‘We could not see anything that was even one foot ahead of us,’ recalls survivor of Uttarakhand trekking tragedy 

It was supposed to be an 11-day adventurous trip for a group of trekkers from Bengaluru who had reached Uttarakhand on May 29. Everything was going as planned until June 3 when the trip took a disastrous turn after the 22-member group got caught in a blizzard on the Sahastra Tal trek. Only 13 of them returned alive.

It was supposed to be an 11-day adventurous trip for a group of trekkers from Bengaluru who had reached Uttarakhand on May 29. Everything was going as planned until June 3 when the trip took a disastrous turn after the 22-member group got caught in a blizzard on the Sahastra Tal trek. Only 13 of them returned alive.

The trekking group consisted of people in the age group of 30 to 72, who were all experienced trekkers. They had begun trekking on May 30 from Sila village and had covered Gairu, Kush Kalyan, Kyarki Bugyal, and Lambtal until June 2. On June 3, they began their trek from Lambtal to Sahastra Tal peak and were supposed to return to Lambtal. On June 4, they were supposed to trek down from Lambtal to Kyarki Bugyal and eventually return to Bengaluru on June 8.

Tragedy struck on the afternoon of June 3. “After enjoying the view at the Sahastra Tal peak, the group was returning to the base camp. Two members were ahead of the main group and were not affected by the events that happened later. Around 3.30 p.m., there was a whiteout caused by a blizzard and the trekkers lost visibility,” said Srivatsa, secretary of the Karnataka Mountaineering Association, Bengaluru, which had organised the trip.

Madhu Kiran Reddy, 52, was among the group of 22 who were on the trek. “The trek was not complicated in any way until then. Most of us were experienced trekkers; I have done 25 to 30 treks. We were returning and then the blizzard started in the afternoon. It lasted for over four hours, and we could not see anything that was even one foot ahead of us,” he recalled.

They could not figure out the way back and decided to stay where they were until they could. “We were all taking shelter under a big rock and two people died in the night right in front of us due to the cold. Two others were dead by morning, while five more died the next day. We eventually found our way back and realised that we were only an hour away from our base camp,” he narrated the horror.

While all nine died due to hypothermia, Mr. Reddy and Mr. Srivatsa said all the members of the group were equipped with essential gear, including thermals, rucksacks with supplies, and ponchos.

Mr. Srivatsa said that seven trekkers, along with a guide, made their way back to the base camp and he received a call from the guide at about 5 p.m. informing him about the tragedy. “I immediately called the Indian Mountaineering Foundation whose principal called the Chief Secretary of Uttarakhand who then spoke to the disaster management authorities.”