NEW DELHI: The first Indian Army Mountaineering Expedition to Mt. Makalu (8,485m) comprising five officers, two JCOs and 11 Other Ranks summitted the peak on Thursday.
According to Nepal Army Liaison Officer, the team summitted around 1050hr Nepal Standard Time. “All team members, excluding team leader summitted today (Thursday) morning at 1050 hr NST.”
The team is on their way back and “is expected to climb down to Advance Base Camp by tomorrow (Friday).” he said.
According to the liaison officer, the team leader has not been able to complete the summit due to mountain sickness.
The photographs released by the Army on April 9 had started a debate regarding the sighting of the mythical ‘Yeti’. The Army had announced it on its official Twitter handle.
This expedition is in furtherance of the objective of summiting all challenging peaks above 8,000 M.
Mt Makalu is considered amongst the most dangerous peaks and summiting the peak is considered extremely challenging due to inclement weather conditions and technical difficulties.
The Army team had trained hard for six months as part of the preparation, which included a successful summit expedition to Mt Kamet and winter training, including Mt Bhanoti.