The Unforgettable Night

by Saad Munawar (Pakistan)

A leap into the unknown Pakistan

*THE UNFORGETTABLE NIGHT* It was colder than the coldest of nights. It was darker than the darkest of nights. And.. It was LONGER than the longest of nights. I am talking about the night I crossed the mighty Gondogoro pass(5750 meters) We had trekked for more than 7 hours in the day and after reaching Ali camp, no one could sleep…partly because of the high altitude(5000mplus) but mainly because of how damn scared we were. Yes, we were scared, and it could be seen from our colourless faces and our never ending questions. “Lala(Sir), are my boots good enough? Would my crampons help? I did not bring any iceaxe..is that a problem?” Everyone had the same questions and we would ask them not once, not twice, but after every half an hour or so. Our guide Ibrahim Munna was going to cross the pass for the 20th time that night. He was as calm and quiet as the mountains themselves. Finally, around midnight we started to climb up. The silence was permanent, one could hear his heart pounding hard in his chest. After half an hour we reached Munir camp..and what I saw there can never be forgotten… Bonfire… on the white snow..in the darkest of nights..and all the porters huddled around that crackling fire…singing songs in ancient languages we could not understand..and then a loud cry of “Ya Ali(A.S) Madad!”.. the fire was extinguished and it was dark again. Balti porters traverse glaciers as if they are walking in a park. This was the only time we saw them scared and making prayers…It only made us more nervous. Little did I know, it was just the beginning. We reached the first technical section and attached ourselves with the fixed rope. Unfortunately, my headtorch broke and fell down .. when the gradient is so steep that you are holding a rope or else you would fall, your torch does not just fall in your feet.. it falls and takes a never ending slide.. and since it’s a damn torch, it illuminates the whole path as it slides down and you can see what will happen to you if you let that rope go. I was DOOMED, and right in that moment I thought for the first time, I won’t make it. I sat down.. shivering with cold.. There was no way I could climb any further without light.. I had reached a closed end.. there was no way out of this one but for HIM(The Almighty).. and no matter how grave the situation is, HE can always make a way for you.. and so I met Salman bhai.. the strongest of my 17 teammates.. and that angel of a man shared light with me right until we reached the top. It wasn't easy but we made it. All thanks to him. We reached Gondogoro Top safe and sound. If we thought that our misery is over.. WE WERE SO DAMN WRONG! Descending down the Gondogoro LA was the most difficult part of trekking/climbing I had ever done. Rocks were falling down and hitting people, like actually hitting them but still no one dared to let go off the rope. It was the only difference between life and death. After hours of struggling, falling, getting hit and bruised by the rocks, I finally managed to descend down safely. I sat down. It was over. Only that it wasn’t... I heard a scream…some gasps and cries… I turned…I saw. A MAN.. A LIVING HUMAN BEING was falling from the rocky slopes of GGLA like a football.. He would bounce and roll in the air after every fall and that did not happen just once or twice.. He kept bouncing and bouncing, falling down hundreds of feet, until he slammed hard into a big rock. Unmoving. Unconscious. For a second, everything was still. No sound, no movement, as if the world had stopped rotating. And then, some people ran towards the man who had fallen, I sure wasn’t one of them. I could not even move a muscle. I was numb with shock. It was the scariest fall I had ever seen. That fall can NEVER be UNSEEN. That night can NEVER be forgotten.