IBNLive chat: Tips to conquer sub-zero Siachen

ON TOP OF THE WORLD: It's a good idea to open Siachen to a select bunch of people every year.

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It was a civilian expedition to the Siachen Glacier after 30 years. CNN-IBN's Rasika Tyagi was part of it and, in the process, became the first woman journalist to reach 16,000 feet.

Rasika shared the experience of her 23-day adventure with IBNLive readers in a live chat on Tuesday. Here we reproduce the full transcript of the chat:-

Natasha Jha: Hi Rasika, hats off to u, for being the first woman journalist to climb the heights of Siachen. How does it feel and also how great an idea it is to open Siachen for expeditions now? Should we feel that the threat time is over, and Siachen soon will end up becoming the favourite tourist destination? And it would also give us a reason to be happy, when we save crores of rupees, which we spent to guard this border.

Rasika Tyagi: Thanks, Natasha. I do believe it is a good idea to open Siachen to a select bunch of people every year. We need to know what is at stake, what those 300 soldiers are fighting for. However, I don't think it will ever become a major tourist destination since the logistics will be just too expensive

Shre: Hi, what are the challenges of the trip and what to expect from it?

Rasika Tyagi: I think the biggest challenge is mental more than physical. You have to survive at sub-zero temperatures without another living thing around for miles. Even fungus does not grow on the glacier. Very often, the troops who come down from there after their three-month stint need psychological treatment. For shorter treks – like the one I went for – they trained us for 15 days to climb slopes with very little oxygen content in the body. Once you decide to do it – you can and will.

Shitin: How difficult was it and what is the difference in oxygen level at 14,000 ft and 16,000 ft. I, with my children - one 10 years and the other 7 years old, had been to Chandratal this year. We felt that the oxygen was low; would the difference be much more at 16000 ft? Please reply.

Rasika Tyagi: Hi Shitin. The oxygen at sea level is about 21% while at 11,000 feet it is 13%. So, the difference is quite a bit. It gets thinner as you go up, especially in Siachen since there is no vegetation. But as long as you acclimatize, slowly there is no problem. Though your kids are too small to try anything like this for years, yet!

Muralidharan: First of all congratulations on being the first woman journalist to reach the Siachen glacier. It would be great if you could let me know who does one need to contact to be a part of the trek. I am keen on taking a trek to Siachen.

Rasika Tyagi: The people who took part in this trek were basically students from various military schools and some mountaineers affiliated to the Indian mountaineering Federation. They would be good people to contact, as would be the Army Head Quarters in New Delhi.

Rashmi: Just give a message to people who speak like "ladies are for cooking and kid-making.

Rasika Tyagi: Cooking, cleaning, bearing children, working, climbing the Everest, swimming across the English Channel, fighting wards and now, walking the Siachen Glacier. Take care.

Srinivas: It feels great to be on Siachen right? Do you have any snaps for people who could not go there?

Rasika Tyagi: We are putting up a slide show of pictures on the website. Should be up in the next one hour. You can also catch my one hour documentary on the trip - this Friday at 9:30 pm

Himalayan: Hi, what was the total expenditure involved in the whole program?

Rasika Tyagi: Our trip was paid for by the army. But it is a very expensive proposition. The clothes and the equipment itself are above one lakh. On top of that, the supplies that have to be carried up and all the other logistics involved. In all, if you had to self finance this trip (which is not an option right now) I would reckon it would cost about 3.5 lakhs per person.

Sandeep: Hi Rasika, I am a student at Wanganui UCol, NZ. Your achievement just makes us extra proud of being an Indian. My question is: How would you sum up your journey, in short?

Rasika Tyagi: An experience of a lifetime. Also, the crossing of the bridge of human endurance.