"On a crisp early morning I headed off from an empty mall road in Manali. The goal was pretty straight forward, run/climb up to Friendship Peak. I passed old manali, then a couple of sleepy villages before reaching Solang and then Dhundi. This is where the actual trek to Friendship Peak begins. On the trail I covered ground fairly quickly and smoothly. Reaching the base of the the lady leg ridge. A slow long ascent later I was on the top and ready to head to the peak in the snow, that started fairly early on. Took my first, mostly forced break because I was extremely cold. Reason being I had no warm layers on, just a thin waterproof jacket, shirt and shorts. Aditya and Mohit helped me get my boots and crampons, pants and an extra jacket on. My idea of wanting to reach the peak in a complete self supported way could no longer happen. But I cannot say I did not welcome the help, I really needed it. The three of us headed up together. Mohit slowed down but Aditya Bikram Pande and I continued to the summit. Reminded me of old times when we used to go on runs together before Pande took to climbing even more dedicatedly. We weren't fast but steady. I had to stop to take a breather at every 25 odd steps (something not particularly unknown to anyone who attempts climbing a peak). In about 3.5 hrs from lady leg, we were on the summit, enjoying the view, shooting videos. It was cool that my first attempt on Friendship was with Aditya in Jan 2018. We had planned a similar non stop approach to the peak from Manali, albeit in the winters under the coldest conditions either of us have every experienced, no experience, no proper gear and first time doing something of this sort led to an unsuccessful attempt. Though leaving us with a rich experience. And now here we were, the two of us sitting and chatting on top.
At this point, I was half way through the project.15 mins later we headed down. It was a fairly steep descent, not having an ice axe on me, I had to be a little cautious. As I descend, I started to feel really weak and low on energy, dehydrated. Plus I think the altitude affected me a bit. Dragging myself, I got back to the col where I had left my stuff earlier, changed into my trail shoes, had 2 gels, and started racing down. I left my stuff for Mohit and Pande to bring back. Back at the lady leg ridge, I changed in to my running shorts and downed warm soup Sukrit had kept for me. Quick bye to all the guys on the walkie and rushed down as finishing below 12hr mark was a possibility. The last hour from Solang was probably the toughest! I was zapped out of energy and was just about running. None the less made it in 11hr45min50sec to the mall only to meet friends who stood there to cheer for me.
This is what has been playing in my head for a few years now.
Happy to share it pretty much turned out the same way.
Stats for the geeks (record on my watch)
Date: 16th June 2020
Distance : 53.40km
Elevation gain : 3657
Time : 11hr45min50sec
Highest Point : 5289m
Nutrition - 7 Gels (Unived), 2 Bars, few sips of water and 2 cups soup.
I am usually dreaming up the next goal even before i have finished the current one. So as I am writing this, my mind is busy racing and working out details on what's coming next."
-- Kieren D'Souza
Follow him on instagram: / kierendsouza
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