Disaster Reignites Debate Over Battle at Earth’s Ceiling

By DECLAN WALSH
NYT

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — In the snowy wastes of Siachen, where Pakistani and Indian soldiers face off in a high-altitude battle zone ringed by Himalayan peaks, the fight is against the mountain, not the man.

In outposts up to 22,000 feet above sea level, the temperature can plunge to 58 below, and linger there for months. Patrolling soldiers tumble into yawning crevasses. Frostbite chews through unprotected flesh. Blizzards blow, weapons seize up and even simple body functions become intolerable.

Some soldiers go crazy and end up “staring into space,” as one veteran put it, unhinged by the dazzling whiteness of rock, sun and snow.

Then there are the avalanches.

The latest occurred on April 7, when a giant wall of snow crashed down on the Pakistani side of the battlefield, swamping the battalion headquarters of 6 Northern Light Infantry, where 124 Pakistani soldiers and 14 civilians were stationed. The avalanche buried a cluster of buildings in 80 feet of snow; a week later, rescuers have yet to pull out a single person, dead or alive.

(More here.)