Kolkata, May 20 (UNI) Adventurers and expeditionsists across the country on Tuesday paid glowing tributes to India's first successful Everest expedition.
On this day exactly 60 years ago, a record 10 climbers unfurled the national tri-colour atop the world's tallest peak 8849 meters Mount Everest in Nepal.
" Today marks a historic milestone in Indian mountaineering. It's been 60 years since Captain Avatar Singh Cheema and Nawang Gombu, part of the Indian Everest Expedition led by (then) Captain M.S. Kohli, proudly unfurled the Indian flag on the summit of Mount Everest on May 20, 1965," Indian Mountaineering Foundation ( East Zone) Chairman Debraj Dutta said in a statement.
Dutta, who also unfurled the Indian flag on the Everest, pointed out that this remarkable achievement was followed by nine team members scaling Everest four times within ten days, a feat that drew global attention and remained unmatched for 17 years.
Nawang Gombu, who also held the post of Director of Himalayan Mountaineering Institute (Darjeeling ) became the first person to summit Everest twice.
Before that Gombu, a nephew of famed Tenzing Norgay, climbed the world's highest peak in 1963 with the American expedition.
The Indian team members who achieved this feat include, Captain Avatar Singh Cheema, Nawang Gombu, Sonam Gyatso, Sonam Wangyal, C.P. Vohra, Ang Kami, H.P.S. Ahluwalia, H.C.S. Rawat and Phu Dorjee Sherpa. The expedition was sponsored by the Indian Army to pay tribute to first Prime Minister Pandit Jawahar Nehru, who had dreamt to see Indian flags being waved atop the world's highest peak.
The 1965 successful expedition boosted India's mountaineering profile.
Though iconic Tenzing Norgay and Edmund Hillary, a New Zealander, scale the summit for the first ever a human reached there on May 29, 1953. But it was the British sponsored expedition led by Colonel John Hunt, India also added a new leaf in the world of mountain climbing when a 28--year-old Indian visually impaired expeditionist Chhonzin Angmo created history on Monday ( May 19) by successfully summiting
Mt Everest.
Girl from Kinnaur Kailash in Himachal Pradesh Chhonzin Angmo reached the top of the world's highest peak at around 8:34 AM, becoming the first blind woman to scale Everest.
Despite being blind, the 28-year-old climber completed a basic mountaineering course and had already climbed several peaks in Ladakh.
Her successful ascent is marked by overcoming fears, building trust in her team, and setting new benchmarks.
She had also climbed Lobuche before departing for Everest bid. Having lost her sight at the age of eight due to a reaction to medication, Angmo continually pushes boundaries from scaling the world's highest peak.
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