The north face of Mt Everest

Jaigaon, May 21: The Bengali honour is about to reach the top of the world.

A year after achieving the feat of being the first person from Bhutan to summit Mt Everest, Karma Gyeltshen has set loftier goals for himself.

The 28-year-old climber now wants to repeat his feat next year and that too, not alone. He wants three persons, including a woman, to be on his team and is determined that all three of them have to be Bengalis.

If he is successful, it will be a history of sorts since no Bengali civilian has summitted the Everest. ?Bengalis are among the most enthusiastic mountaineers in India and they have created impressive records in summitting difficult peaks,? said Gyeltshen from his home in Phuentsholing, just across the border.

?It has become a matter of personal concern that no Bengali has yet made it to the Everest, despite several attempts and spending a lot of money in training,? he said.

Gyeltshen assured that to summit the peak, the climbers need not go anywhere else for training. ?They need not look any further, I will personally train them in the Kanchenjungha range in Sikkim,? he said.

He has apparently planned a 50-day training camp at several locations in Sikkim after which the mountaineers will have to go through an acclimatisation process of 15 to 20 days, before setting off for the expedition in April-June next year. ?The candidates should be above 18 years. I will choose a group of 15 from whom the final three will be shortlisted,? Gyeltshen said, adding that those wanting to join him can mail him at mt_everestkgpt@hotmail.com.

He said these expeditions are usually with variable expense components. The mountaineers can go for the more expensive option (Rs 22 lakh) where they can use highly sophisticated equipment.They can also opt for the less expensive trek, which will cost around Rs 17 to Rs 15 lakh.

Karma wants the journey to be flagged off by chief minister, Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee. ?After all it was the then chief minister, Bidhan Chandra Roy, who inaugurated the Himalayan Mountaineering Institute in Darjeeling in 1954. I want to be part of the state?s climbing history by putting the first person from the community on top of the Everest,? he added.

The young climber is eager to meet both Bhattacharjee and sports minister Subhas Chakrabarty as soon as possible. ?I have been planning the budget for the Bengal-Bhutan expedition since the past year. If sponsors respond, I can start the training camp from the very next day,? an enthusiastic Gyeltshen said. ?I am relying heavily on the media to publicise the effort.?

Today, a full year after his feat, Karma?s father Sonam Dorjee and mother L. Choden still remembered the anxiety they felt when Karma attempted the death-defying feat.