Musa's 'extraordinary' Everest

Musa Ibrahim, the first Bangladeshi to summit Mount Everest, exclaims that it has been an exhilarating experience. Full Story

Dhaka, May 25 (bdnews24.com) — Musa Ibrahim, the first Bangladeshi to summit Mount Everest, exclaims that it has been an exhilarating experience.

Speaking from the Everest Base Camp on the north face, he told bdnews24.com at about 7pm on Tuesday: "It was extraordinary!"

Ibrahim, sub-editor of an English daily newspaper, is the first Bangladeshi to claim to have conquered the highest peak in the world.

The Tibet Mountaineering Association, the official agency in this case, is yet to certify the claim.

Ibrahim said that near the end of the ascent, his oxygen pipe began to leak but the Sherpas managed to fix the problem.

"Summiting Everest is a challenge. I have done that," he said.

Earlier he told the German international broadcaster that there is a statue of Buddha at the Everest summit.

"A photograph with that statue will verify my summiting."

He also said that he will be given certificate of the achievement at the base camp on the basis of photographs and testimony of the other team members.

bdnews24.com refrained from the carrying the news item since repeated attempts to confirm the Bangladeshi conquest through different sources, including through people reportedly present at the base camp, did not succeed until Tuesday evening, when Musa Ibrahim was available on a satellite phone.

He said that it had taken a long time, hard work and single-minded dedication.

"But in the end it paid off."

Ibrahim started his formal mountaineering in March 2004 after completing basic training from the Himalayan Mountaineering Institute (HMI), Darjeeling in India.

In Oct, 2005 he got advanced training form the same institute.

In early May he left Dhaka for the expedition and joined the international expedition team of the Himalayan Guides.

Himalayan Guides Nepal provides all types of support services for mountaineering expeditions on Everest.

Musa used the North Alpine route on the Tibetan side to reach the highest peak of the world.

As a member of H G International Everest Expedition 2010, he claims to have successfully scaled 8,848 meter Mt Everest in the morning of May 23, 2010.

All 26 members of the expedition including 14 Sherpas reached to the summit.

Besides Musa, six Britons, three Montenegrins, an American and a Serb were on the team.

Before taking on Everest Musa claims to have climbed the Annapurna IV (7,525m, 24,688 ft) in May 2009 and Langshisa Ri (6370m) in Dec 01, 2008.

The lead Sherpa Som Bahadur Tamang, who accompanied Musa on the Everest expedition, has been with him in his earlier expeditions.

"The official certificate will be given by the Tibetan Mountaineering Association on the basis of the report of the Sherpas and photographs taken by the team from the Everest summit," said Mir Shamsul Alam Babu, a veteran mountaineer.

Babu was Musa's team mate on his previous expeditions.

"It is now certain that Musa has summited," he said.

The northeast ridge route begins from the north side of Everest in Tibet.

Expeditions trek to the Rongbuk Glacier, setting up Base Camp at 5,180 m (16,990 ft) on a gravel plain just below the glacier.

To reach Camp II, climbers ascend the medial moraine of the east Rongbuk Glacier up to the base of Changtse at around 6,100 m (20,000 ft).

Camp III (ABC - Advanced Base Camp) is situated below the North Col at 6,500 m (21,300 ft).

To reach Camp IV on the north col, climbers ascend the glacier to the foot of the col where fixed ropes are used to reach the North Col at 7,010 m (23,000 ft).

From the North Col, climbers ascend the rocky north ridge to set up Camp V at around 7,775 m (25,500 ft).

The route crosses the North Face in a diagonal climb to the base of the Yellow Band reaching the site of Camp VI at 8,230 m (27,000 ft).

From Camp VI, climbers make their final summit push.

Climbers face a treacherous terrain from the base of the First Step: 27,890 feet - 28,000 feet, to the crux of the climb, the Second Step: 28,140 feet - 28,300 feet.

The Second Step includes a climbing aid called the "Chinese ladder", a metal ladder placed semi-permanently in 1975 by a party of Chinese climbers.

The ladder has almost become a fixture and has been used by virtually all climbers on the route.

Once above the Second Step the inconsequential Third Step is clambered over: 28,510 feet - 28,870 feet.

Subsequently, the summit pyramid is climbed by means of a snow slope of 50 degrees, to the final summit ridge.

The northern approach to the mountain was discovered by George Mallory on the first expedition in 1921.

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