Siliguri mountaineers conquer 2 unnamed Himalayan peaks

Siliguri: A four-member team of the Himalayan and Nature Adventure Foundation (HNAF), based in Siliguri, has successfully scaled two unnamed Himalayan peaks in Ladakh, marking the first recorded ascent of the summits. On August 9, the mountaineers reached Point 6,150 metres at 10:20 am and Point 6,086 metres at 11:50 am, achieving back-to-back conquests. Alongside them, a team from the Calcutta-based Snout Adventurers Association also summited both peaks the same day.

The HNAF team was led by Ganesh Saha and included climbers Kalyan Deb, Sudeb Roy and Kajol Dutta.

The group left Siliguri on July 31, travelled via Delhi and Manali, and established their base camp in Ladakh on August 5. They returned home to Siliguri early Monday morning. “We continued our journey without any external help. The climb was tough as the path was slippery and we faced breathing problems due to the altitude. Still, reaching the top was a proud moment for us,” said team leader Ganesh.

The climbers had set up two camps before their final push. On August 9, they left their second camp at 4 am and tackled frozen sections and a near-vertical 60-degree rock face with loose, shifting rocks—the most difficult part of the climb.

At 10:20 am, Ganesh, Sudeb and Kajol, along with members of the Snout Adventurers Association, unfurled the Indian national flag and the HNAF flag atop Point 6,150 metres. Later, Ganesh and Sudeb teamed up with another climber from the Calcutta group to scale Point 6,086 metres at 11:50 am.

The expedition, however, was not without challenges. While returning, the climbers were stranded for 36 hours near Manali due to landslides before finally making it back to Siliguri.