MANALI: A 24-member Border Security Force ( BSF ) team, which climbed Mt Everest in 2006, is preparing for its second expedition and has been training in Solang valley of Manali for over a month now. The team will undertake its second expedition to the world’s highest peak in March this year.The team, which includes three officers, has qualified mountaineers who scaled Mt Everest in 2006. The expedition is led by assistant commandant Padam Shri Lovraj Singh, who has scaled the mountain peak for record six times. Deputy commandant of BSF Institute of Disaster Response Avinash Negi is the deputy leader. Assistant commandant Ravi Kant is also a member of the team. This time, the team will scale the Everest with a ‘Clean Glacier Campaign’ cause.Lovraj Singh said the team’s focus will remain on cleaning the Himalayan glaciers. “We shall collect garbage above the Everest base camp and bring it to Kathmandu for proper disposal. Our expedition will spread awareness among other mountaineers to keep the Himalayas litter-free. Our team has been stationed at Solang for last one month, for pre-Everest expedition training under aegis of Atal Bihari Vajpayee Institute of Mountaineering and Allied Sports,” he said.The team’s routine training starts at 5am, with high altitude endurance run for 20km. It includes arduous trekking with heavy backpacks, followed by a 45-minutes yoga practice to control breathing and enhance lungs capacity to sustain under sub zero temperature. The jawans are also getting training in first aid from a doctor, who will also be a member of the team.Lovraj Singh said BSF mostly chooses Solang valley for pre-expedition training camps as no other place in country is easily approachable by road. “We had set up pre-expedition training camps here in 2006 and 2008 for expeditions to Mt Everest and Mt Kanchenjunga respectively and had achieved success in our endeavours. The glaciers for ice climbing training are easily approachable after a trek of 3-4 hours from here.”He added that the BSF mountaineering team has scaled more than 37 national and international peaks. Its jawans are qualified paragliders and skiers. The expedition to Mt Everest will be flagged off by director general BSF KK Sharma from Delhi on March 23.

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