Mountains retained its favourite child

 

Malli Mastan Babu

Malli Mastan Babu, one of India's top mountaineers who grabbed the global spotlight by climbing the seven summits in the seven continents in record time, was found dead in his tent in the Andes on Friday. He was 40.

The IIM-Calcutta alumnus was trying to scale solo Cerro Tres Cruces Sur, the second highest mountain of Chile, at 6,749m. He had been missing since March 24 after the weather turned ugly in the area.

Babu's friend Satyam Bheemarasetti told  on Saturday that the body was located by fellow mountaineers in a tent "without life", surrounded by snow. "From what we have heard and seen in photos, the tent was blown open and destroyed," says Apoorva Prasad, founder of The Outdoor Journal, an active adventure magazine which had been tracking Babu's disappearance. The mountaineer probably froze to death.

In 2006, Babu became the fastest "7 summiteer" in the world by climbing the peaks - Aconcagua (South America), Denali (North America), Elbrus (Europe), Kilimanjaro (Africa), Mt Everest (Asia), Vinson Massif (Antarctica) and Kosciuszko & Carstenz (Australia & Oceania) - between January 19 and July 10 in a record 172 days.
"Challenge is what enthrals me and free spirit is what I exhibit. Never give up, never give in - is a phrase that works miracles for me," Babu wrote on his website, 1stindian7summits.com.
"Solo climbing is fraught with extra danger if the weather turns bad. Babu was an enterprising spirit and climbed many peaks in unusual countries, something Indians normally don't do," says fellow mountaineer and explorer Mandip Singh Soin. In that sense, Babu was a trailblazer who didn't get as much acclaim and attention as he deserved.
Of late, Babu was scaling peaks in Latin America. He had climbed the tough Aconcagua (6,292m) three times from the Argentinian side; Huascaran (6,768m) in Peru; Sajama (6,542m) in Bolivia; Chimborazo (6,310m) in Ecuador and Ojos de Salado (6,800m) in Chile, retired diplomat and former ambassador to Argentina, R Vishwanathan posted in a blog last week.
A report in The Outdoor Journal's website, says Babu had left for the mountains with friends on March 22. He left the base camp alone to climb Cerro Tres Cruces Sur, which borders Chile and Argentina, from the Argentinian side. The last contact was on March 24 when he told friends that he would come down the same evening as the weather had turned foul.
Efforts were made to rescue him from both sides with the Indian embassies in Chile and Argentina involved in the process. The local Chilean government was preoccupied with the flash floods that had rocked the region. By March 26, rescue teams were out, according to Babu's friend Hernan Augusto Parajon, a Chilean mountaineer who had accompanied him to the base camp. On March 29, Hernan told The Outdoor Journal that a team of 8-10 mountaineers were trying to locate him. But the aerial search began only on March 31.
"RIP #MalliMastanBabu. With his friends & family we are working with authorities in Argentina and Chile on next steps in a difficult situation," tweeted MEA Friday night. There is an outpouring of grief on social media.
Babu came from a modest family of agriculturists. His sister says he got seriously interested in mountaineering at IIM where he became the founder of adventure club. "He raised money for his trips delivering motivational talks and conducting adventure camps," says Dorasanamma. In his blog Viswanathan writes that Babu told managers during his talks that a CEO is like the man on top of the mountain peak.
The retired diplomat also narrates an interesting anecdote. "When Babu went to climb the Cristobal Colon peak in the Sierra Nevada mountain range of Colombia, the local Indians would not allow him to go up. They consider the mountain sacred and would not let outsiders on top of it. But Babu did not give up. He stayed on and established dialogue with them over several local drinks. He told them that he is also an Indian and that the people from India too worship many mountain gods. This made the Colombian Indians relent," he writes.
Viswanathan also explains why Babu preferred to go "solo." The mountaineer told him he "likes the privacy of his one-to one dialogue with the summits and treasures this intimate conversation." Asked how he overcame the language problem in South America, Babu is supposed to have smiled and said, "Mountains all over the world speak the same language."
Now, as his friends who had started a Facebook page, Rescue Malli Mastan Babu, posted after the news of his death came through, "Mountains (have) retained its favourite child...RIP Mastan Babu."