1st North East India Top of the World Mount Everest Expedition, 2013 flagged off

IMPHAL, February 25: The 1st North East India Top of the World Mount Everest Expedition, 2013 was flagged off by Gurbachand Jagat, Governor of Manipur at the historic place of Kangla Uttra Mamang today.

Speaking at the function Gurbachand Jagat, Governor of Manipur said the participants for the expedition are the best candidates for this discipline.  "People of the North East are known for their stamina and willpower and the terrain they live is generally mountainous but quite surprisingly, there are only very few people who join the mountaineering movement. One can still count on one's fingers the number of people from the north east who have conquered the Mt. Everest, the final aim of mountain climbing," the Governor said.

Recounting the history of the conquest of Mt. Everest  by Hillary and Tenzing on 29th May, 1953, the Governor said,  “I am told that in recent years during the climbing season, there is a traffic jam near the peak with a very large number of climbers attempting to reach the peak. Despite such large scale attempts, it still remains as one of the most challenging human endeavours.”

He continued that the path to Mt. Everest from the base camp onwards would be filled with many dangerous obstacles like altitude sickness, crevasses, unpredictable weather and wind, seracs, shifting blocks of ice, etc.

The expedition team consosts of 16 climbers, including seven from Manipur, two each from Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam and Sikkim and one from Meghalaya.

The flagging off ceremony was also attended by I Hemochandra, PHED minister; DS Poonia, Chief Secretary and Chief-de-Mission of the expedition; Md Nasir, Agriculture Minister and other officials.