Giripremi's women mountaineers team scales Mt Gangotri 1

In yet another successful expedition by Pune-based mountaineering and adventure club Giripremi, two women, Purva Shinde Singh and Sneha Talvatkar, successfully climbed one of the challenging peaks -- Gangotri 1 in the Garhwal Himalayas and unfurled the Indian tricolour.

The Gangotri group in the Garhwal Himalayas includes Gangotri 1, 2 and 3 peaks. Gangotri 1 is the highest of them and is considered to be one of the most difficult peaks for climbing. Giripremi's team had set out for the expedition on September 4. The expedition lasted for 25 days in a row, where the team overcame tough challenges -- and they scaled the 6,671-metre peak on September 29.

The team was mentored by Shivchhatrapati Award-winning Giripremi senior mountaineer Umesh Zirpe.

The team consisted of Sneha Talvatkar, Ritu Chawla, Dr Sunita Kolke and Hemang Tanna, led by Purva Shinde Singh. They are all part of the Gurukul concept of the Giripremi.

A total of 15 women mountaineers were trained.

"Many women mountaineers from Maharashtra joined Giripremi's Gurukul programme and underwent physical and mental fitness training for two years under the guidance of senior rock climber Samiran Kolhe. This two-year-long dedication led to the success of Kangyatse I&II and Gangotri I,” Zirpe said.

After the successful peak expeditions of the women mountaineers team to Kangyatse 1 and 2 in the Leh-Ladakh region in July-August, this second women's team also scaled another challenging mountain - Gangotri I.

During the Gangotri expedition, the team had to set up three more camps from the base camp to the summit. The weather was very unfavourable due to continuous snowfall and strong winds.

Due to this, the team was slowing down and had to start again with double the strength.

Despite this situation, the team made three attempts to reach the final peak from the last summit camp, and in the third attempt, these two women managed to reach the summit with great perseverance and determination.

Despite the bad weather -- high up at 6000 m -- the physical and mental preparation over the past year kept the team afloat with the same perseverance even though it was difficult to stay on top and go higher.

Check out latest videos from DH: