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The Defence Minister Shri Pranab Mukherjee flagged off a seven-member mountaineering expedition to Mt. Shisha Pangma, here today. Speaking on the occasion the Minister wished the team a grand success . Shri Mukherjee said that such expeditions give us an opportunity to face great challenges and overcome them.
The expedition team from the Nehru Institute of Mountaineering (NIM), Uttarkashi, will endeavour to scale the 8012 meter high Mt. Shisha Pangma, which lies in the autonomous region of Tibet, China. Mt. Shisha Pangma is one of the 14 eight-thousander Mountains of our planet. It was first climbed by a Chinese team in 1964. This formidable peak is yet to be scaled by an Indian team. Because of the extreme unpredictable weather, challenging climb and dangerous snow conditions, no Indian expedition has attempted this mountain till date.
This expedition team is the smallest one from India to attempt an eight thousand Meter mountain. The expedition will thus set a new trend of climbing big mountains in small teams. The expedition will also endeavour to make this climb without Oxygen, which again will be a first in the history of Indian Mountaineering.
The team will establish Base Camp at 5200 meters, Advance Base Camp at 5600 meters, Camp I at 5800 meters, Camp 2 at 6400 meters and Camp 3 at 7400 meters before attempting the summit from the north-east ridge of the mountain in the 3rd week of May.
The expedition team is being led by Col. Ashok Abbey, Principal Nehru Institute of Mountaineering, Uttarkashi. Other Members of the' team are Nb Sub. Mohinder Singh, Nb Sub. Neel Chand, Nb.Sub Rajinder Singh, Shri Ranveer Singh,.Sbri. C Norbu and Shri Khushal Singh, all NIM Instructors. Dr. Hari Pal Singh is the Expedition Doctor.
Established in 1965 to honour Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru, our first Prime Minister, the Nehru Institute of Mountaineering is today not only India's and Asia's premier Mountaineering Institute, but one of the finest of its kind in the world. The expedition commemorates 40 years of existence of this premier national Institute of our country.
Shri Ajai Vikram Singh, Defence Secretary, Ms Somi Tandon, Secretary Defence Finance and Sh. N. N. Vohra, President, Indian Mountaineering Foundation were also present on the occasion.
SKS / HS
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