ITBP to scale world’s 7th tallest mountain

The expedition team was on Friday flagged off to scale Mount Dhaulagiri, the world's seventh tallest peak located in Nepal

New Delhi, Mar 10: A 25-member Indo-Tibetan Border Police expedition team was on Friday flagged off to scale Mount Dhaulagiri, the world's seventh tallest peak located in Nepal. Union Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi and ITBP chief Krishna Chaudhary sent off the personnel of the mountain-trained border guarding force for the expedition during an event held in New Delhi.

Dhaulagiri is one of the coveted 8,000-metre peaks, standing as the 7th highest mountain in the world. In Sanskrit, Dhaulagiri translates into Dhavali giri, meaning 'White Mountain'. Dhaulagiri is the highest mountain that lies entirely within Nepal.

Final summit in May

The 8,167-metre tall peak is located in Nepal and this will be the first expedition of the force to this mountain. It was successfully climbed for the first time by a Swiss-Austrian-Nepali expedition in 1960, an ITBP official said. The team is expected to make the final summit anytime in May and return by June.

Photo courtesy: ITBP's Twitter handle

Extensively trained team

"The expedition team has been put through rigorous physical training and has been extensively trained on all technical aspects required to tackle difficulties while ascending through glacial fields, knife icy ridges, rocky spires on its way to higher altitude camps and summit," the official said.

Photo courtesy: ITBP's Twitter handle

A gateway to climbers

"The team is fully equipped with latest snow and rock equipment. It may summit the peak on any day in May, 2017 depending upon favorable weather conditions," the official said.

The town of Pokhara is south of the Annapurnas, an important regional center and the gateway for climbers and trekkers visiting both ranges as well as a tourist destination in its own right.

Photo courtesy: Wikimedia Commons

Raised in 1962

The force, raised in 1962, is tasked to guard the 3,488-km Sino-Indian frontier and its border posts are located at altitudes ranging from 9,000-feet to 18,700-feet.

Photo courtesy: ITBP's Twitter handle