Kamet and Abi Gamin. An eight-member expedition from Bombay was led by Shrikant Oka. It left the roadhead at Malari on May 16 and set up Base Camp at 4725 meters at Vasudhara Tal. They were in close contact with the Army team, particularly for weather and aerial survey reports. Sanjay Barole and Anil Kumar left Camp VI on June 11 and reached the summit (7756 meters, 25,447 feet) at eight A.M. At the same time a 45-man team from the Regiment of Artillery was led by Major H.S. Mann. Nine members climbed Abi Gamin (7355 meters, 24,130 feet) in two groups on June 13 and 15. Four, including three who had earlier scaled Abi Gamin, got to the summit of Kamet on June 19. That same day, eight other members climbed Abi Gamin, making a total of 17 atop that peak. In the post-monsoon period, another Army expedition was back. The 32-man team was led by Lieutenant Colonel S.S. Patwal and the deputy was Major Mann. They set up Base Camp at Vasudhara Tal on September 9. Camp V was established on Meade’s Col on October 2. A number of the members reached the summit on October 3 at 3:10 P.M. That same day four other climbers ascended Abi Gamin. There were two more Indian expeditions in the area. On August 28 a group led by N. Purohit climbed Abi Gamin. Members of a 9-man expedition led by Ujjwal Ganguly, Dibya Kanti Mukherjee and Lhakpa Tsering, climbed Abi Gamin on September 19 and Atanu Chatterjee, Subhas Das and Sherpa Kei Kami climbed Kamet on September 20.

Kamal K. Guha, Editor, Himavanta, India