Sikkimese climbs Everest minus oxygen

Gangtok: A mountaineer from Sikkim Kelsang Dorjee Bhutia (36) has successfully summited Mount Everest without oxygen on May 21.

He had reached the Everest base camp as part of army team on May 17 and camp 4 on May 19 but began the summit on May 20 due to bad weather, general secretary Sikkim Mountaineering Association Barap Namgyal Bhutia said on Friday. Kelsang had to spend the entire night and day of May 19 and May 20 at South Col also called ‘death zone’ due to the weather and began his climb at 8 pm on May 20.

He reached the top of Mt Everest on May 21 at 7.30 am. Kelsang became the seventh mountaineer from Sikkim to summit the world’s highest peak.

The state has the largest number of mountaineers to make it to Everest among the northeastern states, Bhutia said. “It is a great feat of ourage and dedication. This achievement will encourage many young aspiring mountaineers in the state to achieve higher goals. Adventure tourism in Sikkim will also be facilitated because of this achievement.”