Nepal Mountaineering Association (NMA) today bade farewell to the members of Ganchenpo peak (6.378m) new route exploration cum expedition team.

Amid a function organized at NMA Secretariat Nagpokhari Naxal, senior vice-president Thakur Raj Pandey, advisor Dr. Ganesh Gurung and secretary Dhan Bahadur Gurung jointly handed over the NMA flag to team leader Rabindra Aryal and bade farewell to all the expedition members with khadas.

A 11 members team includes four climbers from Italy and three climbers from Nepal. The team includes Paralympic gold medalist from Italy Simone Salvagnin. Visually impared Simone had won gold and bronze medals at the 2011 Paraclimbing World Championship of Arco in category B2 for visually handicapped.

He will be accompanied by Montanari Luca Renato, D’Emilia Alessandro, Della Mura Marco from Italy and Rabindra Aryal, Kanchhi Dolma Hyolmo,  and Ashok Sharma Bhatta from Nepal. The team will be guided by four experienced Nepali guides including world record holder Sanu Sherpa. Other guides include Sanjib Gurung, Ramkaji Tiwari and Lal Bahadur Waiba.

The team will start the journey tomorrow. The team has aimed at completing the expedition from the new route in 19 days. Situated in Jugal Himalayan range, Ganchenpo peak is already a submitted peak. However, the team will find a new route to the top of Ganchenpo from Sindhupalchok district and that is believed to be the shortest route to the summit of any peak above the 6000m from Kathmandu.

This expedition cum route exploration campaign is managed by Trip Himalaya Treks & Expedition and supported by Garima voyage and new vision Nepal. Mountain Guide Association of Nepal (MoGAN) will support the team with technical assistance.

At the farewell ceremony, all the dignitaries extended their best wishes to the team.

‘‘It's our pleasure to bid a farewell to you all. As I understand, this is very important for us to find a new route to the top of the Ganchenpo’’, Senior VP Pandey said, ‘‘I am hopeful that this will play an important role in promoting Nepali mountain tourism. I would like to extend my best wishes to all the team members.’’

‘‘As you have rightly said, this will definitely help us to promote Nepali mountain tourism within and outside the country’’, NMA’s advisor Dr. Gurung said, ‘‘I would like to extend my best wishes to all the team members for successful ascent of Ganchenpo peak from new route.’’