A team of mountaineers from across the country climbed 7075 meters high Mount Satopanth in the Garhwal Himalayas, which is also the highest peak in the Gangotri National Park in Uttarakhand. This feat was completed on 26 August.
The Satopanth expedition is known as the East Everest expedition, as many climbers climb this peak in preparation for climbing Everest.
The team also includes Akshay Deshpande, a young mountaineer from Belagavi, Karnataka. His achievement was a proud moment for Belagavi.
Akshay Deshpande, a computer science engineer, is a handicrafts promoter and Khadi campaigner. He is an avid lover of adventure sports and has received formal training in rock climbing/adventure sports and mountaineering. Akshay Deshpande achieved success in his second attempt this year. He made an unsuccessful attempt to climb in May this year. He said the first attempt was unsuccessful due to lack of oxygen in his body.
Akshay Deshpande has plans to climb Mount Everest in the coming months. He also plans to climb six more summits, which will make him the ‘seven peaks’.
The members of his team were Navdeep Sood, Akshay Deshpande, Rohit Patil, Satyabrata Das, Sachin Kumar.