Four-Member Mountaineering Team Sets Off to Scale Mount Kanamo
A team of four mountaineers departed on August 7 to scale the 5,974-metre (19,450-foot) Mount Kanamo in Himachal Pradesh, aiming to hoist the Tricolour atop the peak on August 15 for India’s 79th Independence Day. Dedicated to the golden jubilee year of the Lok Biradari Ashram School, the high-altitude expedition was officially flagged off at Hemalkasa by Padma Shri Dr Prakash Amte and Dr Mandakini Amte.
The team consists of climbers Vaibhav Aiwale, Balkrishna Jadhav, Amit Chavan, and Karan Yadav. During the climb, the team will face sub-zero temperatures, low oxygen levels, strong winds, snowfall, moraines, and difficult high-altitude weather conditions. Dr Prakash Amte and Dr Mandakini Amte congratulated the group and praised their efforts before their departure.
According to the team, the expedition carries the central message of “Climb for India, Live for Humanity” as a tribute to the ongoing humanitarian work of the Lok Biradari project. Promoting patriotism, adventure, social responsibility, and community service among youngsters stands as one of the key objectives of the trek.
Prior to embarking on their journey, the mountaineers spent time interacting with students at the Lok Biradari Ashram School. They discussed the technical and physical challenges involved in high-altitude climbing, sharing insights from their past expeditions and encouraging the students to pursue their goals through perseverance, self-confidence, determination, and adventure.
The team brings extensive high-altitude experience to Mount Kanamo. During the Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav celebrations, members hoisted a garland of 75 Tricolours across Mount Yunam (6,111 metres), Mount Jo Jango (6,250 metres), and Kang Yatse (6,240 metres), an achievement recorded in the India Book of Records. Last Independence Day, the team successfully scaled UT Kangri (6,070 metres) and Mount Shinkun East (6,081 metres).
Individually, Aiwale has scaled Mount Kilimanjaro (5,895 metres) in Africa and Mount Elbrus (5,642 metres) in Europe, hoisting garlands of 72 and 73 flags respectively. As an organ donor, Aiwale is using the expedition to stress the need for organ donation awareness campaigns across different sections of society. Meanwhile, Jadhav noted that the expedition will also pay tribute to mountaineers who lost their lives in an avalanche on Broad Peak earlier this year.
