The 1965 Indian Everest Expedition reached the summit of Mount Everest on 20 May 1965. It was the first successful scaling of the mountain by an Indian climbing expedition. [1]
After the first conquest of Mount Everest in 1953 by the New Zealander Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay, Indian military forces made several attempts to conquer the summit. The first expedition by the Indian Army, which was led by Brigadier Gyan Singh in 1960, failed. Climbers Colonel Narendra Kumar, Sonam Gyatso, and Sherpa Nawang Gombu reached 28,300 feet (8,600 m), just 700 feet (210 m) from the summit, but had to turn back due to extremely bad weather. [2] The second expedition by the Indian Army, led by Major John Diaz in 1962, also failed. Captain Mohan Singh Kohli, Sonam Gyatso, and Hari Dang got to almost 400 feet (120 m) below the summit at 28,600 feet (8,700 m), but also had to give up due to bad weather. [3] Mohan Singh Kohli was a member of both these expeditions.
In 1965, the third Indian expedition, which was led by Mohan Singh Kohli and his deputy Colonel Narendra "Bull" Kumar, included 21 core members of the expedition, and around 50 climbing sherpas. The mission was sponsored by the Indian Mountaineering foundation. The team started their journey from New Delhi on 21 February and reached on Jaynagar railway station in Bihar, the Indo-Nepal border on 24 February. They arranged for 25 tons of materials for the mission from various cities of India, including food, cloths, sleeping tents, oxygen cylinders and mountaineering equipment. All materials were carried from Jaynagar railway station to base camp by 800 porters including women. The initial attempt was at the end of April and due to bad weather they came back to base camp and wait two weeks for better weather. Towards the end of May, expedition members scaled Mount Everest in four successive attempts, putting nine climbers on to the summit and so setting a world record which was unbroken until the 1978 German-French Expedition 13 years later. [4] (p477)
India became the fourth country to scale Mount Everest. On 20 May 1965, Lt Col Avatar. S. Cheema and Nawang Gombu Sherpa reached the summit of Mount Everest, becoming the first Indians to do so. This was the second time that Nawang Gombu Sherpa had climbed Mount Everest. The first was with an American expedition in 1963. He became the first person to climb the mountain twice. [4] (p393)
Two days later, on 22 May, Sonam Gyatso and Sonam Wangyal reached the summit and C. P. Vohra, Ang Kami Sherpa reached it on 24 May. [4] (p393)
On 29 May, 12 years to the day from the first ascent of Mount Everest, Major H. P. S. Ahluwalia, H. C. S. Rawat, Phu Dorjee Sherpa reached the summit. This was the first time three climbers had stood on the summit together. [5] [6]
In all, eleven people were scheduled to climb the mountain in five attempts, but Captain HV Bahuguna and Major BP Singh were forced to retreat due to physical difficulties. [7] (p191 & 195)
Mohan Singh Kohli is best known as leader of the Indian Everest Expedition 1965. The achievement electrified the nation; people danced in the streets. Nine climbers reached the summit, creating a world record that India held for 13 years. On return of the team from Nepal to India, acting Prime Minister Gulzarilal Nanda headed the reception at the airport (Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri was abroad). [7] (p214) [8]
The entire team were given an Arjuna Award. [9] Three members, including the team leader, were awarded the Padma Bhushan and the leader and eight team members were given the Padma Shree. [10] [11]
Indira Gandhi paid tribute saying: “The record of Commander Kohli's expedition will find special mention in history. It was a masterpiece of planning, organisation, teamwork, individual effort and leadership”. [7] (pviii, Indira Gandhi's Foreword) She described the 1965 success as one of India's six major achievements after independence. [8]
A full-length film on the expedition with music by Shankar Jaikishan was released all over India and abroad. [12] The story of the achievement was serialized in several national newspapers and magazines. Mohan Singh Kohli and other members of the team were felicitated at Brussels, Paris, Geneva and Rome. Tenzing Norgay accompanied Captain Kohli to several countries. In India, Chief Ministers of almost all the states invited the team to their capitals and honoured them at state and civic receptions. [8]
About 50 Sherpas participated in the mission. Many of them had previously participated in other Everest missions. One of the sherpas, Phu Dorjee Sherpa, reached the summit. [4] (p393)
Tenzing Norgay, born Namgyal Wangdi, and also referred to as Sherpa Tenzing, was a Nepalese-Indian Sherpa mountaineer. On 29 May 1953, he and Edmund Hillary were the first confirmed to have reached the summit of Mount Everest, as part of the 1953 British Mount Everest expedition. Time named Norgay one of the 100 most influential people of the 20th century.
Mount Everest is the world's highest mountain, with a peak at 8,849 metres (29,031.7 ft) above sea level. It is situated in the Himalayan range of Solukhumbu district, Nepal.
Nawang Gombu was a Sherpa mountaineer who was the first man in the world to have climbed Mount Everest twice.
Major Hari Pal Singh Ahluwalia was an Indian mountaineer, author, social worker and Indian Ordnance Factories Service (IOFS) officer. During his career he made contributions in the fields of adventure, sports, environment, disability and social work. He is one of six Indian men and the twenty first man in the world to climb Mount Everest. On 29 May 1965, 12 years to the day from the first ascent of Mount Everest, he made the summit with the fourth and final successful attempt of the 1965 Indian Everest Expedition along with H. C. S. Rawat and Phu Dorjee Sherpa. This was the first time three climbers stood on the summit together.
Captain Mohan Singh Kohli, is an Indian Navy officer and mountaineer, who led the 1965 Indian Everest Expedition, which saw nine men reach the summit of Everest, a world record for 17 years.
Nawang Sherpa became the first person to climb Mount Everest with a prosthetic leg by reaching the summit on May 16, 2004. He is also the first amputee to reach the summit of Mount Everest on his first attempt, and the first disabled person from Asia to stand on the summit.
Lopsang Tshering Bhutia was an Indian Sherpa mountaineer who died on Mount Everest and the nephew of Tenzing Norgay. His death made international headlines because he died on the 40th anniversary expedition of his uncle's summiting. His uncle, Tenzing Norgay, had died at home of natural causes in 1986 at the age of 72. Tenzing Norgay was the first person to summit Mount Everest in 1953 along with Sir Edmund Hillary.
Harish Chandra Singh Rawat was a mountaineer who climbed the Mt. Everest in 1965. He was one of the 9 summiters of the first successful Indian Everest Expeditions that climbed Mount Everest in May 1965 led by Captain M S Kohli. He is the 7th Indian man and 22nd man in world that climbed Mount Everest. On 24 May 1965 Vohra and Ang Kami Sherpa together reached the top of Mount Everest. On 29 May, 12 years to the day from the first ascent of Mount Everest the fourth and last summit team with Major H. P. S. Ahluwalia and Phu Dorjee Sherpa, Rawat reached on the summit. This was the first time three climbers stood on the summit together.
Avtar Singh Cheema (1933–1989) was the first Indian born man and the 16th person in world to climb Mount Everest. Along with 8 others he was a part of the third mission undertaken by the Indian Army, in 1965, to climb Mount Everest after two failed attempts. The Indian Everest Expedition 1965 put 9 mountaineers on the summit on 20 May, a record which was unbroken until the 1978 German-French Expedition 13 years later., and was led by Captain M S Kohli. Cheema's fellow summiters were Nawang Gombu, Sonam Gyatso, Sonam Wangyal, Chandra Prakash Vohra, Ang Kami, H. P. S. Ahluwalia, Harish Chandra Singh Rawat and Phu Dorjee. He was a captain in the 7th Battalion, The Parachute regiment at that time. Later he was promoted to colonel and commanded his battalion. He is also founder of Guru Harkrishan Public School in Sri Ganganagar District, Rajasthan.
Ang Dorje (Chhuldim) Sherpa is a Nepalese Sherpa mountaineering guide, climber, and porter from Pangboche, Nepal, who has reached the summit of Mount Everest 23 times. He was the climbing Sirdar for Rob Hall's Adventure Consultants expedition to Everest in spring 1996, when a freak storm led to the deaths of eight climbers from several expeditions, considered one of the worst disasters in the history of Everest mountaineering.
Sonam Wangyal is a former Indian paramilitary personnel and mountaineer who climbed Mount Everest in 1965 at the age 23, making him the youngest summiter. He was one of the nine summiters of the first successful Indian Everest Expeditions that climbed Mount Everest in May 1965 led by Captain M S Kohli. He is the 3rd Indian man, and 18th man in world, to have climbed Mount Everest. On 22 May 1965, the first time that the oldest and the youngest climbed Everest together.
Phu Dorjee was a Sherpa and the first Indian to summit Mount Everest without supplemental oxygen. He did so on 5 May 1984 on a solo ascent from the South East Ridge. Dorjee died in 1987 on the Kanchanjunga Expedition of the Assam Rifles.
Sonam Gyatso (1923–1968) was an Indian mountaineer. He was the 2nd Indian man, the 17th man in world and first person from Sikkim to summit Mount Everest, the highest peak in the world. He was one of the nine summiters of the first successful Indian Everest Expeditions that climbed Mount Everest in May 1965 led by Captain M S Kohli. The first time that the oldest man at the time, Sonam Gyatso at age 42, and the youngest man Sonam Wangyal at age 23, climbed Everest together on 22 May 1965. He became the oldest person to scale the peak in 1965 and when he spent 50 minutes at the peak, he set a world record for spending the longest time at the highest point on Earth. The Government of India awarded him the third highest honour of the Padma Bhushan, in 1965, for his contributions to the sport of mountaineering.
Phu Dorjee Sherpa (1928-1969) was the first Nepali man and 23rd person in the world to climb Mount Everest.
Sonam Gyatso Mountaineering Institute (SGMI) is a paramilitary mountaineering school, located in Gangtok, India.
Sherpa is a surname originating from the Himalayan region. The name derives from the Sherpa language words ཤར shar ("east") and པ pa ("people"), which refer to the geographical origin of the Sherpa people in eastern Tibet.