NEW DELHI, June 20:
An Air Force mountaineering team today set off to climb three newly opened peaks in Ladakh region with an aim to propose that they be named after three IAF heroes – its only Param Vir Chakra awardee, first Indian chief and sole five star rank officer.
“This team would attempt to conquer the unexplored and unclimbed peaks in the Ladakh region. After their successful summit IAF shall propose naming these peaks as Nirmaljit Peak, Arjan Peak and Subroto Peak,” IAF officials said here today.
The peaks will be named after one and only Param Vir Chakra (PVC) awardee in the IAF Flying Officer Nirmaljit Singh Sekhon, the first Indian to command the force Air Marshal Subroto Mukerjee and Marshal of the IAF Arjan Singh, the one and only officer in the force to hold a five star rank.
These unnamed peaks were recently declared open by the Indian Mountaineering Foundation (IMF).
“The purpose of climbing these peaks is to promote mountaineering among its personnel and motivate the youth of the country to join IAF”, they added.
The mountaineering team will also be the first to establish a route to the top of these peaks, situated at a tough and inhospitable terrain. The team will be led by Wing Commander Namit Rawat.
In last couple of years, IAF mountaineers have scaled some of the toughest mountain in the world, including Mount Everest-the higest peak in the world.
Last year a team of women mountaineers also successfully scaled the top most peak. (PTI)