When Satyarup Siddhanta was a child, he never thought he could climb a mountain or envision his life revolving around mountaineering. It seemed an impossible dream as he was asthmatic till his college days and relied heavily on inhalers. But, when he hiked to Parvathamalai in Tamil Nadu—a sacred mountain over 1,371m above sea level—it changed his life. He got rid of his inhalers and mental blocks and transformed himself into a “new me.”
Since those days, Siddhanta has climbed many more mountains and broken multiple records along the way. He officially became the youngest mountaineer in the world and the first from India to climb both the Seven Summits and Volcanic Seven Summits on January 15, 2019. He was also the first person to play the Indian national anthem on flute in Antarctica, where he also skied the last degree to the South Pole, a distance of 111km.
More recently, on June 25, 2024, Siddhanta and a team of nine mountaineers, four Sherpas and two Base Camp members made history when they summited the 5,988m of the Gupt Parvat in the Pir Panjal Range of the Western Himalayas. They were the first people to do so in recorded history. The mountain gets its name from its virtual invisibility on account of its unique geographical position which makes it nearly impossible to even photograph, according to reports.
Outlook Traveller interviewed Siddhanta about the expedition to the Gupt Parvat and his life as a mountaineer. The interview has been condensed for clarity and brevity.
Why did you decide to summit the Gupt Parvat? Is there something special about it?
I had this secret desire to climb a virgin mountain—a mountain which has never been climbed by any human being. It gives a different high to be able to take steps on any uncharted territories, literally. We were on the lookout for such virgin mountains where we could venture pre-monsoon. Finally, Rudra Prasad Halder, our team leader, zeroed in on this place and we sent a recce team last year to see the terrain and approach. We were convinced we could penetrate this region. Earlier, I had climbed Mt Sidley, the highest volcano of Antarctica, through a new route and Mt Brammah in Kishtwar through a new route too. But Gupt Parvat was special because the whole region was unexplored, not just the route or the mountain.
How did you determine Gupt Parvat’s location when it’s nearly impossible to photograph?
There were references from some explorers in the past that beyond the Mukar Beh and Shikar Beh—two very well-known mountains of the Pir Panjal Ranges—there was a mountain called Gupt Parvat. But there were no pictures. However, from the topography sheet/map, its exact location could be deduced. There were speculations on the approach for this mountain where few [people] said the approach could be from the Sishu side. However, the topography of the place has changed over the last few decades and the features of the map didn’t match the existing situation. We took a chance and approached from the Dalang village side through an unexplored gorge with the intent to climb Shikar Beh through a new route as well as Gupt Parvat. We were mentally prepared that we may need to turn back [after] climbing neither. When we reached the top of Gupt Parvat, we could see a village from the summit which meant that the summit of Gupt Parvat could be seen from the village, too. But since the summit is a pile of dangerous, partly hanging allocated rocks it didn't look like a typical summit cone from below and hence it was elusive.
Who was your expedition leader?
Rudra Prasad Halder, who is the secretary for the Sonarpur Arohi club, one of the pioneering mountaineering clubs from Bengal, was the leader of this expedition. Rudra has 25+ years of experience in the Indian Himalayas and has a vast knowledge of Indian mountains. Rudra and I climbed Mt Everest together.
All together, the summit team consisted of Rudra Prasad Halder, me, Rudra Prasad Chakraborty, Debasish Mazumder, Naitik Naskar, Nandish Kallimani, Dipashree Paul, Uddipan Halder and Tuhin Bhattacharyya.
The Sherpas were made up of Phursemba Sherpa, Phurba Sherpa, Tengy Sherpa and Ang Dawa Sherpa.
Finally, our Base Camp members were Aniket Chatterji and Baijnath Thakur.
What was the original plan?
The original plan was to try climbing Shikar Beh from a new route and climb Gupt Parvat, the virgin peak. Shikar Beh has been climbed only once in history, that too unofficially by a Japanese team and from the Shishu side. There were multiple attempts on it but every time they failed. We thought of climbing this face as a new route and also as a first India ascent.
Did your plans change?
The route to Shikar Beh was at a 75-90 degree inclination and required us to navigate a hanging glacier en route. Our team could open the route till 5,600m but an avalanche triggered by the hanging glacier partially swept off our route on a day when we were resting. That stirred up some beliefs from the Sherpa team that the mountain gods didn’t want us to climb and that [the gods] were angry. We had to respect their sentiments and beliefs as the Sherpa team was not ready to climb that mountain. So, we shifted our focus to Gupt Parvat. Once Gupt Parvat was successfully summited, we again shifted our focus to climbing Shikar Beh. The team almost reached the summit but after reaching the ridge which was less than 200m from the summit, we encountered a route full of crevasses which made the approach quite impossible and the attempt had to be abandoned. Inspite of the failure, it is a great exploration that was documented and the first-of-its-kind from a new route which will be a great artefact in Indian mountaineering journals.
What were the challenges on this expedition?
This expedition was a true exploration expedition and a lot was unknown to us. Uncertainty was in every step because there was zero documentation.
There were no trails and in many places, the exposure was high even to reach Base Camp. Pre-monsoon, the snow bridges were breaking and glaciers were melting which made the rivers swell, making [the] crossing very dangerous. On a sunny day, we had to spend hours dropping boulders on the river so that we could cross from Base Camp to Camp 1. There was a dangerous rockfall zone just opposite to the Base Camp from where every day at least 80-90 big rockfalls were happening. The Base Camp was strategically placed in [such] a way that the probability of getting hit by those rocks was very minimal.
[Around] 17-18 porters abandoned us and ran away stating that the route to Base Camp was not a trekking route as promised but a climbing route and that they didn't want to die. Our team had to [carry] the load with a few exceptional porters who were brave enough to explore till Camp 1. This, and a couple of bad weather days delayed our expedition and we feared the onset of the monsoon which could have led to the cancellation of the expedition.
We also spotted bear droppings near Camp 1 which made us more vigilant. According to the topographical maps, the route above the col to Camp 1 was supposedly an ice field but due to climate change over multiple decades, the topography changed completely and we were welcomed by moraines and bugyal zones en route to Camp 1. Multiple glacial lakes were formed at places too which were not there at earlier times which is a burning example of climate change.
How did you navigate these challenges?
We had a fair idea of the initial route as we had sent a recce team 6-7 months before the expedition so we were mentally prepared. We took some drone footage and analysed them, too. We created an alliance with the local people of the Dalang village and they were very supportive. The cumulative experience of the team was very high and most of the team members had climbed multiple mountains together over the last few years which made the bonding very strong. Relying on this bond and the cumulative experience we could navigate and overcome all the obstacles and really enjoyed [the expedition].
How many days did it take to reach the Gupt Parvat from when you set out?
We had setup one transit camp, one Base Camp and two higher camps before reaching the summit of Gupt Parvat. Once these camps were set we had to ferry the rations and equipment multiple times to each of these camps—an integral part of the planning. From Camp 1 to Camp 2 (the summit camp of Gupt Parvat) it took 6+ hours to reach. From the summit camp, we started at 1:30AM and climbed a vertical wall of 70-90 degrees for about 700m. The entire team reached the summit between 8AM-9AM. The advance team started around June 6 and we reached the summit on June 25.
What memories will you take away from this trip?
This expedition was very special for me as I could attempt climbing a virgin peak which was my secret dream. Climbing through well-established routes versus finding new routes and exploration—the latter gives a lot of adrenaline rush. It's like following the footsteps of earlier explorers where Google too doesn't have an answer.
Did you learn something new on this trip?
Expeditions like these make me discover myself; [know] new facets of me and areas of improvement, strength, inhibitions, fear and courage. It evolves me as a person and as a mountaineer. It throws you out of your comfort zone and then the real learning happens. A successful expedition also cements lots of positive beliefs, increases resilience and self esteem, and pushes the benchmark higher. More importantly, it expands my dreams and fills me with even bigger dreams of embracing uncertainty.
Do you have any advice or tips for people who want to climb mountains for a living or as a hobby?
Get yourself financially stable before pursuing adventure sports as it becomes very costly. Get yourself skilled and take up courses which can teach allied subjects like cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), weather, climate, etc. which can help. Define why you want to climb mountains. If the ‘why’ is strong you can go much further. Inculcate a love for nature. And most importantly, dare to dream and dream BIG.
What’s next for you?
As I am giving this interview, I am on my way to climb Mt Kilimanjaro with a team of three. I do it professionally now.
After that, a wildlife safari to Serengeti and the Ngorongoro crater. I will then bid goodbye to my team and embark on climbing Mt Batian, a peak of Mt Kenya. Last year I climbed two of the three peaks of Mt Kenya, Point Lenana and the Nelion Peak. Mt Batian was pending so I am heading for that to complete the trilogy of Mt Kenya. If I could finish that, I may become the first Indian to complete all three peaks of Mt Kenya.