Indian Climbers Conquer Virgin Gupt Parvat in Pir Panjal Range

The mountain derives its name from its virtual invisibility on account of a unique geographical position amid other peaks of the Himalayan range rendering it nearly impossible to even photograph, experts said.

The expedition, conducted by Sonarpur Arohi 'a climbers' club at Sonarpur in Kolkata's southern outskirts, and led by mountaineer Rudra Prasad Halder - reached the Gupt Parvat summit at around 8.45 am following a nearly eight-hour summit push, members of the supporting team confirmed.

While the team comprised ace climber Satyarup Siddhanta, the Guinness Record holder for becoming the youngest mountaineer in the world and the first from India to climb both the Seven Summits in each of the continents and Seven Volcanic Summits, as its deputy leader, it also included a female member, Diposree Paul.

The team started from Kolkata on June 3 with a dual goal to summit Mt Shikar Beh (6,200 meters) and Gupt Parvat but had to abandon hopes of summiting the former in the wake of an avalanche that came crashing down after the climbers had managed to open a route to the top destroying vital climbing equipment, it was learned.

Undaunted, the team then focused on scaling Gupt Parvat.

"The team set up the summit camp at 5,285 meters and had plans of reaching the summit through the mountain's west wall. However, owing to incessant snowfall for the last three days, the climbers were waiting for a summit window and finally planned their summit push to start at 1 am on June 25," said Dipanjan Das, a member of the expedition support team.

Till reports were last received, the climbers had successfully descended to summit camp and were planning to further head down to camp one.

"No doubt I am happy about their achievement today. But more than that, I am hugely relieved that all team members are safe despite the odds they kept facing on those upper reaches. These climbers move heaven and earth to collect the money needed for such expeditions and it's their passion for the mountains that keep them going," said Gayotri Siddhanta, the septuagenarian mother of Satyarup.

The achievements of the Sonarpur Arohi club members include the scaling of Mt Everest from both its north and south faces, climbing Mt Kanchenjunga, Ganga Sagar in east India to the Rann of Kutch in the west coastal line trek, a trans-Himalayan cycling expedition and a cycling expedition to the top of Mt Kilimanjaro in Africa, the club website proclaimed.