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Since childhood he was very fond of trekking and
adventure. Being a good footballer and athlete of his time, he got
himself recruited as a head constable in the Frontier Constabulary
Force in 1949. At this stage Sonam Gyatso's life took a turn when he
was sponsored to undergo mountaineering course at Himalayan
Mountaineering Institute, (HMI) Darjeeling.
The distinguished mountaineering career of late
Gyatso started in the year 1954 with the participation in the First
Basic Course conducted by the HMI, Darjeeling. Four years later in
1957, he was selected for the advance course to Nanda Devi with late
Major Jayal as leader. He successfully climbed the 26,750 ft high
CHO OYU in 1958 followed by MT. ANNAPURNA III (24,858 ft.) in 1961.
In the same year in October, he led the expedition to KANCHENGYAU in
Sikkim Himalaya (22.503 ft.) and successfully climbed the peak along
with other members. He was a member of the Indian Everest teams in
1960 and 1962 and earned the distinction of reaching the highest
points on both the occasions. In May/June 1963 he led another
successful expedition to Hathi Parbat (22.070 ft) a formidable
virgin peak in Garhwal and was able to put seven members on the
summit. Another expedition in Sikkim Himalayas was led by him in the
middle of 1964 and the team climbed Langpo Chung Peak (21,850 ft) on
Nepal border.
Immediately after his triumphant return from the
expedition he was called upon to participate in the pre- Everest
expedition to the hitherto unclimbed 21911 ft. Rathong peak in
North- West Sikkim. Keeping up with the tradition he took six
members to the top. His selection in the third successful Indian
expedition to Everest was an automatic choice which he proved amply
by his wonderful performance during the expedition. He was the
oldest mountaineer (then 42 years) ever to climb Mt. Everest and
stayed for longest time (50 minutes) at the peak. He had the
reputation of being an extremely tough mountaineer who could eat
anything and sleep anytime in any height. He was deeply religious
and believed that his success was due to blessings given by H H, the
Sixteenth Gyalwa Karmapa of Rumtek Dharma Chakra Centre and H.E.
Lachung Rinpoche who conducted special prayers when he was
approaching the summit.
For this outstanding feat and achievement Sonam
Gyatso was decorated with Padma Shree, Padma Bhusan, IMF Gold Medal,
Arjuna Award and Sikkim's highest award Pema Dorjee. The erstwhile
Tibet Road in Gangtok has been named after him by the SDF
Government.
Unfortunately in April 1968 barely three years
after fulfillment of his most cherished dream to scale Mt. Everest
he passed away in Delhi, leaving behind his wife Mrs. Kunzang Choden
and five children. His untimely death was both shocking and
irreparable loss to both India and Sikkim at that time. Condoling on
the sad demise of the Everest Hero, the then Prime Minister of
India, late Mrs. Indira Gandhi said, "Sonam Gyatso's name will
ever remain a source of inspiration to the youth" |
