ITBP scales world’s fifth highest peak for the first time

The Indo Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) has successfully scaled Mt. Makalu — the world’s fifth highest peak, at an altitude of 8,485 metres from the sea level, the China-border guarding force said on Friday.

The ascent to the Himalayan peak in Nepal was made on April 19, it said.

The International Mountaineering Expedition to Mt. Makalu and Mt. Annapurna (8,091 m) was flagged off from Delhi on March 21.

“It was a historic twin summit attempt — the first of its kind in ITBP history. Both peaks were being attempted for the first time by the force, adding to the challenge and legacy of this mission. Both peaks are in Nepal,” ITBP said in a statement.

Led by Deputy Commandant Anoop Kumar Negi, and Nihas Suresh as Deputy Leader, the 12-member team was divided into two groups of six climbers each. The Mt. Makalu team achieved an 83% success rate, with five climbers reaching the summit at 8.15 a.m. on April 19.

“The [Mt.] Annapurna team faced extreme weather, including a blizzard and whiteout conditions, and made a courageous push up to 7,940 meters, just 150 meters below the summit, before making a safe and responsible retreat on the same day at 2.45 pm,” ITBP said.

Reinforcing its environmental commitment under the ‘Clean Himalaya – Save Glacier’ campaign, the team collected 150 kg of non-biodegradable waste from higher camps during the expedition.

With this summit, ITBP has now successfully scaled six of the world’s 14 ‘eight-thousanders’. ITBP has so far scaled 229 peaks, including Mt. Everest, Mt. Kanchenjunga, Mt. Dhaulagiri, Mt. Lhotse, and Mt. Manaslu — having summited Everest five times.