The ICG Mount Mukut expedition team was flagged in at Dehradun on Monday by Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, five days after its 17 climbers stood on the 7,045-metre summit. Additional Director General Anand Prakash Badola, PTM, TM, of the Indian Coast Guard (ICG) was present at the ceremony.

The climb was a rehearsal. Mukut was Phase V, the last stage of an 18-month programme with one goal: an ICG team on top of Mount Everest in 2027, the service's Swarnim Jayanti year.

ICG Mount Mukut expedition reached the summit on 7 October

The team reached the top of Mount Mukut on 7 October, according to the Indian Coast Guard. The climb was carried out under the guidance of the Himalayan Mountaineering Institute (HMI), Darjeeling, which was set up in 1954 and trains climbers from across India and abroad.

The expedition set off on 15 September. Base Camp-I was established on 1 October, and from there the climbers pushed through extreme weather to the summit, 22 days after the start.

Mount Mukut lies in the Garhwal Himalaya of Uttarakhand, the same range where an Army team from the Regiment of Artillery completed its Mount Kamet expedition in September. A joint Indian and Argentine team also climbed Kamet and Abi Gamin in the same window, and was flagged in by the Army Chief in New Delhi earlier this month.

Chief Minister Dhami praises grit of Coast Guard climbers

Addressing the gathering, Chief Minister Dhami praised the team's grit and endurance. He said the feat stood for courage and national pride.

Additional Director General Badola congratulated the climbers on their mental resilience, physical toughness and teamwork. The ICG described the route as one of the hardest stretches of terrain in the Himalayas, and the weather on the final push as extreme. At the ceremony, the Chief Minister was presented with a Coast Guard ship model as a memento.

Lessons from Mukut to shape the 2027 Everest bid

The ICG said the experience gained on Mukut will form the backbone of final preparations for the Everest expedition.

Climbs above 7,000 metres are a usual final step for Indian service teams before an attempt on Everest, which stands at 8,849 metres. They test acclimatisation, rope work and logistics at altitude, all of which the team will need again on the world's highest peak in 2027. With Mukut done, the training phase of the programme is complete.

Coast Guard heads into its golden jubilee year

The Indian Coast Guard was raised on 1 February 1977 and completes 50 years in 2027.

Its daily work is at sea. Over the past few weeks alone, the service has hosted an international search and rescue exercise off Paradip with observers from 30 countries, and intercepted a dhow west of Lakshadweep carrying around 526 kg of narcotics. The Everest attempt will take that same force from sea level to the top of the world in its jubilee year.

Five phases completed in 18 months

The Mukut climb closed out a five-phase programme run over 18 months. The 17-member team now moves to final preparations for the 2027 Mount Everest expedition.