Starting from the coast of Antarctica, a team of eight Indian Armymen skied for almost 10 hours everyday for 50 days, braving cold winds, snow storms and extreme temperatures in the range of -15 to - 40 degrees C and finally landed at South Pole on January 15
Braving temperatures of minus 15-40 degrees Celsius, coupled with high blizzards and difficult terrain is not an ordinary man’s job. But then our ‘Men In Uniform’ is no ordinary folks either. From fighting the enemies at the border to bringing glory to the nation at the sporting arenas, they have always led us from the front. They are synergy of mental and physical fitness who perform superhuman tasks with miraculous ease and inconceivable quickness.
And these qualities of Armymen came into fore once again as a eight-member led by Col Anand Swaroop did the unthinkable by treading the tricky turf of South Pole and fought all odds to conquer the southernmost part of the earth. The team on January 15 achieved another adventure feat when its skiing expedition to Antarctica reached the geographic South Pole and marked it by observing the 63rd Army Day.
This was the first ever coast to pole Indian Army skiing expedition to the South Pole, covering a distance of 1,170 km. It was conceptualised by Lt Gen Ramesh Halgali, SM, Director General of Military Training and was flagged off by Chief of Army staff Gen V.K. Singh on November 1. This journey also marked 100 years of the first expedition taken out by Roald Amundsen.
Col Anand Swaroop, SM (Corps of Engineers), who was the team leader, said, “It was a great experience and a proud achievement for our country. It has made us even stronger physically and mentally. We use to ski from 9 in the morning till 7 in the evening. After 7, all the time was ours and we used to read, play and plan for the next day. We are now hoping that in future more such expeditions would be planned by the Indian Army.”
The team for the 50-day expedition had been selected after trials at the High Altitude Warfare School of the army at Gulmarg in Jammu and Kashmir and to realistically prepare the team for polar conditions, a rigorous one-month pre-expedition training camp was conducted in Greenland from August 29 to September 28 last year, so as to familiarise them with the sub-zero temperatures of Antarctica.
The team, along with their equipment, flew to Antarctica by a mix of commercial and chartered flights. The expedition took the 'Hercules Inlet route' which involved skiing from the coast of Antarctica to South Pole at 90 degree latitude.
The team pulled sledges with supplies for nearly two months and were self-contained till they reached the South Pole. In the process, the team faced extreme cold temperatures in the range of minus 15 to minus 40 degrees Celsius.
“The biggest challenge for us was not to fight with the weather conditions and other adversities but it was to maintain the mental balance till the end of the expedition. The distance from your habitat tends to break your spirit at some point of time but this was what we had to deal bravely. I’m happy that each one of us successfully transcended the barriers and accomplished the task.” said Capt R Bala Karthik, SC (Special Forces), who was the deputy team leader and has also earned a Shaurya Chakra for bravery.
"It was very difficult to predict the weather there as it used change every few hours. We used to start in bright sun and hardly half-an-hour later a storm would come up. But we never stopped and kept going,” said the members of the team.
The importance of South Pole lies in the fact that it is the least polluted area on Earth, being uninhabited. It is also known as the Earth’s window to outer space, being the best area to study meteorology, scientific research, Earth Science and Glaciology.
The expedition was flagged in by Indian Defence Minister AK Antony at South block on March 1. During the flag in ceremony the Minister lauded the efforts of the expedition members and congratulated the Indian Army for yet another remarkable feat in the field of adventure training. He further remarked that this expedition will increase awareness about South Pole among Indians and set a trend for other adventure enthusiasts to follow.
During, the last one decade, Army mountaineering teams have scaled hoisted the Indian Flag on the six highest peaks in the Himalayas.
“I m really happy to learn that the Indian Army Team has successfully hoisted the Indian Flag on the South Pole on Army Day this year. I extend my heartiest congratulations to all the members of the expedition for the proud achievement” said A K Antony.
Indian Army has been a pioneer and the trend setter of Adventure Sports and activities in India. All the adventure activities are organized and managed by the Army Adventure Wing under Director General of Military Training.
The members of the team included:
1. Col Anand Swaroop, SM (Corps of Engineers): Team Leader, Qualified in Basic and Advance Mountaineering courses from HMI, Darjeeling and NIM. Uttarkashi. He has participated in various mountaineering expeditions.
2. Capt R Bala Krishnan, SC ( Special Forces): Deputy Team Leader, who is an alumnus of Sainik School, Amaravathinagar,NDA and IMA. Shaurya Chakra holder
3. L/Nk Khilap Singh (Garwhal Rifles): Excelled in mountaineering courses at High Altitude Warfare School and participated in mountaineering expeditions. He was the official photographer of the expedition.
4. L/NK Arjun Kumar Thapa (Gorkha Regiment): Hails from Gorkhali, has climbed Mt Leo Parigal and Kinner Kailash.
5. L/NK Parsuram Gurung (Para Field Artillery): Gunner, hails from Arunachal Pradesh. He has also submitted Stok Kangri in 2009.
6. RFN Tsewang Morup (Ladakh Scotts): Belongs to Ladakh. He was the doctor of the troop.
7. RFN Ram Singh (Garwhal Rifles): Belongs to Garwhal, has excelled in the High Altitude Warfare School courses. He was the communication expert during the expedition.
8. Rifleman Shaukat Ahmed Mir: A Kashmiri who was member of the ski team and has participated in the National Apline Ski Championship in 2006 and 2009.
By Akshi Aggarwal
