Union Home Secretary flags off ITBP climbing & ski down expedition to Saser Kangri-III peak in Ladakh
Union Home Secretary Shri L. C. Goyal and Shri Krishna Chaudhary, Director General, Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) here today flagged off the Saser Kangri-III (7495 mtr) climbing and ski-down expedition at a function at the ITBP Head-Quarters. Lauding the achievements earned by ITBP in the field of mountaineering, Shri Goyal conveyed his greetings for the success of the expedition. Shri Goyal said that ITBP has encouraged expertise for its personnel in mountaineering and other adventure sports. The local people of Himalayan areas find support from ITBP during disaster situations. ITBP has got honor to hoist National and Force flags over more than 198 peaks. On this occasion, Shri Krishna Chaudhary, DG, ITBP said that ITBP Mountaineers have climbed the Saser Kangri Mountains earlier also, but it will be for the first time when ITBP will ski down after summit.
Saser Kangri is a group of Mountains situated in Ladakh region of Jammu and Kashmir. There are five mountains that form a mountain group, namely Saser Kangri-I, Saser Kangri-II, Saser Kangri-III, Saser Kangri-IV and plateau. Under the leadership of Shri S.P. Chamoli, Commandant, 6 Mountaineers of ITBP successfully summitted the Saser Kangri-III peak for the first time in 1986.
ITBP Mountaineers summitted the highest Peak of the World, the Mt. Everest in 1984, 1992, 1993, 1996, 2006 and 2012. So far, 24 personnel of ITBP have climbed the Mt. Everest. As a member of Joint Mountaineering Expedition, Shri Sonam Palazor, Asstt. Commandant of ITBP was the first ITBP mountaineer to climb Mt. Everest in 1984. Under the leadership of Shri Prem Singh, Commandant, 06 mountaineers of ITBP climbed Mt. Everest and skied down successfully during 2012.
The 36-member Saser Kangri-III (7495 Mtr) Mountaineering and Ski down 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 edge icy ridges, rocky spires on its way to higher altitude camps and summit. The team led by Shri Rattan Singh Sonal, 2nd In Command, is fully equipped with latest snow and rock equipments. The team may summit the peak on any day between August 20, 2015 and September 20, 2015 depending upon favourable weather conditions. The team plans to set up advance base Camp, Camp-I, Camp-II, Camp-III and summit Camp during the expedition. This team will return on Sept. 30, 2015 to Leh. Flag-in ceremony of this team will be held in October-2015. The expedition is a pre-expedition for the Dhaulagiri Expedition scheduled in 2016 by the Force.
ITBP is deployed for guarding Himalayan (Indo-china) border since its raising in 1962. The Force is known for its specialty in the field of mountaineering and adventure sports. The Force is primarily deployed on high altitude Indo-China border on Border Out-Posts situated on altitudes ranging from 9,000 ft to 18,700 ft.
