Maj Jamwal leads Army expedition to Everest

JAMMU: Major Ranvir Singh Jamwal is leading an Army expedition of 30 climbers to Mount Everest with the dual purpose of marking 50 years of the ascent of the first Indian team and bringing down over 4,000 kg of trash left behind by various expeditions on the slopes over the years.

Major Ranvir Singh Jamwal is leading an expedition to Mount Everest. A Tribune Photo

Tribune News Service

Jammu, April 7

Major Ranvir Singh Jamwal is leading an Army expedition of 30 climbers to Mount Everest with the dual purpose of marking 50 years of the ascent of the first Indian team and bringing down over 4,000 kg of trash left behind by various expeditions on the slopes over the years.

“Fifty years after the first Indian team led by Capt MS Kohli reached Mount Everest, the Army sent a 30-member team. The team led by Major Jamwal embarked on the journey on April 1 and would be back with more than 4,000 kg of trash left on the slopes of the highest summit,” said a Defence official.

The team led by Major Jamwal, hailing from Badhori village in Samba district, was divided into two. One half was attempting to reach Mount Everest (8,848 metres) while the other was attempting to reach the Lhotse peak (8,516 metres), close to Mount Everest and the fourth highest peak.

With the help of sherpas, the two teams would bring down around 4,000 kg of trash littered on the slopes of Mount Everest. Nearly 4,000 persons had reached Mount Everest since 1953, when Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay first set foot on it.

The Indian team had specially designed bags to carry back the trash. A total of 4,014 kg of trash was removed by an Indo-Nepal Army expedition in 2013.

Major Jamwal has several feathers in his cap. He has scaled the 18,510-foot Mount Elbrus in the Caucasus range in Russia.

He has the record of being the first resident of Jammu and Kashmir to climb Mount Everest twice, in 2012 and 2013.

Major Jamwal scaled Mount Aconcagua, the highest peak in South America, in 2012. Prior to that, he scaled Mount Killimanjaro, the highest peak in Africa, in 2010.

Now called “son of mountains”, Major Jamwal joined the Army as sepoy on October 24, 1994. He cleared the officer examination (Army Cadet College) and joined the Indian Military Academy in 1998. He was commissioned into the 11 Jat regiment in June, 2002.

The mountaineer was awarded appreciation from Governor NN Vohra for a recce of the Amarnath cave shrine in 2008.