What’s the story?
The Snow Lion Everest Expedition of India has set a world record as four Indian army men have conquered the highest peak in the world without using supplementary oxygen, a feat that is unimaginable for the common man.
“We had formed a team of 10 people with the aim to scale the Everest without using an oxygen cylinder and succeeded in sending four members to the top of the world without oxygen,” colonel Vishal Dubey, leader of the Snow Lion Everest Expedition stated. “Our aim was to climb the Everest without carrying an oxygen cylinder and create history,” he added.
The context
The gigantic peak standing at 8848 meters tall has been scaled by over 4000 people till date. However, a mere 187 had climbed it without using oxygen cylinders. All of those 187 people had done this individually and no team had achieved this feat before the Indian army.
The heart of the matter
The four climbers of the Indian army that achieved this feat are Kunchok Tenda, Kulshong Dorjee Bhutia, Kalden Panjur and Sonam Phuntsok. Apart from these four, there were also three mountaineers and six Sherpa guides in the 14-member team that aimed to scale the Everest in this expedition, however, they ended up using supplementary oxygen. The three Indian mountaineers are Urgyen Topgye, Ngwang Gelek, and Karma Zopa. The team achieved this feat on 21st May and subsequently returned to Kathmandu.
What’s next?
This miraculous feat should give other teams across the globe hope that they can achieve a similar feat themselves. Meanwhile, the successful Indian team are planning on scaling other peaks as well in the future.
Author’s Take
The Indian army has always made us proud on our borders and in disaster-struck cities as well and this time they have shown they are capable of a lot more. Be it Siachen or Everest, nothing is impossible for them as they have now raised the Indian flag at the top of the world.
