Harish Kapadia (Born 11 July 1945) 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 (6788 m),
Bandarpunch West (6102 m), Parilungbi (6166 m), in 1995, Lungser Kangri (6666 m) 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 (7385 m), Chong Kumdan Kangri I (7071 m), 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.
Kapadia has a degree in Commerce, Law and...
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