Rajib Bhattacharyya, climber from West Bengal, reportedly found dead at camp-3 â€ªof Mt. Dhaulagiriâ€¬â€¬

Dream Wanderlust | May 19 , 2016

Rajib Bhattacharyya, climber from West Bengal, reportedly found dead at camp-3 of Mt.Dhaulagiri at 6 AM 19-05-2016 (at 7,800m) while attempting summit of Mt. Dhaulagiri.
The following report is based on the telephonic conversation with Umesh Zirpe, expedition Manager from Giripremi, attempting summit on the same day and quote from the climber Prasad joshi who had met Rajib on that day.
According to Umesh " All the teams together were approaching the summit from camp-3 at 9PM (18th May).In the morning around 8:30AM (19th) we found Rajib lying at a point before a steep slope of a Couloir with hard blue ice. That time He was supported by his Sherpa (7-summit). He was severely exhausted with snow blind as being told by Rajib's Sherpa.
- We then moved ahead to reach the summit. However, I didn't among the team who summited
-At 11:30AM When our team was returning back, they (Prashad Joshi, Dorjee Sherpa and Tenzing Sherpa) found Rajiv lying alone and his condition was senseless, our team tried to serve him for a while.By noon, our team came back to Camp-3 and meet their Sherpa (Tashi of 7 summit) but he refused to rescue him back with that condition. It is unfortunate to digest that we didn't not have the support to bring him back”.
Quoting Prasad Joshi, "Condolence from myself and entire Giripremi team. May Dada's soul rest in peace. We spent good time and had food at Base Camp. He was very determined for Dhaulagiri Climb, even he waited almost 5 nights at Camp 3 for good weather window.
I would like to put light on what happened during summit attempt of Dhaulagiri on 19th May. Dada left for summit attempt at 8:00 pm (approx.) on 18th May. I left at around 9:30pm and overtook him at 200m above Camp 3. We had no conversation at that time. I went ahead and made it to the summit at 11:00 am on 19th May. We were around 15 people at the summit which includes climber from Argentina, Korea etc.
On my way back, I saw him again at the Traverse at approx height 7900m. He was descending back to Camp 3 along with his sherpa. I observed that, he was tired but walking with his oxygen mask on. His sherpa was carrying him with his self anchor put into own self anchor. The time was approx 2:30pm. My Sherpa had discussion with Tashi Sherpa. Since there was nothing abnormal in the situation, I started descending to Camp 3 which was hardly two hours away. I reached Camp 3 at around 5:00 pm and descended further to Camp 2 & reached there at 8:00pm.
On 20th May morning with anticipation that Dada stayed at Camp3 previous night I started for Base Camp. On very soon I came to know about sad demise of Dada from the sherpas of other agencies. It was big shock for me. Sherpa’s further stated that, they were trying to descend to Camp 3 till 8:00pm approx. His sherpa Tashi was there with him till his last breath. Finally with no option, Tashi descended Camp 3 alone at around 10.30pm on 19th May."

Also Read: Alex Txikon Announces Winter Expedition to Annapurna 2024-25