Everester Ujjal Ray scales virgin peak of Ladakh, does Bengal proud
Kolkata: Ujjal Ray has made Kolkata Police proud this time by scaling a virgin peak of 6330m, exploring a cocooned part of Ladakh. In 2013, Ray had successfully climbed the top of Mt Everest in 2013.
A nine-member team led by Ray, who is presently serving as the Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) South division, reached the summit of the peak on the morning of July 31.
Everester Debdas Nandy was also a part of the team. "As per my knowledge, no mountaineer have scaled this virgin peak before. The extreme cold weather accompanied by chilling winds posed a major challenge but we were determined. There are three such virgin peaks in Ladakh among which we chose this one," Ray told Millenium Post on Sunday.
Interestingly, the team did not take any Sherpa along with them. There were two locals who acted as supporting staff for the team. The team had left from Kolkata on July 20 and the last lap journey for the summit was undertaken on the night of June 30 when the weather conditions had improved slightly.
"The temperature at the peak was around -20 degree Celsius and when we reached the top, there was so much wind that we were unable to open our mouth for a long time," recalled Ray. The team had faced inclement weather during their stay at the base camp under heavy rains and
chilling winds.
The Snout Adventurers Association under whose banner Ray and his team achieved the feat is credited with expeditions at a number of virgin peaks across the world. Roy had been a part of a four member government team that had gone on an Mt Everest expedition last year in search of bodies of two mountaineers Paresh Nath and Goutam Ghosh, who went missing while undertaking Everest expedition in 2016.
Roy, who has been an integral part of the Kolkata police force since 1987, is an expert mountaineer and has climbed as many as 15 peaks. Apart from scaling the world's highest mountain peak, Roy's claim to fame also lies in scaling the "Unnamed Virgin Peak". Apart from his police job, Roy has been into mountaineering since 1999.
