Internationally
renowned mountaineer, Captain M.S. Kohli,
belongs to the exclusive band of three climbers in the
world who in 1962 spent three nights at 27,650 feet
on Everest, two without oxygen. He led the first successful
Indian Expedition to Mount Everest in 1965 which put
nine climbers on the summit. He climbed nanda Kot (22,510
feet) in 1959 and made the maiden ascent of highly challenging
Annapurna III (24, 858 feet) in 1961 after high-altitude
bandits had looted the Base Camp, taking two team members
as hostages. From 1965 to 1968 he led the world's longest
and highly sensitive Indo-American expedition to Nanda
Devi and Nanda Kot.
He was closely
associated with the Indian Mountaineering Foundation
for 14 years, 10 years as Vice-President and 4 years
as President. He developed the Indo-Tibetan Border Police
into a formidable mountaineering organisation with a
tally of over 100 Himalayan summits. In 1977, he joined
Sir Edmund Hillary in 'From the Ocean to the Sky', jet-boat
expedition from Bay of Bengal to the source of Ganges,
which heralded white-water rafting in India. On October
14, 1989, in consultation with Sir Edmund Hillary he
founded the Himalayan Environment Trust to save the
Himalayas for future generations.
Padma Bhushn
and Arjuna awardee, Captain Kohli was born on 11 December,
1931 at Haripur in the hilly Hazara district of North-West
Frontier. He has authored 20 books. On 8 September,
1965, he was given the rare honour of addressing Members
of both the Houses of Indian Parliament.
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