When I encountered death at Siachen

How I escaped death at Siachen glacier- And What does it teach us about Financial Risk?

It was 2007 and I was to take over an area of responsibility at Siachen Glacier consisting of 12 super high altitude posts (It is a procedure followed in Army when the command changes) .The?schedule for the day was to visit a post called Navdeep Top.

Navdeep Top was captured by India in the Kargil war in 1999.It is at?19000 feet with temperatures dipping to minus 55 degrees.(The temperature in your refrigerator freezer at the minimum can go to -18 degrees Centigrade).To give you a relative idea-Mount Everest is 29000 feet. The route to this post is full of crevice’s(In a glacier because of differential heating there are very deep holes sometimes as deep as 2000 feet. These holes on the surface are covered by a thin layer of ice and further covered by snow)There is no technology which can detect crevices and it is left to human prodding(Placing a sharp object on the spot where you will take the next step) to detect these and try and avoid them.As a precaution so that no one falls and dies -all the patrols tie a rope around their waists so that?even if one of them falls inside a crevice, the others can anchor the fallen soldier by their ice axe(a pointed axe like instrument) and pull back the soldier.

We started moving towards Navdeep Top early in the morning at 4 am. I besides the soldiers also had 2 expert Sherpa porters. For those who have had an exposure to mountaineering-The Sherpas are the best mountaineers in the world. We were crossing a very long crevice laden area almost 800 to 900 metres long. For those who haven’t been at such altitudes-The atmosphere is very rare and there is shortage of oxygen so every step is an effort and 900 metres at that height is akin to covering 6 to 7 kms at Delhi. And of course the movement is very slow..STEP by STEP.

While crossing the glacier, one of the sherpas ?Ram bahadur alerted me “Sahab, Avalanche aane walla hai.Mai rassi kaat du?(There seems to be an avalanche approaching-Should I cut off the rope?)”Avalanche is a phenomenon where the snow starts rolling and finally gathers such a huge momentum that a human being has almost close to zero chance of survival once the avalanche hits him .In such situations the standard practice is to cut the rope so that there is a better chance of survival for the team.However there is no such Standard Operating procedure or a mention when you are on a crevice laden area.

I calculated that since there are so many crevices and if I cut the rope there is a 100% chance that someone or all of us ?will lose their lives in case we encounter the crevices. However the problem here was that in case the avalanche hits us-We will all lose our lives.

So as they say in English-It was a choice between the devil and the deep sea.

I took a calculated risk and asked Ram bahadur not to cut ?the rope and we started walking fast(whatever strength we could muster).As soon as we crossed the area the avalanche did happen and we missed the area by a few metres.

Why I relate this story to Risk in finances is ?that One may find these avalanches and crevices coming in the financial world very regularly. If I am operating in a glacier-It is necessary that I expect these avalanches and crevices. As investors and individuals-Our job is to firstly be aware of the various risks and then be ready for them. Financial markets will always throw the curved ball. Thats the nature of markets. We need to cater for adequate cushion and be prepared for surprises aka risks.

There always has to be an alternate plan-There are instances when the conventional solution wont work out. That time one needs to be bold and take calculated risks.One cannot be blinded like a deer in the headlights. Stay current with the latest developments in markets so that you can take the correct amount of calculated risk.

Your Financial aim should be clear.In our case it was the reconnaissance of Navdeep top post. Similarly Your Financial Goals should be clear. Only when the goals are clear can one make a plan to reach the goal. Mindless savings and hunt for returns donot give any results.#SiachenSurvival #FacingTheAvalanche #RiskInAdventure #SiachenChallenge #TeamworkSavesLives #HighAltitudeChallenge #PushingLimits #NarrowEscape #CourageInAdversity #FinancialRiskManagement #MarketVolatility #CalculatedRiskTaking #MarketAwareness #FinancialPlanning #ClearGoals #FinancialSuccess #RiskManagement