<i>Bangladeshis conquer Mt Annapurna IV</i>

Musa Ibrahim, a sub-editor of The Daily Star, and Tawhid Hossain hold the Bangladesh flag along with other climbers at the peak of Annapurna IV, which they conquered without supplementary oxygen. Photo: STAR

It was 11:54am Nepalese time on June 14. Two Bangladeshi mountaineers achieved a feat many compatriots dreamt of. Musa Ibrahim and Tawhid Hossain conquered the Mt Annapurna IV, a Himalayan peak at the height of 24,682ft, as first Bangladeshis without supplementary oxygen after tremendous hardship.
They were accompanied by Nepalese climber Sarin Prakash Pradhan. All three are members of the North Alpine Club Bangladesh (NACB).
There was shivering cold with 2-3 degrees Celsius, mighty wind, continuous snowfall and whiteout. And there were chances of falling into crevasse and avalanches, the height and the acute mountain sickness. But teamwork was the key factor that beat all odds.
Sherpa Sardar Som Bahadur Tamang, Ganesh Magar and two-time Everest climber Sherpa Kailash Tamang were in the lead to set the route from camps one and two to the summit. High altitude cook Tashi Tamang and porter Sardar Dawa Tamang were the next great help in achieving the feat.
A support team of 22 porters and three sherpas had started the journey from Kathmandu on May 29, the day that commemorates Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay's climbing the Mt Everest. The team reached the Annapurna IV base camp at 15,091ft height on June 03.
The three NACB members reached the base camp on June 08.
The sherpas established camp one at a height of 17,716 ft on June 06 and camp two at a height of 21,817ft on June 08. After resting on June 09, the NACB team moved for camp one on June 11. Having a training on climbing rock and ice the team reached camp two the next day.
It was approximately 2:30am on June 14 when the final ascent to the top of Annapurna IV started. The six-member team moved with headlamps and full climbing gears. But the team got stuck halfway from camp two to the summit as all of a sudden a 6ft crevasse gaped ahead of them.
The sherpas had to open a new route. Climbers had nothing to do but wait for around two hours, standing on an ice wall of 60 degrees gradient and braving snowfall with strong wind.
Finally, group leader Musa Ibrahim--a sub-editor of The Daily Star, Tawhid Hossain and Sarin Prakash Pradhan reached the summit of Annapurna IV at a height of 24,682ft without supplementary oxygen. They flew the Bangladesh national flag as a new history for Bangladesh was recorded.
Another group of NACB, consisting of Dhrubo Jyoti Ghosh Mukul, MH Jaiedi Tusher, Abdul Halim, Munira Farzana Tania and Sk Badruddin Omar, finished the amazing Annapurna Circuit trek that started on May 29.
The NACB team is supposed to reach Kathmandu on June 20 and Dhaka on June 25.
Navana Group was the title sponsor for the NACB's endeavour. Mattra, Summit Group, Kohinoor Chemicals, and Destiny Group co-sponsored the trekking while Channel i was its media partner. Incitaa Tourism and Muktinath Holiday's Pvt Ltd were the event partners.