Balwant Sandhu

Balwant Sandhu
Personal information
Main disciplineMountaineer
Born1 October 1934
NationalityIndian
Career
Notable ascents- First ascent of Changabang (1974)[1]
- First ascent of West Face of Kamet (7756 m, 1985)[2]

Balwant Singh Sandhu (1934-2010) was an Indian mountaineer and a colonel in the Indian Army. He made the first ascent of Changabang along with Sir Chris Bonington in 1974.[3] In 1981, he received the Arjuna Award for excellence in mountaineering, and in 2010, after his death in an accident, he was posthumously awarded the Tenzing Norgay National Adventure Award, the highest adventure sports honour of India.[4][2] Mountaineer M S Kohli described him as a "world-class climber".[5]

Sandhu died on 3 December 2010, after a speeding car hit him outside the Indian Mountaineering Foundation headquarters in Delhi.[6]

  1. ^ "Changabang, 1974". Outlook Traveller.
  2. ^ a b "Tribute to the late Indian mountaineer, Balwant Sandhu - UIAA". 1 February 2011.
  3. ^ "In Memoriam:Balwant Sandhu The Alpine Journal 2010/11" (PDF).
  4. ^ "Press Information Bureau". archive.pib.gov.in.
  5. ^ "Volume 21 JANUARY 2011" (PDF).
  6. ^ "Changabang's first ascensionist passes away". thebmc.co.uk.