Nagpur: The first Indian woman to conquer the world's highest summit Mount Everest, Bachendri Pal will lead a 10-member team of women aged above 50 in a five-month-long expedition crossing 40 mountain ranges and covering a distance of 4,500 km from Arunachal Pradesh to Ladakh. The expedition is scheduled to begin in March 2022.
A meeting for 'FIT@50+ Women's Trans Himalayan Expedition' was recently held at Gyan Bharti Skill Development Centre in Selu taluka of Wardha district. Organised by the Tata Steel Adventure Foundation in collaboration with Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports under the FIT India banner and has financial support from Tata Motors and Tata Sports Club.
Team members participating in the expedition
Bachendri Pal, Leader (67 years, Jamshedpur), Chetna Sahoo (54, Kolkata), Savita Dhapwal (52, Bhilai), Shamala Padmanabhan (64, Mysuru), Gangotri Soneji (62, Baroda), Chaula Jagirdar (63, Palanpur), Payo Murmu (53, Jamshedpur), Dr Sushma Bissa (55, Bikaner), Major Krishna Dubey (59, Lucknow), and Bimbla Deoskar (55, Nagpur)
The expedition will commence from the misty mountains of Arunachal Pradesh at Bomdila, passing through 40 mountain passes including the 17,320 feet Lamkhaga Pass, considered one of the toughest and is slated to conclude in the Karakoram range of Jammu and Kashmir.
Wardha District Collector Prerna Deshbhratar interacted with the team members participating in the campaign and recalled her memories of NCC and adventure activities during her school and college days. The district collector said, "Your generation is an inspiration not only for people like me but also for today's youth."
Earlier, the expedition was scheduled for March 2021 but due to Corona restrictions, the campaign got postponed. Now once again the adventure activity has begun, discussions and brainstorming sessions are being done to all the participants to make them ready for the obstacles and challenges they will be facing during the expedition.
