The first Nepal earthquake of April 25 brought down cities and villages to bricks and dust and buried countless bodies.
And, though IITian techie-turned-adventure enthusiast Hemant Gupta knows his personal setback is small in the face of devastation, the quake has buried his dreams of scaling the Everest at least for now, for reasons as varied as a permit from the Nepal government, fresh sponsorship and of course, safety concerns.
Hemant (25), a Tata Steel Adventure Foundation (TSAF) manager, and fellow climber and Tata Steel employee Payo Murmu (50), faced the tremors while on their way up the Everest. Acclimatising at Camp One at 21,000ft on April 25 when the mountains started rumbling, the duo were evacuated safely, much to the relief of their family and friends.
Immediate danger long past, Hemant, who is back in Jamshedpur from hometown Kota, confesses to feeling a little downcast.
The Everest expedition of Hemant and Payo, sponsored by Tata Steel, cost big money. And, being forced to abort the trek is a setback in more ways than one, Hemant says.
"We got a single-time permit from Nepal government's ministry of tourism, which, because of the quake, expired. A permit costs around Rs 7 lakh per person. Now, chances of Nepal renewing this permit (without taking a fresh charge) is slim under the circumstances," Hemant said.
Permit apart, the TSAF team had hired Asian Trekking Agency to look after all the logistics - from air travel to sherpas to oxygen cylinders and equipment - of the trek.
"Excluding permit, an Everest trip works out to around Rs 13 lakh to Rs 14 lakh per person. It's an expensive proposition," Hemant said, implying that their sponsor had lost a lot of money as their expedition had to be abandoned.
Also, there's the question of when Nepal would officially permit expeditions again.
"Last year, when 16 sherpas had died in an Everest avalanche, the Nepal government had stalled permits. This year, of course, the magnitude of what the tragedy is just too immense right now for them to think of anything other than relief and rehabilitation," a TSAF official said.
But, though sponsorships and safety are big hurdles for now, the climber in Hemant is raring to go again.
"After the quake, my mother (Savita Gupta) and grandmother (Kamla Devi) pleaded with me to abandon my Everest dream. But, I'm a mountaineer who loves challenges. After all, mountains are risky and climbers must take the risk," Hemant said. "I'll convince my mum and granny," he added, perhaps knowing he has a bigger challenge of convincing sponsors.
