The military reported on Monday that two Indian mountaineers achieved a historic feat by paragliding directly to a road in Ladakh, combining a high-altitude ascent with an innovative aerial descent.
Colonel Hem Chandra Singh, head of the Jawaharlal Institute of Mountaineering and Winter Sports (JIM & WS), and mountaineer Manish Makhoya launched their paragliders from the summit of Delta-41, also known as Mount Barmal, in the Tangol Kargil region. They safely landed at a camp on the road in the village of Tangol, located at an altitude of approximately 3600 meters, according to an army representative.
After acclimatization, the JIM & WS expedition, comprising 13 people and led by Colonel Singh, established a base camp and split into two groups due to adverse weather conditions and limited time. One group reached a peak of 5921 meters in sub-zero temperatures on Independence Day. The second team reached the summit at 6:10 AM on August 16, having set out at 3 AM, specified the army representative.
The team included Colonel Hem Chandra Singh (group leader), Captain Anupam Singh (medical officer), Mafuz Ilahi Hajam (group manager), Honorary Captain/Sergeant Rafiq Ahmad Malik (retired), Manish Makhoya, and nine other individuals from various parts of the country.
Officials emphasized that this is the first in the history of Indian adventure sports descent from a peak directly to the base, calling the achievement 'unprecedented'.