With the requisite permissions recently coming in from China,a contingent of mountaineers from the Indo Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) is all set to take a shot at doing what nobody has successfully done till now skiing down the 8,848-metre-high Mount Everest on the China side.
A 28-member team,comprising men who have excelled in Winter Olympics,is currently undergoing training at the ITBPs Mountaineering and Skiing Institute at Auli in Uttarakhand. At around 3,000 feet,Auli is well-known for offering some of the best skiing slopes in the country,and the recent snow has only helped the teams cause.
Eight of the 28 mountaineers who climb the Everest will ski down the China side. This will be a world record since nobody has been able to achieve this so far despite many attempts, an ITBP official said.
The feat is being attempted on the north-side route,falling in China,as the south-side climb through Nepal is not only crowded but also considered technically less daunting.
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As many as 17 attempts have been made to ski down the Everest on the China side but without success. A European mountaineer came close to achieving the feat but eventually couldnt, the official added.
To be led by DIG Harbhajan Singh,the ITBP team will commence its expedition sometime in mid-March and is expected to take a shot at the world record in May this year.
The ITBP had originally wanted to attempt the feat in 2008 but could not since restrictions had been put on the north-side route by China for the smooth ascent of the Beijing Olympics torch to the worlds highest peak.
Interestingly,while China has agreed to let the ITBP team ski down Everest,it has denied permission to them to carry their own communication equipment,citing security reasons.
Sources believe that since the ITBPs communication equipment is encrypted,the Chinese authorities would have had no way to monitor it,and hence the denial of permission. The ITBP contingent will now use satellite phones for communication.
- The Indian Express website has been rated GREEN for its credibility and trustworthiness by Newsguard, a global service that rates news sources for their journalistic standards.
First published on: 19-01-2009 at 01:10:29 am
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