Darjeeling girls succeed in summiting Everest

Trishala Gurung (L) and Sulaxna Tamang (R)

EOI, Darjeeling, 23 May 2016: Two Darjeeling girls - part of the National Cadet Corps all girls’ team - have successfully scaled Mount Everest, according to unconfirmed reports coming in. Sources said the 10-member team made the summit on May 22 at 7.30 IST.

The two girls are Trishala Gurung (22) and Sulaxna Tamang (21), while the eight others are from Mizoram, Chandigarh, Jammu and Kashmir, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradhesh and Rajasthan. The team is led by Colonel Gaurav Karki.

Officials of the NCC directorate in Delhi as well as in Darjeeling said they are awaiting a confirmed report from the team at Everest even as they said news of the summit had reached them through other channels.

However, Ganesh Kumar Gurung, Trishala’s father, today said he had spoken to one of the expedition members over the phone who confirmed that the summit was made on Sunday. “On Sunday at 10 am, one of the expedition members from Camp II gave me the news that the team had made the ascent. I was told they would be returning back to Base Camp by evening today,” he said.

According to the father, Trishala last called him on May 18 from Kala Patthar at Base Camp. “That was the last time I spoke to her. She was confident and even joked that she would have a new title after the summit. It is a proud feeling being her parents. She has made the hills and the nation proud,” Gurung said.

Anuradha Rai, principal of Southfield College where, Trishala is presently studying, said she too had heard of the successful Everest summit but was awaiting concrete reports from the NCC head office in Delhi. “I cannot say much as I do not have the actual report or information. But we are proud of Trishala’s achievement. She has made the college and the hills proud,” she said when asked for her comment.

Trishala and Sulaxana were selected from more than 100 aspirants from across the nation to participate in the all girls’ expedition organised by the Army. The selection process started at the Himalayan Mountaineering Institute in Darjeeling after 29 days of basic training. Of the 100  hopefuls, 40 were short-listed for the two-month pre-expedition training at Deo Tibba in Himachal Pradesh from May to June, 2015. Further, 15 were then selected from the 40 to undergo advance training at Trishul Peak in Uttarakhand from August to October, 2015.

Finally, after further short-listing, 10 girls were selected for the grueling 28-day training at the Siachen Glacier from January 8 of this year. The expedition team was flagged-off from New Delhi on March 9 and reached Kathmandu on March 30. Then it was a 16-day trek to base camp, then acclimatisation at Khambu Glacier to Camps I, II and III before the climb atop the highest mountain in the world.