Harish Kapadia

Biography

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 Management from Bombay University and he is a cloth merchant by profession. He has published twelve books. His Trek The Sahyadris has now become a standard reference for all trekkers in the Western Ghats. His other books, Exploring the Hidden Himalaya (with Soli Mehta) and High Himalaya Unknown Valleys and Meeting The Mountains cover his various trips to the Himalaya, while Spiti Adventures in the Trans-Himalaya, covers climbing and trekking in that region. He has been the editor of the Himalayan Journal for the past 28 years, bringing the journal to international standards and continuing it as a major authentic reference on the range.

Kapadia has been elected an Honorary Member of the (British) Alpine Club. He was a Vice President of the Indian Mountaineering Foundation (1997–1999). He was awarded the IMF Gold Medal by the Indian Mountaineering Foundation in 1993. In 2003, the Queen approved the award of the Patron's Gold Medal of the Royal Geographical Society to him. He has been invited to many countries to lecture on his Himalayan exploits, and is a member of several organisations. He is married, and lives in Bombay.

His son Lt. Nawang Kapadia, who was commissioned on September 2, 2000 in the Fourth Battalion the Third Gorkha Rifles, died while fighting Pakistan based terrorists in the jungles of Rajwar in Kupwara district of Srinagar on 11 November 2000. Since then Harish Kapadia has taken to lecturing about this conflict, particularly in the Siachen Glacier. He has been discussing a proposal for a peace park for Siachen and cleaning up the environmental damage there.

Harish Kapadia has donated a substantial number of photographs and maps to the American Alpine Club and to the Swiss National Museum, which are setting up the Lt. Nawang Kapadia Collection. This is in addition to the Lt. Nawang Kapadia Library already in existence at the Himalayan Club.

His book, "Meeting The Mountains" is also seen while standing in line at Disney's Animal Kingdom for Expedition Everest. While passing through the line you pass through many glass cases displaying the history of mountains and at one point, you come across something that is supposed to look like an office and his book can be seen on the top bookshelf of this section.

Due his long work as editor of the Himalayan Journal, Kapadia became an important chronicler of mountaineering.

Notable Climbs

Total: Peaks climbed: 33, * First Ascents 21

Exploration

Major Explorations