Brave specially-abled team scales Siachen glacier up to 15,632ft, helped by Army veterans

A team of eight individuals with disabilities created a new world record on Sunday for 'the largest number of people with disabilities to scale the world's highest battlefield (Siachen Glacier),' by scaling Kumar Post located at an altitude of 15, 632ft.

History was created when the glacier located in the eastern Karakoram range in the mighty Himalayas was scaled by the eight specially-abled persons. The group had been trained and led by the CLAW, a team of Special Forces Veterans from the Indian Armed Forces. The Indian Army's Northern command cheered the moment for the efforts made by the Indian Army special forces veterans to train the individuals and making the campaign a grand success against all odds.

Operation Blue Freedom successful, against all odds

The campaign, also called Operation Blue Freedom, was actively supported by the Indian Army, assisting to make this unique and compelling expedition a grand success. The team climbed a total distance of 60 km atop the Spine of the Siachen glacier, taking five days from September 7 to finally reach the Kumar Post on September 11.

As per the CLAW, the team climbed 4,000 ft, gradually, while scaling the Glacier. The route involved crossing several deep crevasses, icy glacial water streams, hard-ice stretches and undulating rocky moraines. "This not just tested the physical endurance and mental stamina, but also the ice-craft skills of the participants, like the use of ice axe, crampons, ladder crossing and rope skills," a CLAW statement stated. The CLAW maintained that the extremely rough, rocky and undulating terrain along the moraines of the glacier made the climb particularly challenging for the visually impaired and the leg amputees. 

The team displayed remarkable courage: CLAW 

According to CLAW, the team displayed phenomenal courage notwithstanding the difficulties. The participants with hand amputation had to regularly work on their balance, managing the rope and work on adaptations for emergency rescue procedures.

"The nerves of steel and sheer will displayed by the people with disabilities on the expedition moved the soldiers who saw them in action along the Siachen Glacier.  At all the intermediate camps where the expedition team stayed en route, the soldiers displayed pure love and affection born out of respect after seeing them in action along the obstacle-ridden moving block of glassy ice," a CLAW statement said.

Notably, each team member of the CLAW had been a crack soldier in the Army or Navy Special Forces and has been highly trained with multiple specialisations in Mountaineering, Skydiving, Scuba diving, Unarmed combat, Multi-terrain survival tech, Emergency Medical Response, etc. 

Image: ANI