Conquering Everest

Ten NCC girl cadets were felicitated by General Dalbir Singh, COAS, for successfully summiting Mt Everest, on Thursday afternoon at Vigyan Bhawan in the national Capital. This was the first NCC Girl Cadets expedition to have successfully scaled world’s highest peak.

The event was also graced by Lt General Aniruddha Chakravarty, DG NCC, who expressed his gratitude and thanked the Ministry of Defence, The Indian Army, All India Radio and the Indian Air Force for their support to the expedition.

The expedition led by Col Gaurav Karki, a renowned mountaineer, comprised of cadets namely- Rigzen Dolker, Tashi Kaskit, Trishala Gurung, Staniz Laskit, Pooja Mehra, Baljeet Kaur, Lalrintluangi, Tsering Angmo, Sulaxchana Tamang and Kumari Nutan.

The expedition succedded in two consecutive days as two batches comprising of five girls each, scaled the peak on May 21 at 11:00am and May 22 at 07:40am. The first batch was led by Col Gaurav Karki and Maj Deepika while the second batch, by Deputy expedition leader Lt Col Vishal Ahlawat.

General Dalbir Singh, addressed the girls for their achievement and said that they had set an example for the future generations, and are an inspiration for everyone in the country. He said, “You have set an example for the younger generation and you are an inspiration to all the women in the nation.” He also requested the audience present, to give the team a standing ovation.

As Col Gaurav Karki addressed the NCC cadets, he informed the audience about the strenuous procedure and training sessions the girls had undergone. A selected team of girl cadets had climbed to Mt Deo Tibba and Mt Trishul last year as part of an initial training. Later, ten selected cadets were given survival training for three weeks to endure the extreme cold conditions at Siachen Glacier in the beginning of this year. After these lengthy preparations the team set out for Everest in the month of March and successfully overcame their expedition without any casualties. 

Lalrintluangi, a bubbly 12th standard student form Mizoram, who had been a part of the expedition, smiled and said, “I felt beautiful being on top of the world, as I placed my bible and the flag of Mizoram at the peak of Mt Everest. This memory will be preserved in my mind forever.”