The West Bengal Sonarpur Aarohi Club, comprising a team of skilled and eminent mountaineers, has successfully conquered Mt Brammah 1. The challenging peak, known for its technical difficulty, has been a long-standing aspiration among the mountaineering community since it was first climbed by British mountaineer Chris Bonnington about 50 years ago.This remarkable achievement marks the first Indian team to conquer the summit, making history in the world of mountaineering.
After meticulous planning, the expedition took off on July 16, 2023 with the cooperation of the district Administration Kishtwar and different government and military bodies. However, adverse weather conditions, including whiteout and heavy snowfall, forced the team to abandon their initial summit attempt.
During this unfortunate incident, a Sherpa member fell approximately 70 meters but, fortunately, survived with bruises, cuts, shock, and snow blindness while searching for the summit route. The team made a courageous decision to wait for his recovery and launch another attempt within 30 hours.
On the midnight of July 17, the team set out once again, and at approximately 10:30 am on July 18, they achieved their goal, successfully summiting Mt Brammah 1. The team recorded the height as 6426 meters, which differed slightly from the topo map's mentioned elevation of 6416 meters, based on four devices' readings.
A total of nine climbing members and five Sherpas accomplished the momentous summit, while three members coordinated the activities from the base camp.Upon safely returning to the Base Camp on July 19 at 8:30 pm, the team expressed their gratitude to the district Administration Kishtwar for its support, both direct and indirect, throughout the expedition.
Besides, it also thanked Indian Army 17RR, Police, Forest Department, KDA and the local team, consisting of Ravinder Singh Thakur, Bhanu Badyal, Rajesh Thakur and Avleen Bhutiyal including 2 local Youth from Kishtwar who recently completed the Adventure Training Course at the Jawahar Institute of Mountaineering and Winter Sports, Pahalgam.
DC Kishtwar, Dr. Devansh Yadav congratulated the team for this remarkable accomplishment and expressed enthusiasm about boosting the tourist potential and tourism in Kishtwar. He believes that this achievement will open up new avenues for future adventure tourism in the Kishtwar Himalayas.