Harish Kapadia

Who is Harish Kapadia?

Harish Kapadia is a distinguished Himalayan Mountaineer from India. He has been awarded the Patron's Medal of the Royal Geographic Society, UK and the Life Time Achievement Award for Adventure by the President of India and the King Albert Mountain Award presented by The King Albert I Memorial Foundation. He has written numerous books and articles on the Indian Himalaya.

He began climbing and trekking in the range around Bombay, the Western Ghats. His first visit to the Himalaya was almost 40 years ago. His main contribution to Himalayan climbing has been to explore unknown areas and, in number of cases, to open up climbing possibilities. Some of his major ascents have been of Devtoli, Bandarpunch West, Parilungbi, in 1995, Lungser Kangri the highest peak of Rupshu in Ladakh. He led five international joint expeditions, four with the British and two with the French, to high peaks, such as Rimo I, Chong Kumdan Kangri I, Sudarshan Parbat, and the Panch Chuli and Rangrik Rang groups.

Earlier, in 1974 he fell in a crevasse at 6200 m, deep inside the formidable Nanda Devi Sanctuary. He was carried by his companions for 13 days to the base camp where a helicopter rescued him. He was operated for a dislocated hip-joint and had to spend two years walking on crutches. But that did not keep him out for too long and he has climbed for three decades after the injury.