Fifty years ago, an Indian team, led by Lieutenant Commander M S Kohli conquered the coveted Mount Everest for the first time. A historic event, in which Major A S Cheema became the first Indian to reach the top of the world, proved that the resolve and the steel of the Indian Army can triumph over the mightiest of obstacles.
- On the occasion of the Golden Jubilee year of the first ascent of Mount Everest by an Indian team, the Indian Army Everest Massif Expedition 2015 is embarking on a challenging journey to scale the highest and the fourth highest mountain in the world, i.e. the Mount Everest and Mount Lhotse. This team of valiant Indian soldiers will not only summit the monumental peaks, but also clean the Everest region by bringing down non-biodegradable mountaineering waste left on it by a generation of climbers. The army mountaineers thus aim to give back to Mother Nature a measure of reverence that she merits, and contribute to restoring the ecological balance of the route, thus conveying a message of our Honourable Prime Minister’s vision of a clean environment to the entire world.
- The elite men are departing from Kathmandu on 11 Apr 15 to scale the peaks in mid May 2015. The team comprises of 05 Officers, 03 JCOs and 22 Other Ranks. Major R S Jamwal, VSM**, an extremely experienced and reputed mountaineer of an international repute is the expedition leader. He has himself summitted Mt Everest twice before.
- Ambassador of India, Shri Ranjit Rae on Friday, April 10, 2015 met the Indian team of the expedition and wished them a successful journey to Mt. Everest and Mt. Lhotse.
He said, “This is a very inspiring way to commemorate the Golden Jubilee year of the first ascent of Mount Everest by an Indian team. While there is a lot of adventure involved in this; this has a great importance from environmental perspective as well. I hope this will inspire many young people of India and Nepal. I wish all the success to the expedition.”
- The team has following objectives :-
(a) 14 Members team to climb Everest in two teams of seven climbers each.
(b) Seven members team to climb Mt Lhotse (including Subedar Mingmar Gurung, SM**, who will be attempting Mt Lhotse without supplemental oxygen).
(c) Two members from Everest Team (Major RS Jamwal, VSM** and Havildar Hajari Lal) will attempt Mt Lhotse after summiting Mt Everest (Also called the Everest-Lhotse Traverse).
(d) Five members out of nine from Adm and support team will participate in Everest Marathon on 29 May 2015.
(e) Team will also make an attempt to clean approximately 4000 Kgs of Mountaineering Waste from Everest Camps.
- The expedition will not only help relive the glories of the past, but also help to keep India’s and Indian Army’s name in the fore front of the field of mountaineering.