Indian Navy's Mission Dakshin Dhruv 2006

(2006-12-03) BR Natarajan

For these dare devils who are on the way to conquer the South Pole, every day is a new dawn, a new adventure, a new challenge and a new moment that was never lived before.

After conquering Mount Everest and the North Pole, the Indian Navy is now ready to take on another extreme challenge as the next major adventure sport activity - Ski traverse to the South Pole during Dec 06 – Jan 07 (termed Mission Dakshin Dhruv 2006). It would indeed be a daunting expedition and may well achieve records heralding India and the Indian Navy into the forefronts of the adventure world.

Ski Traverse to the South Pole is often termed as the ultimate test of man’s physical and mental endurance and courage. This would involve cross-country skiing using Nordic Telemark Skis over a distance of about 200 km, while manually pulling sleds weighing in excess of 140 kgs with shoulder harness by each member. It shall take the team approximately 15 - 20 days and 10 - 12 hours of active skiing each day to achieve their objective.

Inaccessibility of region, inhospitable weather and terrain conditions and freezing temperatures only add to the difficulties. Wind speeds averaging 100–150 km/hr, further worsened by katabatic winds of 50 –60 km/hr, speeds.

The severity of the task would call for the highest standards of physical fitness, mental and moral strength, determination, courage, endurance, a never say die spirit and, above all, a perfect teamwork. Thus, this expedition would involve all the laudable attributes that are required to be developed amongst men in uniform.

The dare devil team has Satyabrata Dam, KS Balaji, Avinash Khajuria, Ajay Sharma, Raj Kumar, Rakesh Kumar, Vikas Kumar, Brijendra Singh, Sonam Tamchos and Manoj Vats. They are already at Chile's Port Town of Punta Arenas raving to cross the Drake Passage to land at the Patriot Hills Base Camp.

When the team unfurls the flags of India and the Indian Navy at South Pole, it will be a matter of pride for Birla Institute of Technology and Science "BITS", Pilani (Rajasthan) India as the team Member Raj Kumar is a proud alumnus of this institute and has the rare combination of being a submariner, mountaineer and sky diver.

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Birla Institute of Technology and Science
Pilani (Rajasthan) India 333031
BR Natarajan