Indo-Kazakh Summiteers atop Mt Nun

New Delhi, Sep 19 (UNI) Fourteen members of a Joint Indo-Kazakh Mountaineering Expedition have successfully summited the 7,140-metre Mount Nun in the Zanskar region of Jammu&Kashmir, it was officially announced here today.

In the first attempt -- yesterday, eight members -- five Indians and three Kazakhs -- successfully summitted Mt Nun which is located in the Zanskar Range, approximately 80 km from Kargil.

In the second attempt -- today, six Indian members of the team successfully reached the summit, an official spokesperson here said.

The two-nation 34-member team is being led by Lt Col AB Goth, former Vice Principal of the Darjeeling-based Himalayan Mountaineering Institute.

All Indian members of the team are qualified mountaineers who have done the Basic Mountaineering Course. Most of them have taken part in expeditions to 7,000-mete-plus peaks in the past two years.

Two Kazakh members of the team have, meanwhile, been trained at the High Altitude Warfare School (HAWS) while the others are instructors in the Kazakhstan Army Mountaineering School.

The team had initially planned to make the summit attempts between September 21 and 26 but advanced their plan in view of favourable weather conditions.

A third attempt is planned after September 21 depending upon weather conditions.

Mount Nun is one of the highest peaks in the Western Himalayas and a popular destination for several Indian and foreign expeditions. The mountain offers fairly good conditions and a challenging climb which includes crossing a 300-metre crevassed ice fall.

UNI DG MSJ VV1857