Air Chief Marshal B.S. Dhanoa flags off IAF's mountaineering team

Chief of the Air Staff Air Chief Marshal B.S. Dhanoa on Friday flagged off the mountaineering expedition team.

A team of five Indian Air Force (IAF) mountaineers is embarking on the mountaineering expedition to Antarctica's Mt Vinson on December 13.

The team is led by Group captain R.C. Tripathi, who also has taken part and led many IAF expeditions including 'Mission Seven Summits'.

The team has recently completed pre-expedition training and acclimatisation in Leh and Siachen from November 24 to December 3.

Successful ascent of Mt Vinson will make IAF the first organisation in India to achieve this unique feat of scaling Seven Summits.

After scaling of Mt Everest in 2005, IAF launched a unique and unprecedented series of mountaineering expeditions 'Mission Seven Summits' with an aim to fly tricolour and IAF flag on the highest peaks in every continent.

A team of IAF mountaineers has successfully scaled highest peaks of six continents and is now embarking on the culminating expedition to Mt Vinson in Antarctica to complete 'Mission Seven Summits'.

The earlier expeditions were executed in the following order Nepal's Mt Everest, Indonesia's Mt Carstenz Pyramid, Russia's Mt Elbrus, South Africa's Mt Kilimanjaro, Argentina's Mt Aconcagua and Alaska's Mt McKinley/ Denali.