Arjuna awardee summits Mt Lenin

KOLKATA: Debashis Biswas, Everest summiteer and an Arjuna awardee from Kolkata, has summitted Mount Lenin (23,406 ft), the highest peak in the trans-Alay range in the Pamir Mountain System.

It is located on the border of Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan.

While five climbers had set off for the peak, four had to abandon the climb due to heath issues.

"On Saturday morning, I got a call from Abhijit (Roy) from Camp I. He confirmed Biswas's ascent on Friday afternoon but we don't know the exact time," said Sourav Sinchan Mondal, a member of the team, who had to come back after he experienced health issues during the climb.

Another climber, who had to abandon the mission was Kiran Patra, who fell ill and ran a high temperature. Even medicines did not work. Fellow climber Abhijit Roy decided not to leave Patra alone and he stayed back at Camp III. It was decided that climbers Malay Mukherjee and Debashis would go for the summit, but Malay injured his leg and had to stop midway. He was unable to walk and asked Debashis to go ahead alone.

As Biswas went for the summit, Mukherjee left and joined Patra and Roy while coming down, reaching Camp I late at night. Biswas was likely to come down to Camp I on Saturday and reach the base camp by Sunday.

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