one of the interesting res­ponses that Colonel Anand Swaroop, leader of the eight-man Indian Army expedition to the South Pole this Antarctic summer, made during an interview was related to the size of his team. Asked about the “large team”, he remarked that it was actually a small team. “When we climb the Himalayas, we are usually 20,” he said.

The Army, known for its “siege-style” expeditioneering, has in recent years begun to opt for tight-knit teams and alpine-style climbing. So, though by western standards, Swaroop’s team comprising Captain R Bala Karthik, Lance Naiks Arjun Kumar Thapa, Khilap Singh and Parsuram Gurung, and riflemen Tsewang Morup, Ram Singh and Showkat Ahmed Mir was a large one, by Indian Army standards it was a considerable paring down of numbers.

This expedition, which departed from New Delhi on November 4, 2010, and returned on January 29 this year, differed in other ways from previous ventures on the frozen continent by Indian defence perso­nnel. It was the first to do the complete journey from the coast of Antarctica to the South Pole, whereas the previous teams had done only the “Last Degree” or the trip from Lati­tude 89 degrees to the Pole (90 degrees). It was the first to pull its own sleds, carrying everything needed, and not use pre-deposited caches of food and gear. In 1989, Colonel JK Bajaj did the same trip but the international team he was with used snow scooters to transport the heavy gear, leaving the members with lighter sleds to pull.

This team also carried all its garbage and got it airlifted from the South Pole to the Union Glacier base near the coast.

Starting the 1,170-km journey on skis from Hercules Inlet on November 26 (after losing 12 days to bad weather), the team initially covered an average of 25 km a day over four to six hours. It faced temperatures as low as -40 degrees C and winds of up to 100 kmph. Lost in the glut of dates and statistics is a very interesting fact. As the leader remarked, the expedition came about because “after having met Himalayan mountaineering challen­ges, we wanted a bigger challenge.” When I asked Colonel Swaroop how the route was chosen, his reply was: “It’s a straight route from Hercules Inlet to the South Pole via the Thiels Mountains. We chose this route because it is the longest.” Their enjoyment of the extraordinary chall­enge is evident.

The expedition was part of the Army Adventure Wing’s commem­oration of its 25th anniversary and the team reached the South Pole on January 15, which is Army Day. Sixty-one soldiers of all ranks had applied to go on this venture. Thirty-two of the applicants attended the six-week selection camp in Sonmarg, Kashmir, after which the final team of 10 was chosen (though two members were unable to go on the actual expedition). The team then underwent training in Norway in September 2010.

Provided support by Antarctic Logistics and Expeditions, the team was guided by Devon McDiarmid from Canada and Svante Strand from Norway. It was McDiarmid’s fourth time doing the journey while Strand had done it once before.