The Himalayan Mountaineering Institute at Darjeeling. (Suman Tamang)

Darjeeling, May 19: The Himalayan Mountaineering Institute’s expedition team could finally overcome all challenges posed by Mt Makalu, the fifth highest in the world, to be the first Indian team to summit the peak.

The Rs 1.19 crore expedition to Mt Makalu, considered more challenging than Mt Everest, has not been easy. After nine hours of back-breaking trek through one of the most difficult inclines of the world under pitch darkness and freezing temperature, a five-member team scaled the peak.

An earlier attempt by seven climbers of the HMI to hit the highest point at 27,977ft had been thwarted by the vagaries of nature. “We’ve made it this time,” Col Neeraj Rana, the leader of the expedition and the principal of the Darjeeling HMI, told The Telegraph over his satellite phone from the advance base camp at 18,700ft.

“The team had left a camp situated at 24,278ft around 9pm last night. After trekking throughout the night, the team managed to summit the peak at 6.45 this morning,” said Col Rana.

After a spell of bad weather the weather gods did help the determined team at last. “We’ve got clear blue skies and sunny weather,” he said.

Apart from Kusang Sherpa, the first man to climb the Everest five times, other members who reached the top included Powell Sharma, Neel Chand, Rajendra Singh and Raj Pal.

On May 11, Col Rana along with six other members had tried to scale the peak but unfavourable weather had their tents blown apart and the team was forced to retreat.

Last night, the five climbers made one last attempt to conquer one of the most difficult peaks and became successful.

The Darjeeling team has also made it a habit to set new records. “The team has created a world record by sending the most number of people at the peak at one point of time. Apart from the five team members, we also had additional five Sherpas atop Mt Makalu,” said Col Rana.

During the expedition, Col Rana had set a world record to paraglide from the highest point in Mt Makalu when he took 17 minutes to come down to advance base camp from Camp II which is situated at 22,473ft.

In 1954, an American team led by William Siri had first attempted to scale the peak. Around the same time, another New Zealand team which included Sir Edmund Hillary, the first man to climb Mt Everest, had also tried to climb the peak but in vain. It was only in May 1, 1955 that a French expedition led by Jean Franco could send Lionel Terray and Jean Couzy to the top for the first time.