Ludhiana boy set to hit the top next year

LUDHIANA: It''s a mountainous feat.
Especially for someone who saw mountains only in films, magazines and dreams, but never thought of scaling them. Gurpreet Singh, a BA (final) student of the local Arya College for Boys, has become the first NCC cadet from the region to climb the Mount Everest as part of an NCC expedition in 2005.
This is the first such expedition undertaken by the NCC.NCC director general has confirmed his selection, said Sq Ldr P P Singh, commanding officer, 4 Punjab Air Sq, NCC, who holds the credit for training Gurpreet for this distinction.
"I knew nothing about mountaineering till I attended a basic training course in Uttarkashi about two years ago," said Gurpreet, grandson of an ex-serviceman and son of a Punjab Agricultural University employee.
This six-feet-tall sturdy cadet, who wants to join defence forces, would be attending an advance course before setting out for the prestigious expedition.
Beaming with confidence, he said, "I will definitely succeed."
In fact, he was selected for this expedition after he successfully climbed 6,512-metre-high Bhagirathi II peak in July as part of an all India NCC expedition.
Of the two cadets from his directorate, he alone could make it to the top.
Sq Ldr Singh said that Gurpreet was interested in flying and aero-modelling, but adventurous activities of the NCC cadets shown in films at the unit stirred his interest in mountaineering. Before leaving for the Bhagirathi expedition, he promised to come back as a winner, and he has kept his word, said Singh.