Mount Everest. A file picture

Gangtok, May 22: For the first time, in an independent expedition, a 10-member team from the Sonam Gyatso Mountaineering Institute (SGMI), scaled Mount Everest this morning.

The expedition ended successfully when the mountaineers summitted the 8,848 metre peak from the south ridge on the Nepal side between 5.30am and 7.55am.

The past treks the members of the 43-year-old Gangtok-based institute had undertaken to the Mount Everest were part of the expeditions organised by other teams.

The scaling of the Everest was confirmed by Ang Tshering Sherpa, the president of the Nepal Mountaineering Association which monitors every trek to the peak.

D.D. Bhutia was the first to reach the top at 5. 30 followed by Kunzang Gyatso Bhutia 10 minutes later. Both the Bhutias are instructors at the SGMI.

The team that had begun their ascent in the first week of April had originally planned to scale the peak from the more treacherous northern ridge on the Tibetan plateau. However, the plan had to be dropped after China imposed restrictions for the easy movement of Olympic torch.

The first major obstacle the team had met with was the Khumbu Icefall which tests the technical skills of climbers. They had to negotiate an ice maze using ladders, fixed ropes and ice axes. For this, a climber has to possess extensive mountaineering skills and technical knowledge with experience in handling climbing gear on his own. The trek requires a mountaineer to be able to walk in high altitudes without rope.

The team also included an inspector general of police from Jammu and Kashmir and two women. They began their descent and were expected to reach the first high altitude base camp (8,000 metres) this evening.