Giripremi's young mountaineers successfully scale Mt Thelu in Uttarakhand

The group comprising Mihir Jadhav, Yash Hange, Abhay Khedkar, Nikunj Shah, Manoj Kulkarni, and Rahul Sonke under the leadership of Akhil Katkar, reached the summit on May 26, 2024.

Mumbai, DHNS: A team of young mountaineers from Giripremi, a leading mountaineering and adventure organization based in Pune, successfully summited Mount Thelu, which stands at 6,002 meters in the Gangotri region of Uttarakhand.

The group comprising Mihir Jadhav, Yash Hange, Abhay Khedkar, Nikunj Shah, Manoj Kulkarni, and Rahul Sonke, under Akhil Katkar's leadership, reached the summit. 

Senior mountaineer and Shiv Chhatrapati award recipients Umesh Zirpe and Sanjay Doiphode from Giripremi provided special guidance and support throughout the expedition.

The group of young mountaineers reached the summit on 26 May, 2024.

“By completing this mission in the semi-alpine style, Giripremi's novice team has achieved a remarkable feat. The team also independently managed the route opening from the base camp to the summit, which is a commendable achievement,” said Zirpe, the Director of Guardian Giripremi Institute of Mountaineering and mentor of Giripremi. 

The team reached the base camp after a challenging 25-kilometer trek from Gangotri via the Raktavarn Glacier route. 

The Nehru Institute of Mountaineering provided significant support for the entire mission. 

Additionally, Dhiren Gupte (Smartmark Technosystems) and Suresh Haware (Haware Properties) gave financial backing to the group.

The team reached the base camp after a challenging 25-kilometer trek from Gangotri via the Raktavarn Glacier route. 

It should be noted that the glacier has undergone significant changes over the past fifteen to twenty years due to climate change.

To cross the Raktvarn Nala (a river flow), one has to use a rope to move across the banks. Gyalbo Sherpa and his colleagues offered special assistance to transport all the equipment to the base camp.

After setting up the entire base camp, the team decided to carry out the rest of the mission independently. During the next five days, the team set up the summit camp and began the final ascent.

“The climb from the summit camp to the peak is considered arduous due to a mix of hard rock, solid ice, and loose snow. Therefore, climbers have to use various techniques and ascend very cautiously, which consumes a lot of energy. In such conditions, excessive fatigue can adversely affect the climbers. However, taking all these factors into account, the team successfully reached the peak. The entire climb from the base camp to the peak was completed independently by the team, marking this mission as a success in a semi-alpine style, which is considered a distinguishing feature of this expedition,” said Zirpe.