Kanchenjunga, Nanda Devi and Shivling are some dangerous peaks, and immense prestige is attached to climbing these peaks June 18 saw three Indian women climb Mount Shivling for the first time

Time To Play YANA BEY THE romance and hype surrounding Mt Everest might have lent it a certain allure and made it the most well-known mountain for the public but, in hardcore mountaineering circles, it does not enjoy quite the same status as peaks like Kanchenjunga (8,586m), Nanda Devi (7,816m) and Shivling (6,545m) -to name a few in the Indian Himalayas. These are far more difficult and dangerous peaks, requiring technical climbing, and immense prestige attaches to ascents of these mountains.

On June 18, an expedition launched by the Indian Mountaineering Foundation -the governing body of climbing in India -accomplished a landmark ascent of Shivling in Garhwal, Uttarakhand. It marked the first ascent by Indian women.

The 12-member expedition saw a mixed team -comprising both men and women -putting six climbers on the summit. The summiteers included three women, Kavita Budathoki, Stanzin Youthok and Roopa Sahi as well as three men, Ram Singh Slathia, Rakesh Joshi and Amit Ranghar.

The ascent by the women marks the finest chapter in women's mountaineering in India since the glorious ascent of Nanda Devi 29 years ago. In 1981, Rekha Sharma, Harshwanti Bisht and Chandra Prabha Aitwal posted the first women's ascent of Nanda Devi.

The Nanda Devi massif consists of twin peaks -supposed to symbolise the breasts of goddess Nanda Devi -and the two peaks are Nanda Devi Main and Nanda Devi East. The 1981 expedition had climbed Nanda Devi Main.

However, though this is the higher of the two peaks, it is not as technically challenging as Nanda Devi East (7,434m).

Tenzing, who had climbed Nanda Devi East earlier in his career before Everest, famously remarked that it was the hardest climb of his life.

In the 29 years since the 1981 ascent, no other woman has summitted Nanda Devi and the Indian trio remains the only women in the world to have done the awesome climb.

In the intervening years, the craze to "do" Everest has seen India's top women mountaineers spending their best climbing years and resources chasing their Everest dreams with varying degrees of success. In fact, of the three Shivling summiteers, Budathoki climbed Everest last year. Predictably, the other two will now set their sights with renewed vigour on Everest -unmindful of the fact that the Shivling ascent will remain their finest hour.

All three climbers are hillwomen -while Budathoki is an Uttarakhandi and Sahi a Nepali domiciled in Uttarakhand, Youthok is a Ladakhi.

Shivling is a demanding peak because of its conical build. Where other peaks have spurs that rise gently from the plain to the body of the mountain, Shivling has a steep gradient that rises sharply. Due to this gradient, Shivling is not blessed with thick toppings of snow on its slopes. Summer sees the meagre winter layer of snow melt, exposing the combination of rock and very hard ice that makes up the mountain.

This expedition was one of the few Indian ones to attempt Shivling in alpine style -without the help of highaltitude porters in the work of ferrying loads, opening routes and fixing ropes. The route to Camp I was opened after fixing rope over a glacier and a 70degree snow slope. Above Camp I, the route encompasses mixed rock and ice climbing.

Between Camp III and the summit lay a 40-foot ice wall, which required advanced technical climbing. The expedition also had to withstand a blizzard with winds of up to 200 kmph.