A 12-member team representing six adventure clubs of north Bengal will scale a Himalayan peak in a joint mountain expedition planned by adventure clubs for the first time in this region.
“We will start for the expedition on July 1. This is the first time that adventure clubs have come together for a mountain expedition and we hope we will be able to make it to the summit of Mt Pologongka,” said Bhaskar Das, an experienced mountaineer of the Nature & Trekkers’ Club of Jalpaiguri.
Das, who will head the team, said that along with his club, five others — the Rovers & Mountaineers Club, Alipurduar, the Cooch Behar Mountaineers’ Club, the Odlabari Nature & Adventure Society, the Mainaguri Environment & Adventure Club and the North Bengal Explorers’ Club, Siliguri — will also join the expedition.
Das apart, team members are Jayanta Sarkar, Sujoy Banik, Tridib Sarkar, Swarup Khan, Hirak Brahma, Piyali Biswas, Amol Thakur, Sayan Ghosh, Partha Pratim Dey and Sushmita Sarkar. “Additionally, two guides and two kitchen staff will join us in Ladakh,” said Das.
The team will leave Siliguri on July 1 and reach Manali in Himachal Pradesh via Delhi. From there, they will move along the Darcha and Tso Kar Lake route in Ladakh to reach the base camp.
“The team will reach the base camp, which is at a height of 16,000 feet, on July 7. In due course, two more camps would be set up in higher altitudes, and attempts to reach the summit will be made on July 12 or 13. If everything goes according to plan, the team will reach Siliguri on July 19,” said one of the organisers.
Located at a height of 6,390 metres or 20,960 feet, Mt Pologongka is one of the challenging Himalayan peaks in the Ladakh area.
In August 1997, a four-member team first made it to the summit.
Das said that in north Bengal, there was no dearth of talent among youths, especially in adventure sports.
“But they lack opportunities. Also, rising costs make it tough for any adventure club to organise mountain expeditions on its own. That is why this joint expedition has been planned,” he said.
