Col. Anand Swaroop: The Indian Army is ready to face the South pole

The Indian Army is trained, ready and motivated and wants to face the challenge, says the leader of the group, Colonel Swaroop to ExplorersWeb. The eight men will attempt an unassisted, unsupported expedition from Hercules Inlet to the Geographic South Pole with guides Devon McDiarmid from Canada and Svante Strand from Norway.

ExWeb’s Correne Coetzer caught up with Anand in Punta Arenas while they wait for the runway at Union Glacier to be cleared so that the Ilyushin flights can take off. Meanwhile ALE’s skeleton staff who flew in with the Twin Otters works around the clock to clear the snow.

ExplorersWeb: How do you feel at the moment, being in Punta and getting the South Pole vibe?

Anand: Well, our flight to Antarctica has got delayed due to weather on Antarctica. We are just waiting for it to clear and move. It’s a bit tense situation as we have that much less time to make it to the South Pole. Otherwise, we are ready and eager to move.

ExplorersWeb: Are the teammates the 10 names on your website? How do you know each other?

Anand: We are now 8. Hem Chandra and Nim Bahadur are not in the final team. We are all from the Indian Army. We did not know each other prior to May 10, 2010 when we got together and after a thorough selection camp formed a team.

ExplorersWeb: It is quite a large group – how do you plan to stay together during the day?

Anand: Well, it’s not that large a team. When we climb in the Himalayas we are usually 20. So relatively it’s a small team. We move together and stay two each in tents. Staying together is easy as there is no other place to go.

ExplorersWeb: What made you decide to do this expedition?

Anand: We have climbed most of the major challenges in mountaineering in Indian Himalayas. We were looking for worthwhile challenges and doing polar expeditions is definitely one and we just chose that.
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ExplorersWeb: How did you prepare for this expedition?

Anand: We had a 6 weeks selection camp in Indian Himalayas followed by 4 weeks ski training in Greenland.

ExplorersWeb: What are you looking forward to on the expedition?

Anand: We are looking forward to safe and successful expedition. We hope to gain immense experience in polar journey through this expedition.

ExplorersWeb: What are you not looking forward to?

Anand: Injuries, bad weather, et al.
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ExplorersWeb: Anything else?

Anand: Thanks for interviewing us. We are ready, trained and motivated. Ready to go and face it.