NCC expedition team summits Mt Everest, unfurls tricolour

An expedition team of the National Cadet Corps (NCC), with climbers having an average age of 19 years, summited Mt Everest on Sunday and successfully unfurled the tricolour there.

Ten NCC cadets -- five boy cadets, five girl cadets -- four officers, two junior commissioned officers, a girl cadet instructor and 10 non-commissioned officers achieved the feat of scaling the world's highest peak in the early hours on Sunday, the defence ministry said.

"Historic moment... Mt Everest Expedition Team of NCC summited Mt Everest today at 0445 hours. Summit photos awaited," the NCC posted on X.

The expedition was flagged off by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh from New Delhi on April 3. This is the third ascent of Mt Everest by the NCC, following previous expeditions in 2013 and 2016, the ministry said.

Mt Everest at an elevation of 8,848m was first conquered by New Zealand's Edmund Hillary and his sherpa guide Tenzing Norgay in 1953, and has since fascinated climbers and mountaineers to scale the famed peak in the mighty Himalayas.

On January 3, the director general of the NCC, during an annual press conference here, announced an NCC expedition to Mt Everest in 2025 and that a team was preparing for it at the Siachen Battle School.

"The selected cadets were novices, chosen from across the country. They underwent a strict selection and training process. As part of their preparation, they conducted a pre-Everest expedition at Mt Abi Gamin," the ministry said in a statement.

The final team of 15 cadets was then selected to undergo winter and technical training at the Army Mountaineering Institute, Siachen Base Camp. "After months of training, ten cadets were selected for the Mt Everest expedition," it said.

The team, comprising young climbers with an average age of 19 years, became the centre of attraction and were noted for their fitness and discipline during acclimatisation training at various stages of the ascent, the ministry said.

Sherpas of Nepal have praised the NCC team for their physical readiness and morale, it said.

"Despite facing challenging weather and terrain, the cadets successfully unfurled the tricolour and the NCC flag atop the world's highest peak, representing national pride and youth power," the statement said.

PTI