Mt Everest: 7 women army officers to attempt through South Col

Seven women officers of the army will attempt to scale Mount Everest through the more difficult South Col route.

"The team has gone through a year-long rigorous training procedure to prepare both mentally and physically to withstand the harsh terrain of South Col route which is considered more difficult than the North Col one," an army official told PTI here.

The team comprises an officer each from Army Medical Corps (AMC), Corps of Signal, two mountaineers from Engineers and three Ordnance officers, they said.

The expedition will be flagged off Deputy Army Chief Lt Gen Ramesh Halgali and will be led by Colonel Ajay Kothiyal.

The North Col route to Mount Everest is considered comparatively safe and easier than the South Col which is exposed to heavy winds, crevasses and steeper mountain slopes, the officials said.

The team members are Major N Liniu from AMC, Major Neha Bhatnagar and Major Namrata Rathore from Engineers, Captain Poonam Sangwan and Captain Prachi R Gole and Captain Deepika Rathore from Ordnance and Captain Smitha from Signals.

The team will leave for Nepal on March 22 from where they will trek for 17 days to reach the base camp in mid-April.

After 20 days of acclimatisation process and further training to deal with the snow clad mountains, the summit to the highest peak will be attempted between 10-20 May, the officials said.

Last year in April, an all-women team of Indian Air Force consisting of 11 members, had scaled the Mount Everest through the South ridge side which was used by Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay in the first successful expedition to the world's highest mountain peak in 1953.