The Vinson Story – Sidharth Routray
Let’s answer some common questions
Elevation: 4,892 m (16,050 ft)
Why am I doing seven summits in seven continents?
Reason 1 : Selfish
I wanted to do it for myself to fulfill my personal dream. When I die I should not repent of dreaming and not trying for it.
Reason 2 : Pride of Odisha
No Odia has done it, and I know physically, mentally and financially I can do it, so why not do it and put my name in the history of Odisha, and take the name of Odisha around the world.
Raason 3: Jai Jagannath
Shree Jagannath is the lord of the world, and as a mark of respect hoist HIS PATITAPABANA on top of the seven continents of the world.
Started planning for it after I quit my job, sold my stocks and went on to summit Mt Everest. Thanks to my retirement funds which I encased to pay for such a costly $50000 expedition.
I was negotiating with every expedition company to bring down the cost. And I was the last one to sign up with 1 ticket left.
After doing Kilimanjaro in Oct 2022, I was excited to finish all seven by Jan 2023. But Mt Elbrus expectation got canceled and the Mt Carstensz Pyramid was also canceled. So this was the only hope for the next summit.
Thanks to our CM Naveen Patnayak Ji, I got a better purpose and financial aid to climb Mt Vinson in Antarctica.
While I was preparing for the expedition, I wrote letters to our Chief Ministry and Commissioner of Sports. Luckily it got noted by Naveen Patnayak Ji. Now that I will be flying the banners of Hockey World Cup 2023, on top of Antarctica continent, It made my purpose double. I also got some financial aid to support such a costly expedition.
18th Dec: Took the blessings of my parents and took flags of Shree Jagannath and Lingaraj and left Bhubaneswar with high hopes.
20th Dec: After visiting my alma mater at NDA, Pune, I took the flight to San Francisco on 20th night via Dubai. Great 3 days at the place which made me 27 years ago. That builds my confidence further.
21st Dec: While going home from Airport I met my worst road accident in the USA. I was so sad that I injured my wife, myself and destroyed our beloved SUV. It was tense moments as it affected my mental condition for an expedition starting in 2 days. Thanks to my wife and kids, they behaved as if nothing had happened and helped me pack for the trip.
23rd Dec: I left the USA for Chile. After connecting flight delays and rerouting I reached Santiago on Christmas Morning.
25th Dec: After checking into the hotel and exercising I was reminded of Mt. Carbon in Santiago. I took my heavy backpack and went on to climb the same. On the way I met amazing hiking friends, who then guided me to nearby Mt. Manquehue. After completing This 8 hour tough hike with new friends, my confidence went back to its original level. Amazing how God helps you come out of a ditch if you are focused on your mission.
26th Dec: I reached Punta Arenas, the southernmost airport of Chile, the gateway to Antarctica. It’s a small windy town. Met with the expedition team and started organizing my packs for inspection. The same night I met my other teammates. Davin and Peter from the USA and Maria from Argentina. Went out for a nice dinner and made 3 new friends. If you follow your passion you make amazing friends.
27th Dec: The team lead checked our gears and okayed it. Then was the dreadful covid test, which if you fail lose your place in the expedition and lose all your money. All of us passed the test. The rest of the day we explored the town of Punta Arenas and had some great food.
28th Dec: We packed our bags and gave it to the expedition company to ship them to Antarctica. We w wee briefed on the flight to Antarctica and the process over there. And again we took the dreadful covid test. After a negative result we were given the boarding passes to Antarctica Flight.
29th Dec: We took this rare flight, manned by Icelandic flight crew to Antarctica. There were climbers from all over the world. After 2 hours we got our first sight of Antarctica Continent, a huge white body out of the blue southern ocean. Magnificently white all across. It took 2 more hours to reach the union glacier. It is amazing to see the 747 and the IL 76 land on flat ice fields without a regular runway. I wonder how come it did not skid, because by just walking on it I was slipping off. Great pilot from Iceland.
After a short four hour break in this temporary snow town we were flown to the base camp of Mt. Vinson. The small ski plane goes through the most amazing geographic area of Antarctica. A juxtaposition of snow mountains and snow valleys. Rarest views for me in my lifetime.
It’s summer in Antarctica, so the sun never goes down. After fixing our tents and dinner we had a great night sleep at the base camp. The base camp is at a height of 7000 ft with a direct view of the summit. The surroundings are like supernatural movies.
30th Dec: We packed half of our stuff in our backpack and the other half in duffel bags over a sledge. It was a long and slow walk through the snow fields of the snow continent. The bag plus sledding was tougher than expected. It took us 6 hours to reach camp 1 at a height of 9000 ft. It’s a small place at the foothill of Mt. Vinson towering over you. This is where you get the real feel of how much you have to climb in the coming days. The weather was really good and everyone was fit. So instead of resting we decided to push for the high camp the next day.
31st Dec 2022: Looking at the nice weather forecast we packed lights and headed out for the most technical part of the expedition. 3500 feet of Very steep ice and snow surface to climb to reach the high camp. The clear weather helped us reach the high camp at 12500 ft in 7 hours. After climbing on the fixed lines of ropes we were all tired to the greater extent. Looking at our conditions we all decided to call the next day a rest day.
1st Jan 2023: Happy New Year. We had the most relaxing day so far. Sleep, eat, drink water and take pictures was the routine for the day. At dinner with renewed energy we decided to go to the summit push the next day. In the night I was anxious and could feel all the pains from the car accident. Took 2 painkillers, packed everything for the summit try and went to sleep.
2nd Jan 2023: I woke up with a severe headache. I think the painkillers were an overdose. While everyone was rushing to get ready for the summit, things were black and white for me. I drank a lot of water, skipped breakfast and had a good toilet.
I was slightly late, but all prepared for the great day. I packed with electrolytes, energy gummies, organic honey, Lonavella Chikees, granola bars for the extra energy needed for the summit. With all these energy inputs and chatting of Jai Jagannath and Jai Mata Di, I was back in form after 2 stops. It took us 6 hours to reach the top. Thank you God for such great weather on top. Clear, no winds, no clouds, sunny and amazingly beautiful. Whichever direction you see, how much further you look, you see snow mountains and icy valleys. Although for selfish reasons the weather was great for us to climb, global warming is in full show with such nice temperatures in Antarctica.
I was so happy to have reached the top of Antarctica. Thank you Mt. Vinson to let me do it. I hoisted the Indian flag, then the flags of Shree Jagannath and Lingaraj.
After that I flew the 2023 Hockey World Cup banner on top of Antarctica. An epic event hosted by my state Odisha for the world, needed such a rare world place to be put on.
On behalf of my State I welcome you all to watch the field hockey World Cup. My fellow cricket loving Indians let’s all support the Indian Hockey Team to win the World Cup in our country. Come to Bhubaneswar aka BHUBI and Rourkela and enjoy the extravaganza Odisha is offering. I am so proud of my state doing it and so happy to have carried the banners to the end of the world.
Great thanks to Naveen Patnayak Ji for supporting the Indian Hockey Team and hosting the World Cup. Thank you personally for helping me in the expedition.
Mt. Vinson at 16005 ft, took us 6 hours to reach the top. After great moments, pictures and videos it took us three hours to come down to high camp.
Jan 3rd to Jan 9th 2023: It took 5 more days to get out of Antarctica with wait and walk times at various camps.
