Bahrain prince-led team conquers new altitude of Mount Everest
A 16-member Bahrain Royal Guard team led by Prince Mohammed Hamad Mohammed Al Khalifa on Tuesday became the first international team to conquer the new altitude of Mount Everest. "The Bahrain Royal Guard team successfully reached the peak of Mount Everest early Tuesday morning," The Himalayan Times quoted officials in Kathmandu as saying. Here are more details.
The team had arrived on March 15 to start expedition
"The team stood atop the peak between 5:30 am and 6:45 am local time," said Mingma Sherpa, Chairman at Seven Summit Treks which organized the royal expedition. "This is the first international team to conquer the new altitude of Mount Everest," said Mira Acharya, Director at the Department of Tourism. The Bahrain team had arrived in Kathmandu on March 15 for the Everest expedition.
Height of the world's highest peak was revised last year
Nepal and China in December last year jointly announced that the revised height of the world's highest peak was 8,848.86 meters, about 86 centimeters more than the previous measurement done by India in the year 1954.
Team members are now descending from the top
The Nepal government decided to measure the exact height of the mountain amid debates that there might have been a change in it due to various reasons, including the devastating earthquake of 2015. Climbing leader Tashi Lakpa Sherpa, who is the youngest person to climb Everest without oxygen support in 2013, said that the team members are now descending from the top.
Team has earlier successfully climbed Lobuche Peak, Mount Manaslu
"They are the first Bahrain nationals to stand atop Everest," Sherpa said. The team earlier successfully climbed Lobuche Peak (6,119 meters) and Mount Manaslu (8,156 meters) -- both in Nepal -- in October 2020. The Royal Guard of Bahrain is a unit of the Bahrain Defense Force. The Bahrain Everest team was formed by Sheikh Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa.
