Two Uttarakhand mountaineers climb Annapurna peak

Yogesh Garbiyal and Sheetal Raj, two mountaineers from Uttarakhand’s Pithoragarh district, climbed mount Annapurna in Nepal on April 16.

Team leader Yogesh Garbiyal said, “We both Indian climbers, alone with Padhane Sherpa of Nepal, reached the summit at 2 pm on April 16 and unfurled the Indian flag there”.

According to Garbiyal, the expedition was sponsored by the NGO called ‘Climbers Beyond Summits’ based in Dharchula town of Pithoragarh district.

Sheetal Raj said she attributes her success to Yogesh and her parents. “I have started a mission to strengthen the confidence of hill women in themselves. If they decide, nothing can stop them from reaching the top. I will continue to encourage women of my state to work hard to fulfil their dreams,” Raj said.

“We both climbed mount Kanchenjunga in 2018. The expedition was financed by Hans Foundation,” said Yogesh, who is also the chairperson and founder of Climbers Beyond Summits which sponsored the current expedition.

Yogesh said this year a total of 29 mountaineers from various countries scaled mount Annapurna of which 14 mountaineers were women.

He said six members of the Maharashtra team that summited the peak also included a woman mountaineer.