15-Member Team Makes History, Scales Unclimbed 20,900-Ft Peak In Arunachal

Proving that there really is no mountain high or treacherous enough, a team from the National Institute of Mountaineering and Adventure Sports has scaled an unnamed and unclimbed 20,942-foot high peak in the Gorichen range of the Eastern Himalayas in the Tawang-West Kameng region in Arunachal Pradesh, close to the border with China.

The 15-member team, led by an Army colonel, has named the peak "Tsangyang Gyatso Peak"  in honour of the 6th Dalai Lama, Rigzen Tsangyang Gyatso.

Leaving from the National Institute of Mountaineering and Adventure Sports (NIMAS) campus in Arunachal Pradesh's Dirang, the team led by Colonel Ranveer Singh Jamwal left to scale the peak on September 7 and the expedition took 15 days.

A statement released by the defence PRO said the peak was one of the most technically challenging and unexplored summits in the region and the team had to overcome immense challenges, "including sheer ice walls, treacherous crevasses, and a 2-kilometer-long glacier".

The statement said that by naming the peak after Rigzen Tsangyang Gyatso, NIMAS wanted to "pay tribute to his timeless wisdom and his profound contributions to the Monpa community and beyond". The Monpa tribe is one of the most populous tribal communities in the northeast. 

An official said NIMAS has informed the Indian Mountaineering Foundation about the successful expedition and the process to ensure that "Tsangyang Gyatso Peak" is recognised on official maps is underway.