Defence minister flags in Army's mountaineering team that summited Mt Makalu

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday met the members of the Indian Army's mountaineering team that summitted Mount Makalu in Nepal last month.

"Flagging in" the mountaineering team, Singh said by summitting one of the world's highest and most difficult peaks, the Army had written a new chapter in this area that will inspire the youngsters.

Mountaineers from the Army have now climbed all the over-8,000-metre peaks in Nepal -- Mount Everest, Kanchenjunga, Lhotse, Makalu, Cho Oyu, Dhaulagiri 1, Manaslu and Annapurna 1.

The team, led by Major Manoj Joshi, was "flagged off" here by the Director General of Military Training on March 26.

On May 16, 16 members of the team summitted Mount Makalu and unfurled the tricolour.

However, while descending from the summit point to Camp IV, Naik Narayan Singh, one of the team members, died.

A highly-experienced and balanced team was shortlisted and trained for the expedition, which required sheer determination, team spirit and logistic support.

The team experienced many difficulties and challenges en route, including nature's fury, negotiating deep crevasses, snow blizzards, climbing near vertical rocks and ice walls, but the sheer determination of the valiant climbers and a cohesive team effort brought laurels for the Army and the nation, the Army said.

In another event, an All India National Cadet Corps (NCC) Girls' Mountaineering Expedition 2019 to Mount Tenchenkhang was flagged in by Lieutenant General Rajeev Chopra, Director General, NCC here.

The team came back after summitting Mount Tenchenkhang (6,010 mtr) in west Sikkim. This was the first ever NCC girls' expedition organised in the Sikkim Himalayas since 1970.

The expedition team was flagged off on May 17 and was led by Lieutenant Colonel Madhab Boro, expedition leader, and Lieutenant Colonel Suman Lata, deputy leader. The team had 17 'X' staff or GCIs and 20 girl cadets.

The team summited Mount Tenchenkhang on June 12, in spite of inclement weather.