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Time of India
18-05-2025
- Time of India
I was too tired to bring exhausted Ranaghat climber down: Sherpa
1 2 3 Kolkata: The Sherpa who accompanied Ranaghat climber Subrata Ghosh during his Everest summit said he did not lose sight of him but was too tired to carry the disoriented Ghosh down and had to finally abandon him. The Sherpa too was suffering from hallucinations when he returned to the camp and took more than two days to revive. Ghosh's Sherpa, Palchen Tamang, who suffered frostbite, came down to the Everest Base Camp on Saturday. Bodhraj Bhandari, managing director of Snowy Horizon Treks in Kathmandu, spoke at length with the Sherpa at night. "They started quite late on Wednesday (May 14), around 10 pm. Ghosh was walking slowly and took a lot of time to reach the summit. There was a strong wind after 11 am on Thursday, and that delayed their ascent further. Ghosh was overexcited to make it to the summit and would not listen to his Sherpa. After they made it to the summit, Ghosh was suddenly feeling low on energy," said Bhandari. "When they were approaching the Hillary Step area (a 40-foot vertical rock on the southeast ridge of Everest) while descending, Ghosh suddenly said that he couldn't see anything and he would not move. He sat there on the spot. This is a typical symptom of altitude sickness , especially when the climber is suffering from a low oxygen level. The Sherpa started to convince him to move. They were in the death zone for nearly 16 hours then, and the oxygen reserve was going very low. The Sherpas can withstand such low levels of oxygen, but it is difficult for others," said Bhandari. According to Soumen Sarkar, the climber from Bardhaman who also made it to the summit on the same day, it was windy since morning. "I reached the summit at 6.45 am on Thursday (May 15). It was so windy that we could not even stand for more than 15 minutes. The wind speed increased as the day progressed," he said. When Ghosh gave up and sat there, Tamang decided to help him climb down further. "It took nearly four hours for him to bring him down by 100 meters. But the Sherpa was also getting exhausted, and he sat down with Ghosh. He stayed back with him for the next four hours trying to get him down. But that did not help any further. It was dark, and the Sherpa was all alone with Ghosh somewhere near the Hillary Step. At one point, he gave up. His oxygen level was also low, and he started climbing down without any supplementary oxygen. The sun was almost out when he reached Camp IV the next day," Bhandari said. "It is essential for a climber to understand that one has to forego the summit attempt. I faced a similar situation on Mount Indrasan (Himachal Pradesh) and Batian Peak in Mount Kenya," said Satyarup Siddhanta, Everest Summiteer and Guinness Record Holder.
Time of India
17-05-2025
- Time of India
Search for missing Bengal climber may start today
Kolkata: The for Ranaghat climber , who summitted and then went missing while descending from the mountain, is likely to begin on Sunday. The Sherpa, Palchen Tamang — who accompanied Ghosh during the climb — came down to the base camp on Saturday morning. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now "We have heard that the Bengal govt has taken an initiative for the search and rescue operation. The process takes time as the team needs at least six Sherpas. Since this is a long operation, Sherpas will need to carry a lot of stuff, including tents, food, and oxygen cylinders. We hope it will start by next week," said Bodhraj Bhandari, managing director of Snowy Horizon Treks in Kathmandu. Bhandari said Tamang reached Camp IV after spending the entire night in the death zone. While Bhandari could speak to the Sherpa briefly, he said the latter exhausted his oxygen and climbed down without any supplementary oxygen support. The Sherpa had also suffered frostbite. S Arun Prasad, district magistrate of Nadia, said they had informed the state govt and urged it to take up the search operation. According to sources, Ghosh started for the summit around 10pm on Wednesday and reached the summit after 16 hours, between 2pm and 3pm on Thursday. His oxygen reserve was almost exhausted by that time, and the weather turned windy. Sarajit Ghosh, brother of Subrata Ghosh, said his brother was in love with the hills. "When mother told him to marry, he always avoided it. Instead, he used to say that was everything to him. He was very sincere about physical exercises and discipline. While all others would take dinner late, he used to have it by 8pm. He never missed his exercise regime."
Time of India
16-05-2025
- Time of India
Tragedy after triumph: 3 from state scale Everest, 1 missing on way down
1 2 Kolkata: What could have been a golden day for Bengal's mountaineers ended in heartbreak on Friday when news reached that one of the three climbers from the state who summitted Mount Everest during the day had gone missing on the way down even as the two others had made it back to camp 4. Subrata Ghosh probably disappeared between South Summit and Balcony in the Everest 'death zone' while descending to camp 4, the final stop on way to the summit. A search and recovery operation is likely to start by Sunday but veteran climbers that TOI spoke to were not very hopeful. On Thursday, 45-year-old Ghosh and 44-year-old Rumpa Das, both Ranaghat residents, had set out for the summit from camp 4 quite late. Ghosh was not feeling well and moved forward slowly. He reached the summit sometime between 2 pm and 3 pm. By then, Das was already on her way down after reaching the top. Soumen Sarkar from Burdwan reached the summit early on Friday and made it back to camp 4. "We are yet to get details of what happened to Ghosh. The sherpa who was with him suddenly realised he was not there. The sherpa's condition was also very bad and he came down to camp 4 very late at night. He is still hallucinating. By Friday evening he was brought down to camp 2," said Bodhraj Bhandari, managing director of Snowy Horizon Treks in Kathmandu. High altitude symptoms for climbers include cerebral oedema and hallucination, rapid heartbeat and frostbite. Between 2019 and 2024, 12 Indians have died on Everest. According to mountaineers in Bengal, the final push from camp IV usually starts early in the evening. Debashis Biswas, who reached the Everest summit in 2010, said, "We started at 7.30 pm and reached the summit around 7.30 am the following day. Everest climbers follow a thumb rule: start the return journey by 10.30 am, even if that means foregoing the summit." Debraj Datta, who reached the Everest summit in 2016, explained, "The death zone on Mt Everest starts from between 7,500 and 8,000 meters. Normally, a climber carries three oxygen cylinders that can sustain life for 18 hours. The more time one spends there, the more oxygen is consumed. That makes it deadlier," he said. Ghosh, an English teacher with a govt school in North 24 Parganas, had started off from his home in Krishnanagar with sister Sumitra Debnath. Both reached the Everest base camp, where Sumitra stayed back as the siblings were finding it difficult to manage the costs, sources said. "Sumitra had summited Mt Lobuche with Ghosh. She is coordinating rescue and recovery from the base camp," said Sanjay Moulik, Ghosh's friend. Ghosh's insurance agency on Friday said they would try to fly him down after he is brought down to camp II. "We heard he is located somewhere near the Summit Ridge at around 8,200 meters. We can try to rescue a climber from a height where we can send a helicopter. If he is alive, we can take a risky mission and try to fly him down from camp II. In case a climber is no more, we can take down the mortal remains only from camp II," said Prateek Gupta, CEO and head of evacuation of ASC 360. Meanwhile, Das, who reached the Everest summit on her second attempt this time, came down to camp II on Friday. An English teacher with the Cooper's Colony High School, she has participated in 12 mountaineering expeditions but had to forego her Everest summit in 2021 after contracting Covid. Sarkar, an engineer with the PWD department, is also a seasoned climber. "He is a wonderful climber and very athletic despite starting at a late age. His agency, 8K Expedition, has already confirmed his Everest summit," said summiteer Moloy Mukherjee.
Time of India
16-05-2025
- Time of India
Bengal Everester goes missing on way down
KOLKATA: A 45-year-old mountaineer from Bengal went missing on way down after summiting Mount Everest even as two others from the state scaled the world's highest peak and made it back to their camp late Thursday. Subrata Ghosh probably disappeared in what is referred to by climbers as the 'death zone', near the summit, while descending to Camp IV, the final stop on way to the 8,849-metre peak. A search and recovery operation is likely to start by Sunday but seasoned climbers that TOI spoke to were not very hopeful of his survival. 'We are yet to get details of what happened to Ghosh. The sherpa who was with him suddenly realised he was not there. The sherpa's condition was also very bad. He is still hallucinating,' said Bodhraj Bhandari, managing director of Kathmandu-based Snowy Horizon Treks , which organised the expedition.
Indian Express
16-05-2025
- Health
- Indian Express
Bengal man dies while descending from Mt Everest summit: ‘Refused to move'
Subrata Ghosh, a 45-year-old mountaineer and teacher from Ranaghat in Nadia district in West Bengal, died on Thursday while descending from Mount Everest, the highest peak in the Himalayas, hours after successfully reaching the summit. Ghosh and another climber Rumpa Das, also from Bengal, began their Everest ascent from the Nepal base camp on Wednesday. However, due to the harsh and deteriorating weather, they had to postpone their summit attempt to Thursday afternoon. Despite facing oxygen shortage and harsh weather conditions during their descent, Rumpa Das managed to reach Camp 4, but Ghosh did not, said sources. After being missing for around 17 hours, Ghosh's frozen body was found on Hillary Step on Friday morning. Bodhraj Bhandari, managing director at Snowy Horizon Treks, the company organising the expedition, confirmed the death and said that after being missing for around 17 hours, Ghosh's frozen body was found at the Hillary Step, near the Everest Summit Point, on Friday morning. 'Ghosh reached the summit around 2 pm (Thursday) but began to show signs of exhaustion and altitude sickness during the descent,' Bhandari said in a statement. According to sources, his Sherpa guide, Champal Tamang, tried to encourage him to descend, but was unsuccessful. Tamang returned alone to Camp 4 on Thursday late evening and reported the incident on Friday morning. 'Ghosh refused to move while descending from the summit,' Bhandari quoted Tamang as saying. Efforts are being made to recover Ghosh's body and bring it back to the base camp. The exact cause of death will be determined following a post-mortem examination. Meanwhile, Rumpa Das is on oxygen support in Camp 4. According to sources, Ghosh's sister was also part of the expedition, but she stayed in the base camp and did not go to the summit due to adverse weather conditions. Ghosh was working at Bagda Kapasati Milanbithi High School and was also a member of the Lions Club of Ranaghat West. 'He was a skilled climber and went for several expeditions before this. When I got the message, I did not believe it… Then I called the head of the agency, who confirmed the news. I still can't believe Subrata is no more,' said Ghosh's relative Pratap Saha. He added, 'Subrata loved mountaineering from his childhood days. He took proper training and reached several summits in the past.' Atri Mitra is a Special Correspondent of The Indian Express with more than 20 years of experience in reporting from West Bengal, Bihar and the North-East. He has been covering administration and political news for more than ten years and has a keen interest in political development in West Bengal. Atri holds a Master degree in Economics from Rabindrabharati University and Bachelor's degree from Calcutta University. He is also an alumnus of St. Xavier's, Kolkata and Ramakrishna Mission Asrama, Narendrapur. He started his career with leading vernacular daily the Anandabazar Patrika, and worked there for more than fifteen years. He worked as Bihar correspondent for more than three years for Anandabazar Patrika. He covered the 2009 Lok Sabha election and 2010 assembly elections. He also worked with News18-Bangla and covered the Bihar Lok Sabha election in 2019. ... Read More
