Everest team-1
Rajib Das, Dhaka
Thanks to Mr. Saif for the letter The Daily Star ran in its May 10 edition where he expressed concern about the 'Everest team-1'. He is right that we Bangladeshis have a weakness for the cliché 'first ever' '. But the fact is that 'Everest team-1'is the first official team of Bangladeshi mountaineers going to Mount Everest's Base Camp aiming to fly 'green and red' bicolours of our flag in the next five to ten years.It is common knowledge that mountaineering is not a child's play which cannot and, rather should not, be tried by merely watching 'Vertical Limit' and such action movies. The aspiring mountaineers know how mighty difficult climbing at sub-zero temperature can get since they watch adventure channels like A1 and Discovery. Keeping that in mind, three junior members of the 'Everest team-1' underwent a one-month basic mountaineering training in India and practised walking by wearing proper boots and carrying luggage weighing 15 to 30 kgs on their back. I do know little about the other three members of the team, though, but this much that they too did get trained up in basic walking. The team leader, Inam Ul Haq, the first Bangladeshi to have been in Antarctica, has climbed all the high hills in the country and is one of the best trekkers we have. It is considered enough if one has the ability to walk to the Base Camp with a backpack weighing around 30 kgs. Let's keep the fact straight that the 'Everest team-1' is the first official team of Bangladeshi climbers, with a specific mission. As far as I know, no fewer than five Bangladeshis have been in the Base Camp without any basic mountaineering training, but all of them went on their own. I am quite optimistic that some members of the 'Everest team-1' will reach the summit one day.
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