To those who don’t know what this is about, Parag’s death on a trek to Triund took the mountaineering community by shock. An experienced mountaineer, climber and overall fit person of 42 years of age, falling of a track described as jeepable was incredible.

I spoke with some of the people who were on the trek when the accident happened, and from the conversations, this is what I gathered happened.

The group was returning to Dharamkot after a successful trek on the 25th of April 2009. The trail wide and even – no risky areas as such. Parag was walking with his wife with other members of the group in front and behind. His wife was maybe a few steps in front when she heard a sound and turned to see Parag slumped and rolling over the side of the trail. She raised the alarm. At that point, the trail was a slope with bushes and other things he could hold on to and stop his tumble quite easily, but he made no attempt to do so, or perhaps he went through the gaps through coincidence. A little further, the trail became steep and precipitous and he went over the edge to fall about 700ft below.

Instructors from the group hurried down to reach him in 10-15 mins and found him badly injured. An experienced mountaineer and medical doctor was with the group and he descended to reach him almost immediately after the instructors, and quickly and efficiently fashioned an emergency stretcher to transport him to the hospital. He was rescued and rushed to the hospital within one and a half hours, but he didn’t survive.

He had been cheerful and apparently healthy before this happened and had, in fact, taken the previous night’s campfire by storm with his energy and enthusiasm for singing.

For those who don’t know Parag, he was one of the mountaineering enthusiasts from Mumbai. He began his mountain forays with the well-known club Girivihar in Mumbai about 20 years ago. The last 20 years had been filled with a variety of experiences ranging from simple hikes in the Sahyadri to being a part of the climbing team for the civilian expedition to Everest in ’98. He had done his Basic and Advanced mountaineering courses from the Himalayan Institute of Mountaineering in Darjeeling. He participated in a bicycle trip from Mumbai to Leh, climbed peaks in the Himalaya and Sahyadri and enriched the community with his expertise and enthusiasm. He certainly was no stranger to mountains.

No one understands how a person with his experience fell over a trail that had no real difficulty in walking, or why he was unable to arrest his tumble down the slope after falling, and the only explanation seems to be that he must have lost consciousness for some reason, which caused his fall and his inability to stop himself from going down the slope.

I guess we will never know.