Everest 2009: 11 Indians summit in single day

Kathmandu, May 22: Making history, 11 daring Indians, including 19-year-old girl summit the world's highest peak Everest on Thursday, May 21. The day also saw 49-year old Apa Sherpa of Nepal climbing Mount Everest for the 19th time, breaking his own record.

Krushnaa Patil, a 19-year-old Pune girl, has achieved the feat to become the first woman from Maharashtra for summiting the Mount Everest. The ten new Everest heroes are from the Nehru Institute of Mountaineering (NIM) expedition 2009. They include soldiers on deputation from the Army as well as a woman climber, Kavita Budathoki, a 24-year-old from Uttarakhand.

Mangal Murthi Masur, principal of NIM said, "For years, we have been training mountaineers.This year, we thought NIM should aim for Everest itself, since this is the golden anniversary year of the first Indian expedition to Everest, as well as the 25th anniversary of the first Indian woman reaching the peak."

On Thursday, May 21 at 5 AM local time, NIM team members started summiting and by 6 AM, ten had made it to the top.

OneIndia News