Kaza (Photo: Shyam G Menon)

The story of the first Indian to climb six 8000m-peaks.

Sometime in the concluding portion of the bus ride from Reckong Peo, the Spiti valley assumes shape and begins to impress by its dimension. After much distance covered in the valley’s folds, the wait for Kaza melds into a small township in the distance, on the banks of the river which gave the valley its name. The bus passed through a gateway next to premises operated by the Border Roads Organization (BRO) and a while later rolled to a halt at the local bus depot.

I was in Kaza, Spiti; eastern part (tad north too) of Himachal Pradesh. The terrain was quite similar to that of better known Ladakh. Except – Leh is at 11,500ft; Kaza is close to 12,000ft up. The Ladakh link shouldn’t surprise for both Ladakh and Spiti share the same Buddhist culture and in times gone by, the two provinces were administratively linked. Kaza felt like a quieter version of Leh, an older version of its northern sibling before the world arrived and made Leh the Leh of today. The world hasn’t poured as much into Spiti, yet.

Getting off the bus I pulled out my cell phone. There was a story to do. We – my subject and I – had promised to connect as soon as I reached Kaza. Too lazy to hunt for my specs, I held the phone away from my eyes and checked its screen. One stick; two sticks….? There was zero connectivity on my Mumbai-phone. I had thought the bigger operator I shifted to, would deliver network in Kaza. Damn! I looked around for somebody who could be the person I was looking for. There was no anticipation on anyone’s face. A few people calmly conversed. Some others went about their daily work. A monk stood sipping tea before a teashop; quintessentially monk, alive to the moment, to the sip. Nobody seemed to be expecting anyone. On the other hand, it was becoming increasingly clear from my nervousness that I was looking for somebody. From the depth of a beedi or a cup of tea being enjoyed, eyebrows rose casually to survey my presence.

“ Excuse me,’’ I said, stopping a person passing by. I explained my predicament and sought the use of his phone. “ Sure,’’ he said extending me his phone. I dialled the number and introduced myself. “ You have reached? Give me five minutes, I will be there,’’ the voice at the other end said. I returned the phone, said thank you. The evening was slowly fading to dusk. It suddenly occurred to me that I had given no clue regarding how I looked or the colour of T-shirt I wore. I wondered how two people who had not seen each other before would meet in Kaza’s bus depot. A few minutes went by. A middle aged stocky man of short to medium height with a day pack slung on his shoulder, appeared. “ Mr Shyam?’’ he asked loudly to nobody in particular. It was like a query to the winds; rather befitting, I thought, given surrounding geography of mountains and passes with the wind as timeless spectator. We shook hands. I had found the school teacher. Next morning, in a classroom overlooking the school and beyond that, the town, the teacher narrated his story.

Bodh, on the summit of Phabrang, his first expedition (Photo: by arrangement)

Bodh on Longstaff Col; seen behind is Nanda Devi main summit (Photo: by arrangement)

Chhering Norbu Bodh was born in May 1969 in the village of Lalung, a cluster of about a dozen houses then, not far from Kaza. The fourth child of his parents they were in all two brothers and four sisters; now only Bodh and a sister remain. With his father sadly caught in a dispute over family property, life was a struggle. His early school education was at Rama village and Lalung. In 1976, the family shifted to Chobrang, a village roughly six kilometres away from Lalung. After the fifth standard, he shifted to Kaza’s high school, 20km away. He stayed at the government hostel. He was good at his studies. In 1985, the uncle who bore the expenses of his education, died. A year later Bodh cleared the tenth standard. But he had none to fund onward studies. He was now an angry young man earning a livelihood doing odd jobs. Around this time, he worked for about two to three months at the local branch of the State Bank of India (SBI) as a ` water carrier.’ His responsibilities included cleaning the office premises and fetching water.

Courtesy the region’s severe winter, the pattern of life in Spiti was six months of work followed by six month of rest. Although of late climate change has been making its presence felt here too, traditionally Spiti winters have been harsh. In this remote mountain scenario with premium on usable land, the person who owned land and cultivable fields was affluent. That was the old order. Over time, as links to the outside world became more, government jobs became an alternative option for survival. In 1988, Bodh recalled, at a public function in Kaza, an official of the Indian Army’s Himachal Scouts (part of the Dogra Regiment) informed that recruitment was due to happen.  Bodh had no idea what a career as soldier entailed. He nevertheless joined the army. He trained for nine months during which time he was adjudged best student in weapons training. In 1993, he volunteered to train at the army’s High Altitude Warfare School (HAWS) in Gulmarg, Kashmir. It was on his return from HAWS that he got called for his first mountaineering expedition – an army expedition to climb Phabrang (6172m) in Himachal Pradesh. Losing his goggles after reaching the summit, the trip gifted the young climber his first taste of snow blindness.

In 1994, he was part of the army expedition to Kabru (7412m), located on the Indo-Nepal border. A year later, Bodh was in Kumaon, attempting Nanda Devi East (7434m) with an international army expedition. Their objective was to traverse the ridge linking Nanda Devi’s twin summits. But following an accident after gaining the east summit, the traverse was called off. Being part of the second summit team, Bodh didn’t get a chance to climb the peak. Following this expedition, Bodh travelled with his regimental team to climb Gya (6794m). Gya has a reputation for foxing climbers, directing them to a false summit. That turned out to be the case on this expedition; the team climbed Gya Gaar. In 1998, Bodh did his advanced training at HAWS (he was best student); he also did his basic and advanced courses in skiing (best student again). He secured instructor grading. From 1999 onward, he was posted in Kashmir. A year before this, in 1998, he was part of an expedition by the cadets of the National Defence Academy (NDA) to Kedar Dome (6940m). Twenty cadets reached the summit on that expedition, he said.

On Everest, south east ridge as seen from near the Hillary Step (Photo: by arrangement)

In 2000, Bodh was a Lance Naik posted at HAWS as instructor. That year in June, he was in Kaza on leave, when he got the call to report for selection to climb Everest. The selection was done on Mana Peak (7274m). Bodh couldn’t summit owing to dehydration. However he made it into the Everest team after some others, who had been selected, dropped out. Selection done, the team proceeded to Manali for winter training. In March 2001, the team was flagged off by the then Chief of Army Staff, General S. Padmanabhan. The army was returning to Everest after tragedy and death on a previous 1984 expedition to the peak, when five team members had died. Bodh was tasked with overseeing the 2001 expedition’s equipment. On May 24, 2001, Kaza’s future school teacher reached the top of Everest (8850m). As on Nanda Devi, he had been part of the second summit. “ Almost always, I have been part of the second summit team,’’ Bodh said. Soon after the Everest expedition, talk began of attempting Annapurna (8091m). In 2002, the army team proceeded for Annapurna. Yet again, part of the second summit team, Bodh had descended to Advance Base Camp on the mountain when he was informed of the first summit team’s failure. On May 6, 2002, Bodh reached the summit of Annapurna.

According to Bodh, on his way down from the summit, he met the British climber, Alan Hinkes, who was going up. Hinkes would become one of the people to climb all the fourteen 8000m peaks. As of August 2015 Wikipedia still listed his claim as ` disputed’ owing to lack of clarity on his ascent of Cho Oyu.  The world’s fourteen 8000m peaks are Everest (8850m), K2 (8611m), Kanchenjunga (8586m), Lhotse (8516m), Makalu (8485m), Cho Oyu (8201m), Dhaulagiri 1 (8167m), Manaslu (8163m), Nanga Parbat (8126m), Annapurna I (8091m), Gasherbrum  I (8080m), Broad Peak (8051m), Gasherbrum  II (8035m) and Sishapangma (8027m). Climbing all the fourteen 8000m peaks is prized in mountaineering. The first person to do so was Reinhold Messner, who hails from South Tyrol in Italy.  The second person to do so was the legendary Polish climber Jerzy Kukuczka. As of August 2015, on Wikipedia, there were 33 verified ascents of all the fourteen 8000m peaks and five disputed ones. No Indian mountaineer featured on the list. One reason for this is that five of these high peaks lay in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir, territory illegally occupied by Pakistan. From South Asia, home to the Himalaya, only Mingma Sherpa and Chhang Dawa Sherpa of Nepal, figured on the list. Unknown to Bodh, while Hinkes proceeded for the summit on Annapurna, Kaza’s would be school teacher, returning from Annapurna’s summit, was commencing a new journey.

On Kangchenjunga (Photo: by arrangement)

After Annapurna, Bodh was due to leave HAWS for his unit, when he got a message directing him to report to Delhi. There was to be a joint Indo-Nepal expedition to Everest to mark the fiftieth anniversary of the first successful ascent of Everest. Of interest to Bodh was that the agenda included an attempt of Lhotse. The selection was held on the Gangotri group of peaks in Garhwal. The eventual team was a big one, Bodh said. It was drawn from the armies of both India and Nepal. The Lhotse climb was a smooth affair with not much of the up and down shunting that typically happened on expeditions. In all, 12 people including Bodh reached the summit in May 2003, he said. With it, Bodh became the first Indian to summit three 8000m peaks. He didn’t go to attempt Everest on this expedition because he had already climbed the peak once. Celebrations were muted for the joint team suffered the loss of one member from a crevasse-fall. In December 2003, Bodh was in Delhi in connection with the army tableaux for the Republic Day parade, when he was informed of an upcoming expedition to Kangchenjunga by the Dogra Regiment. In May-June 2004, he underwent selection procedures at Beas Kund near Manali. Asked why he consistently reported for selection despite rising stature as mountaineer, Bodh replied, “ when a man thinks he is too big for his shoes, he becomes a problem for his team.’’

The Kangchenjunga expedition was set for the post-monsoon phase, a cold period. The ascent of the 8586m-high peak happened in cold conditions. At 10AM on October 10, 2004, Bodh reached the summit of Kangchenjunga after a steady climb of twelve hours. For the Indian Army, it was its second ascent of the peak. On return, Bodh enjoyed a brief holiday and was then posted to Srinagar. Just when he got to the transit camp in Jammu, he got a call from Delhi; he had been deputed to go to Everest as part of the support team for the army women’s expedition. On that trip, which put four climbers on the summit, Bodh once again oversaw the management of the expedition’s gear. Back in Delhi from this expedition, he was told to join the team going to Nyegi Kangtsang (6983m) in Arunachal Pradesh. The expedition failed. The approach was very difficult; the weather was bad, there was heavy rain. As it turned out, the trip served as selection process for an upcoming expedition to Cho Oyu. Bodh became part of the 2006 army expedition to Cho Oyu. Not a very technical peak, all 12 team members reached the summit of Cho Oyu. Bodh’s tally of 8000m peaks climbed was now at five. He spent the next few months on UN peace keeping duty in Lebanon, attached to 15th Punjab, also known in the army as First Patiala.

Tackling Saser Kangri I (Photo: by arrangement)

Bodh got back to India from Lebanon, in July 2007. He was home on holiday when he got instructions to report to Delhi in a few days time. He was deputed to a joint Indo-Australian army expedition attempting Mt Shivling (6543m), among the most beautiful peaks in the Himalaya. It is also quite technical. Up on the mountain, the team had just finished fixing ropes, when a big ice wall broke. Additionally weather turned bad; it was bad weather across much of the surrounding Himalaya. Despite the conditions, four climbers reached the summit in that expedition. Bodh wasn’t one of them. Returning to Delhi, he was dispatched to Siachen Glacier becoming part of the team that helped raise the Army Mountaineering Institute. The institute has played an important role in commencing civilian treks to the glacier. Meanwhile, the 8000m-story continued.

In 2008, the selection process for an expedition to Dhaulagiri was done on a trip to Saser Kangri I (7672m). While the Saser Kangri climb had to be aborted midway owing to avalanche (there was one from nearby Plateau Peak that rolled in close to camp) and bad weather, Bodh reluctantly got included in the Dhaulagiri team. He wasn’t keen on going as he had much work to do at his given posting. In April 2009, the team reached Dhaulagiri Base Camp. That day, a Polish climber died in a crevasse-fall between Camp 1 and 2. The lower part of the mountain is heavily crevassed. The team leader put Bodh in the second summit team. The first summit team returned from Camp 2 as it snowed hard. The second summit team went forth. Between Camp 2 and 3, it was mostly blue ice. The newly dumped snow, helped in the climb. Bodh set out for the summit from Camp 3 at 8PM. He climbed through heavy snow. At 11.30AM on May 8, 2009, he reached the summit of Dhaulagiri, sixth 8000m peak in the bag. By the time he got back to Camp 3, he had been out on the mountain for 23 hours at a stretch. A second summit attempt by the first team was called off due to persistent bad weather.

From Dhaulagiri (Photo: by arrangement)

Bodh considers all the mountains he climbed as challenging in their own way. But he remembers especially the descent from Dhaulagiri in a raging storm. He feels he would have died that day and was saved by the grace of God. The storm began when the team was on the summit and kept hammering periodically all the way back to Camp 3. “ Due to the storm, there was much electricity in the atmosphere on top of the peak,’’ Bodh said.

In November 2009, Bodh was promoted to Subedar Major. In the period following the promotion, he helped train an army women’s team heading to Indira Col at the apex of the Siachen Glacier; did a stint with the National Cadet Corps (NCC), was posted back to HAWS, was part of an army delegation to Alaska and was part of a Dogra Regiment trek through Zanskar following the old campaign route of the famous Dogra general, Zorawar Singh. In January 2013, Bodh was made an Honorary Lieutenant and in August that same year, he was made Honorary Captain. On September 30, 2013, he retired from the army. Bodh’s awards include a Shaurya Chakra, the Tenzing Norgay National Award for Adventure in 2006 and the gold medal of the Indian Mountaineering Foundation (IMF) in 2012. Besides being thankful to his battalion for the support he received, Bodh remembered three individuals as important to his journey. They were his spiritual guru the 19th T.K. Lochen Tulku Rinpoche, head of the Kye monastery, Colonel S.C. Sharma (Retd) of the Dogra Regiment and Brigadier K. Kumar (Retd) of the Madras Regiment, both of them mountaineers.

Retirement is tough on the army man if he has nothing to do. It wasn’t long before Bodh reached that stage in Kaza. Luckily for him, the state government had begun vocational education courses at its schools and there was a module on security related studies at the local school. The ex-army man became a teacher. A devout Buddhist, Bodh now splits his time between work at school and prayers. Whenever we met in the evening, he had his prayer beads with him and arrived at my door wrapped in a cocoon of soft chanting. Mostly staying in Kaza, he visited family in Chobrang, once in a long while. Aside from knowledge that he worked in the army, he does not think his parents knew anything of his mountaineering or how far he reached in the field.

C.N. Bodh, June 2015, Kaza (Photo: Shyam G Menon)

At six 8000m peaks climbed, Bodh is the Indian with the most number of 8000m peaks to his credit. He recalled two other army men, close on his heels. There was Neelchand of the Dogra Regiment, who joined the army and retired from it on the same day as Bodh. Neelchand climbed five 8000m peaks. Then there was Rajinder Singh of the Kumaon Regiment, who was still serving when I met Bodh. Theoretically, keeping aside the peaks in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir, three other 8000m peaks – Shishapangma, Makalu and Manaslu – could have been attempted by Bodh. That is three peaks, critical for an Indian to reach the nine peaks tally when chasing 8000m peaks. Bodh revealed a hint of lingering regret. As against the three peaks he did not climb, he was thrice on Everest expeditions and climbed the peak only once. Having climbed it once, he wasn’t interested in attempting Everest again. On one occasion (as mentioned earlier in this story) he went on an expedition trying both Everest and Lhotse and climbed Lhotse. If only one of those Everest expeditions had been to any of the said other three peaks. Maybe one more 8000m peak would have been in the bag?

The army is a massive organization; it is a world in itself. One thing about retiring from the army is that the soldier – particularly soldier-mountaineer – leaves supportive ecosystem behind. Bodh knew that his days of back to back expeditions ended when he left the army. Born in 1969 and already retired, he was yet middle aged when I met him in July 2015. For a climber, the forties are still within his / her mountaineering-years. Bodh’s retirement happened in tune with army regulations. Having got his promotions well in time and reached as far as he can in the ranks, there was only so much time he could serve. Retired and now civilian, will he go for a Shishapangma, Manaslu or Makalu if resources and sponsors are available?  “ Why not? It is worth thinking about,’’ he said, a smile on his face as the subject returned to mountains and mountaineering.

(The author, Shyam G Menon, is a freelance journalist based in Mumbai. This article is based on interviews with the subject. Where photo credit has been mentioned as `by arrangement,’ the photo concerned has been sourced from C.N. Bodh.)

From the training session near Shanti Stupa, Leh (Photo: Shyam G Menon)

It was a cool July morning, past 5.30AM.

I was in Chubi, Leh; on the road leading from the police station to Lamdon School and beyond that to Khardung La. Leh had been experiencing intermittent showers. It lowered the warm temperatures of July, added an occasional passing chill. A middle aged man in track pants and T-shirt slowly jogged up the road. I watched his uphill progress recalling my attempted running near Khardung village in 2011. My sea level-physiology had heaved and puffed like a steam engine. The jogger floated by smoothly, legs working effortlessly, a calm demeanour on his face. My flared nostrils and gaping mouth from four years before flashed past in the mind. Well! – I told myself; its one life and you can’t be everything, can you?  Make your peace with what you got. Cool mornings are good for healing philosophies. Five girls jogged down from the Lamdon side. That was six joggers in fifteen minutes of standing by the road. A white SUV slowed down to pick me up. “ Good morning,’’ Chewang Motup said. Beside him in the front seat was one of Mumbai’s best known coaches for long distance running, Savio D’Souza.

Years ago, Motup, co-founder of Rimo Expeditions with his wife Yangdu Goba, did something memorable for Ladakh’s ice hockey. Located at over 10,000ft mean altitude and having a winter cold enough to freeze water to ice and keep it so for long, Ladakh has long been India’s ice hockey capital. Motup and Rimo Sporting Club (the outdoor company’s sports club), along with Ladakh’s Winter Sports Club, did much work procuring adequate ice hockey gear from empathetic sources overseas and reaching it to the region’s far flung villages. The sport, originally played to stay active during winter’s deep freeze, not only received impetus, it also acquired linkages into Ladakh’s interiors, home to hardy talent. Today, the majority of players in the Indian ice hockey team hail from Ladakh. The region has several teams, including teams from the military, not to mention annual competitions.  As a sport, ice hockey has found its footing in Ladakh; it no more needs hand holding. Motup gave away all the ice hockey gear Rimo Sporting owned to its players and the club was transformed into a trust to seed new initiatives. What next?

Stretch circle near Shanti Stupa, Leh (Photo: Shyam G Menon)

In his school days in the Kashmir valley, Motup used to be a good runner. Back in Ladakh, aside from the armed forces running (Leh is a major military base), there wasn’t any established event for civilians; certainly nothing similar to what was going on elsewhere in India. This was despite Ladakh’s earlier brush with fame; in November 1995 Rigzin Angmo had won the Bankgkok Marathon in her category. In 2010, Ladakh received its first ultra marathon, when La Ultra-The High commenced. It was and remains a niche event. In July 2012, Motup approached the local hill council – The Ladakh Autonomous Hill Council (LAHC) – with the idea of a marathon. The community in Leh is small and tightly knit. On August 15, the local youth council announced at the town’s Polo Ground that youngsters should participate in the upcoming run. In September 2012, Motup and Rimo started the Ladakh Marathon. The event had four disciplines – a seven kilometre-run, a half marathon, a full marathon and a 72km-ultra marathon that ran over the Khardung La pass and was called Khardung La Challenge. The field included runners from elsewhere in India and some from overseas. According to Motup, overall in 2012, there were 1500 runners for the Ladakh Marathon’s half and full distances. In 2013, that rose to 2200. By 2014, it was 3000 and the estimate for the upcoming edition in September 2015, is 3500-4000. “ We will be preparing for 4200 runners,’’ Motup said. Figures have been climbing for the Khardung La Challenge too. In 2012, it saw 11 runners, going up to 33 in 2013 and 47 in 2014. The estimate for 2015 is over 100. Further, starting 2015, the Ladakh Marathon is certified by the Association of International Marathons and Distance Races (AIMS) making it among select races in India to be so approved.

At the start of the 10km-training run, road to Spituk, near Leh. Savio in lime green T-shirt (Photo: Shyam G Menon)

A few things contributed to the event’s evolution. Motup has kept the distances across the four disciplines, clear and tidy. He has a seven kilometre-run. a conventional half marathon, a conventional full marathon and an ultra marathon that incorporates the coveted Khardung La (prized by all as a milestone in altitude) but stays contained at 72km overall. This avoids confusion in how the event is perceived by potential participants. Over time, as the event stabilised and participation rose, local support for it has been more forthcoming. As travellers and hikers will tell you, life in the hills can’t divorce itself from community as in the plains because it takes a bit of everybody to get things done. Organizing a running event at altitude (Leh is 11,000ft up from sea level) is no different. Many agencies in Leh – from LAHC to village committees, medical services and the military – pitch in.

Given its cold winter, Ladakh’s tourism is seasonal. Commencing in summer, the season is into tapering phase by August. The Ladakh Marathon, set in September (fine conditions for running: 6-8 degrees centigrade when the race starts; 20-22 degrees when it concludes), helps to extend that season a little longer. And it is a profitable extension because visiting runners won’t be able to perform at altitude without acclimatizing. This means – they have to be around for a while; arrive several days before the event and stay in Leh. Motup believes, in terms of traffic, the Ladakh Marathon has grown faster than the government sponsored Ladakh Festival, which has been around for the last 20 years.

From the training session near Shanti Stupa, Leh (Photo: Shyam G Menon)

From the perspective of tourist traffic, there is another aspect. Traditionally, foreigners have dominated the inbound tourist flow to Ladakh (it has begun changing in recent years as Indians take to an active lifestyle). In 2012, Motup said, when the Ladakh Marathon kicked off, there were altogether about 120 outsiders participating. For the September 2015 edition, he was expecting 600. Similarly the 2012 debut edition of the Khardung La Challenge had 2-3 outsiders. For 2015, at least 50 per cent is expected to be outsiders. Needless to say, reflecting the old tourism trend, the foreigner component in the outsider segment is significant at the Ladakh Marathon, when compared to running events elsewhere in India.

All organized marathons and ultra marathons have aid stations set up along the route. In the Ladakh Marathon’s case, Motup said, the onus of managing aid stations is slowly being taken up by villages through whose area the course runs. Two villages – Chushool and Sabu – currently do this. Motup narrated a story in this context. In one of the editions of the event, a gentleman from Madhya Pradesh turned up to run. He was an alumnus of Doon School. After observing the land and people around him, he told Motup that he would like to fund the education of a student from Ladakh at Doon School. As it turned out, the gentleman could not finish the running race he participated in but the race he triggered to find a deserving student, progressed well. Eventually, a youngster from Sabu village, who was then studying at Lamdon School, was selected. He is there at Doon School now. Gestures like this have earned running and the Ladakh Marathon an amount of goodwill at the villages its course passes through.

Motup (left) and the support vehicle (Photo: Shyam G Menon)

Podium finishes at the Ladakh Marathon have been swept by Ladakhis. Altitude is easier to tackle for the locals; outsiders in comparison are running in unfamiliar environment. On the other hand, there are some good runners and great timings at the marathons of lower elevation. Opportunities to run are also more in the plains. Runners there gather experience. Starting January 2014, Rimo brought the winners of the Ladakh Marathon to Mumbai to participate in the annual Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon (SCMM), the country’s flagship event in running.  A senior member of the Himalayan Club, Motup has friends in Mumbai. Since running in Mumbai required getting used to the local conditions, the Ladakhi team would arrive a few weeks ahead of the SCMM and stay in rented accommodation. In the run up to the SCMM, they ran and trained; Mumbai based-coach Samson Sequeira was associated with them in this regard. Some of the Ladakhi runners, I spoke to, mentioned his name. The cost of the team’s annual Mumbai trip is borne by Rimo. July 2015, I was in the middle of Ladakh’s visit to SCMM, playing out in the reverse. It was a case of Mumbaikar in Leh to coach after Ladakhi runners visiting Mumbai.

Beyond Leh’s main market, I saw a pick-up truck with a few youngsters in it coordinating its passage with Motup’s white SUV. At the junction of the roads leading to Choglamsar and Skalzangling, there were more youngsters waiting. They got up seeing the approaching vehicles. A few of them got into the SUV; the rest took the pick-up truck. On the Choglamsar road, we turned off for the bridge across the Indus River and the road to Spituk beyond. Here, next to a small clearing, an army truck from the Ladakh Scouts Regimental Centre (LSRC) was parked; waiting alongside were a group of soldiers, all ready to run. As with ice hockey before, the LSRC appeared to have enmeshed itself into Ladakh’s emergent interest in running. Some people I met in Leh felt that the concept of trained army athletes competing with civilian amateurs was unfair. But it is also true that in the past, those finishing well at the Ladakh Marathon and the Khardung La Challenge have been either noticed or picked up by the Ladakh Scouts. Savio is a former national champion in the marathon. Wards in place, he was his typical Mumbai self, wasting no time to get a stretching circle started. The soldiers joined in. Stretching done, Savio quickly got the day’s 10km-practice run going. The army truck followed the coach and his trainees. Motup had brought Savio to Leh to meet the Ladakhi runners and train them for a while.

Crossing the stream en route (Photo: Shyam G Menon)

Knowing that if I ran, my story would be sprinting miles ahead of me, I watched the runners’ progress from the comfort of the SUV. Motup who was driving, had taken on the role of a mobile aid station. We had water and oral rehydrants in the boot. With my middle aged, slow jogging pace as reference point, this was a fairly fast 10km-run at 10,000ft. The road was flat and inviting.  Among the runners were youngsters who had popped up just that day after hearing of the daily coaching sessions. Everyone who reported was included; all of them ran. Savio’s first couple of days running in Leh had been tough. Then he had found his pace. It was evident that day as he ran along with his wards, the whole 10km. Rain and snowmelt had caused stream levels around Leh to rise. A part of the day’s course was adjacent to a major stream and its flooded banks. At one point a second stream, knee-deep (depending on how tall you are) and filled with the ice cold water of early morning, crossed the runner’s path. All the runners waded through it. Nobody complained. A few laughed. My city self couldn’t help reflecting on that. How many of us will wade happily, uncomplainingly through ice cold water? After the day’s run, the team was treated to a hearty breakfast. This was the daily format. The training was for free.

One of the Ladakh Scouts-soldiers attending Savio’s training sessions was 21 year-old Rigzen Norbu. In 2012, he had placed fourth in the half marathon conducted as part of the Ladakh Marathon. That year, in December, he joined the army. Less than a year later, in September 2013, he finished first in the Khardung La Challenge. In January 2014, he ran his first SCMM. In September 2014, he ended second in the Khardung La Challenge. At the SCMM of January 2015, Norbu running the full marathon, finished 15th among men and ninth in his category with a timing of 3:08.

Jigmet Norbu was a lone figure near Lamdon School, waiting in the sun to talk to me. At 20 years of age, he was a year younger than Rigzin Norbu but a promising runner in the team in his own right. Born in Tsokar village in Ladakh’s Changtang region, he used to go out with his family’s flock of sheep. His parents were shepherds in Changtang, a high altitude plateau. Later, as a sponsored student, Jigmet reached Leh to study at the Lamdon School. That’s where he got into running becoming a noted runner at school level. In the 2012 Ladakh Marathon, he placed second in the half marathon. Next year he shifted to the full marathon, earning second position. His first visit to SCMM was in 2013. He couldn’t participate; he was underage! At the 2014 SCMM he completed the full marathon in 3:13, pruning that to 3:10 at the 2015 edition.

Jigmet Norbu (Photo: Shyam G Menon)

Rigzen Norbu (Photo: Shyam G Menon)

Close on the heels of the men, on both the occasions I saw the team run, was 21 year old-Jigmet Dolma, the strongest woman runner around. Hailing from Igoo village, she used to run at block, school and state level. Around the time of tenth standard, she left running for about a year. In 2012, she ran the half marathon at the Ladakh Marathon without any prior practice and emerged first. At the 2013 SCMM, she was placed 17th in the half marathon. Her main problem in Mumbai was muscle-cramping. “ I had no idea of timing, I just ran,’’ she said. At the 2013 Ladakh Marathon, she finished first in the half marathon with a timing of 1:50. In 2014, she improved her performance at SCMM to fourteenth position. Same year she retained her first position at the Ladakh Marathon. In January 2015, she ran her first full marathon at the SCMM, ending second in the open category and sixth overall. “ I wish to become the best marathon runner in India,’’ she told me, 21 year-old Tsetan Dolkar by her side, a morning at a cafe in Leh. Tsetan hailed from Lamayuru. With no prior experience, she ran the 2012 Ladakh Marathon in the full marathon category and ended second with a timing of around 4:50. Travelling to the 2013 SCMM, she was placed 13th in the open category of the full marathon. That year, she finished first among women in the full marathon of the Ladakh Marathon. Next year at the SCMM, she was placed 26th. Same year, 2014, she participated in the 72km-long Khardung La Challenge; she was placed first among women and fifth overall.

The Ladakhi running team I met was very young in age. According to Savio, his Ladakhi trainees have good endurance and strength. “ There is tremendous potential,’’ he said. Where the trainees falter and where they had faltered at SCMM, was in maintaining a sustainable rhythm. They needed to learn how to settle into a comfortable rhythm and carry on at a steady speed. Savio’s plan was to coach them in the core principles and then leave them with training modules that they can independently pursue once he returns to Mumbai. By running regularly together (as they were during the coaching sessions), he felt they would gravitate towards appropriate sub-groups that may serve as ideal cocoons for continued training. Most of the students in the training group hailed from distant villages; they were in Leh thanks to residential schools. “ I realize that some of them may not be good runners. But the point is – they are getting an opportunity through running to know themselves better,’’ Motup said. Next morning we assembled at the base of the road leading to Leh’s Shanti Stupa. The day’s practice involved running uphill and fast, on that road several times. Motup had high hopes from the training process begun. In a few years’ time, he wished to see at least one Ladakhi right up there on the national marathon scene. And that – including the process in place to move towards that goal – was what stood between Rimo, which hosted the Ladakh Marathon completely by itself and getting a sponsor aboard.

Tsetan Dolkar (left) and Jigmet Dolma (Photo: Shyam G Menon)

Motup had divided the whole Ladakh Marathon effort into two halves. One was the event composed of the marathon, half marathon and the Khardung La Challenge. The other was the training scheme he had got underway including the running team’s annual trip to the SCMM in Mumbai. The training scheme is set to get bigger. After this year’s Ladakh Marathon in September, the team is planning to spend the winter away from Ladakh, running at various events in India including the 2016 SCMM. Running in different Indian cities will help them gain experience. Ice hockey was a way of staying engaged and warm in Ladakh during the deep freeze of winter. In running, the plan is to go out to warmer areas and run for you cannot do much running in Ladakh’s winter. Motup was clear – anyone wanting to sponsor the event-half of the Ladakh Marathon must spend to make the training-half happen for the period of sponsorship. Training brought running skills to Ladakhis; the event merely showcased running. That was the difference. Sponsors may want the showcase-half. But Motup will yield only if the training-half is promised sustenance. The search is on for a suitable sponsor. In Motup’s imagination, the training phase is critical. There have been requests from competent overseas athletes to run at the Ladakh Marathon, something that will go up with the event receiving AIMS certification. Motup said he would like to consider these requests only after some time. In that while he wants to improve the performance of Ladakh’s runners so that when the world arrives in Leh to run, Ladakh will be able to hold its ground.

Photo & imaging: Shyam G Menon

Update: The top three runners from the men’s section of the Khardung La Challenge in 2015 were: Tsewang Tokden (06:33:41), Rigzen Norbu (06:41:25) and Tsering Stobgais (07:08:43). The winners from the women’s section of the Khardung La Challenge were Skalzang Dolma (10:58:56), Khushboo Vaish (13:39:12) and Tsetan Lamo (13:41:18). Top laurels in the men’s full marathon went to Fayaz Ali (03:02:01), Padma Namgail (03:07:30) and Tsering Tondup (03:12:49). In the women’s full marathon, the top three finishers were Tsetan Dolkar (03:40:37), Jigmet Dolma (03:42:47) and Katharina Leuthner (03:47:13). In the half marathon, the men’s section was topped by Tanzin Norbu (01:22:47), Nawang Tsering (01:23:26) and Tashi Paldan (01:24:50). The winners in the women’s section of the half marathon were Diskit Dolma (01:48:05), Tsering Dolkar (01:50:53) and Stanzin Chodol (01:51:30).

Here are some photos from the 2015 Khardung La Challenge:

Tsewang Tokden / Khardung La Challenge 2015 (Photo: Shyam G Menon)

Rigzen Norbu / Khardung La Challenge 2015 (Photo: Shyam G Menon)

Tsering Stobgais / Khardung La Challenge 2015 (Photo: Shyam G Menon)

Runner approaching Leh / Khardung La Challenge 2015 (Photo: Shyam G Menon)

Lone runner on mountain face / Khardung La Challenge 2015 (Photo: Shyam G Menon)

(The author, Shyam G Menon, is a freelance journalist based in Mumbai. The timings and rankings mentioned in the article are as provided by the interviewees. The 2015 results are from the event’s official website.)