Super summiters reach their peak and fly their school flag
The Bishop Cotton School, Shimla, 2023 Expedition team successfully summited Mentok Kangri 6270m on Sunday 4th August 2023 at 11.12am.
After months of training and anticipation for the climb, the Expedition Leader Amod Talwalkar, said; “It was the toughest climb amongst all my BCS school expeditions and we will be pleased to get back to school safely.”
BCS Director Simon Weale said “This is an outstanding achievement that demonstrates dedication, teamwork and bravery and compares with the illustrious climbing feats of previous Cottonians. These boys committed to this project by undertaking their basic mountaineering course in Manali and now they can put on their CVs that they have summited a 20000ft peak. As Kennedy once said ‘We choose to do these things..not because they are easy, but because they are hard’. Congratulations to all involved.“
Names of the Summiters
1.Amod Talwalkar Expedition Leader, BCS Teacher
2.Krish Garg
3.Manan Rawat
4.Kabeer Sood
5.Daksh Singhmar
6.Drishtpreet Singh Grover
Team members
1.Shubham Lama
2.Brijesh Nagpal
3.Rayirth Makkar
In total five boys reached the summit with their Expedition Leader Mr Amod Talwalkar, although sadly two boys had to be left behind due to the strong pull of the mountain’s altitude which was too much even for these super fit boys, who had trained for months. They were unable to join their fellow Cottonians for the final peak.
The seven senior boys and two teachers aged between 17 and 18 years old, took three days to acclimatize to the altitude levels trekking around Leh in Ladakh, walking at height during the day and sleeping low in the base camps at night.
On the morning of the trek, setting off at 0315hrs, the group made steady progress with torches across the challenging rocky and snowy terrain despite the rarefied air. The five resilient Cottonians and their teacher reached the top of the mountain triumphantly at 11.12am on Sunday 4 August 2023. They had walked for a gruelling 15 plus hours, not making it back to camp until nearly 6pm.
Part of the training was ensuring that everybody did everything in slow motion – walking slowly, chewing food slowly, sipping and swallowing water slowly and helping each other, as a team, combat the effects of fatigue induced at that elevation.
Congratulations to the whole team from the BCS community and especially to our hardworking staff who joined the team including Mr Shubham Lama who trained alongside the boys bringing them to fitness.
