra Prasad Haldar. They decided to climb down to camp II from the Indrasan summit and head for Deo Tibba peak. “It was not a difficult climb, but the weather turned bad as we left camp II,” said Haldar. While they had climbed more difficult terrains, none of the climbers had any idea of the route.
By the time they reached the summit, at around 12.30pm, a blizzard started. “We were walking blindly. Even the foot marks were getting covered. I realised we had lost our way and visibility was zero. It can be any climber’s nightmare,” recounted Siddhanta. Even ropes they had fixed were covered by snow. “The biggest enemy of climbers in these situations is panic. We just tried to ensure nobody gave up,” Siddhanta said.
Dipanjan Das, a Bengaluru resident who always tracks Siddhanta’s satellite phone during expeditions, received an SOS from Das at around 3.30pm. “The only way I could save them was by navigating them. When I measured the latitude-longitude on Google Earth, I could see that they were walking in the opposite direction, almost heading for a deep crevice,” Das said.
“I kept on putting the coordinates on a 3D earth map and assessed the terrain a few steps away. I kept on guiding them through every meter they walked for the next four hours,” recounted Das. The navigations were communicated through the text services. “Weather conditions improved by 6.30pm and there was a bit of light giving us some visibility. We were losing energy and some of the members fell into crevasse,” Haldar said. They reached camp II at 8.30 pm.
