Posted on 04/26/2006 7:52:25 AM PDT by presidio9
Adventure sports enthusiast Ajit Bajaj became the first Indian to ski to the North Pole.
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Bajaj, 40, completed his nine-day expedition from the Russian side of the Arctic with four skiers from the United States and one from Britain, his wife Shirley said.
"He left India April 14 for Norway from where the team went to a Russian training camp and then they set off for the North Pole on skis," she said.
"They would ski for 10 to 11 hours a day and finally at 4:15 am Indian time my husband called me on satellite telephone to announce the team had reached their destination on the North Pole," she said.
"It's a very proud moment as he becomes the first Indian to successfully withstand such an extreme endurance test," said Bajaj, who operates an adventure sports club in India with her husband.
Bajaj, meanwhile, told India's NDTV television by satellite phone that he had planted the Indian flag at the North Pole.
"It was a very proud moment when I unfurled the tricolor, our national flag given to me by Minister of State for External Affairs Anand Sharma," he said.
Bajaj, a downhill ski specialist, described the cold as extreme.
"There is about a metre of ice (on the surface) and the lowest temperature has been minus 35 degrees Centigrade (-31 Fahrenheit) but with the wind chill, it can go down to about minus 70-80C (-94 to -112F).
"Its freezing up here," he added.
In dusty New Delhi, his wife sweltered in temperatures above 40C (104F).
You mean he didn't waterski?
Really? This is a seriesly hugh bit of news.
"Woman, it's mother#$*(%@ coolllld in space."
"Thank you! Come again!"
Such a thing has never been done.
That's a classic.
Anthony Hopkins is going to star in "The World's Coldest Indian."
And in related news, Santa Claus has announced that all service calls re: defective Xmas gifts will now be outsourced to New Delhi...
Did he find the hole leading into the center of the hollow earth?
High in the Himalayas, the stubborn armies of India and Pakistan have faced off for 19 years on the Siachen Glacier, the world's highest battleground and a flash point in the deadly dispute over Kashmir. In this exclusive report, an American writer and photographer spend two months inside the ultimate no-man's-land, witnessing the human and environmental devastation of a conflict without end.
The inside of the hollow earth is where the UFOs come from.
They don't have a lot of words for ice, snow, slush, sleet in India.
Wow.. really? So it was cold, eh? You wouldnt think it.. I had hoped for tropical islands.
And what does the word "Himalaya" mean? And what do you think the Himalayas are covered with?
Do you think hima is likely related to rime?
Sorry for the late reply. "Him" ( Heem ) means snow. "aalaya" means "repository of".
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