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The Greek alpinists named a very high, steep and scary peak, which is not visible from the surrounding valleys, "The Lost Pearl" (Mutik Skal in the local dialect).

Without paying attention to the biting cold, heavy rain and wind, the alpinists slept under rocks and walked on eternal glaciers, where snow never melts and nobody knows what is underneath it.

They travelled to India, reached the Ladakh region and the remote Rarou valley, where only climbers who are brave and adventurous enough go.

They divided into teams of two and conquered Katkat Kangri (6,148 m), The Lost Pearl (6243 m) Skilma Kangri (6,020 m) and Lama Su (5,947).

"It was a unique experience because we are a small group of climbers who aimed at conquering the Indian Himalayas, a difficult undertaking for Greeks. There were many difficulties, but we achieved all the goals," said Nikos Kroupis for Ethnos newspaper.

Eight hours ofclimbing

"The Lost Pearl" fascinated the alpinists. Athanasiadis and Kroupis climbed nearly 8 hours in places where no man has gone before, including cliffs and glaciers, where, eventually they used almost exclusively ice-axes and climbed very carefully.

They found a piece of static rope, which had apparently remained from a previous climb, and which they thought was left 3-5 years ago. However, when they returned and started searching for information on the internet, they did not find any for such attempts. From there on, up to the top, the two alpinists found no other traces of a previous climb.

Panos Athanasiadis and Nikos Kroupis during the first climb of "The Lost Pearl"

The abyss

"The climb was very difficult. The edge of the cliff was very narrow, and we were exhausted during the last 200 metres because there was an almost vertical cliff of about 1,000 metres depth on our right. The view was literally breath-taking, but the challenge was great. When we saw the coordinates we wanted to see on the GPS and the altitude reached 6,243 metres, our joy was indescribable. There were no traces of a previous climb at the top and we made a little pile of stones. We stayed there for about half an hour, fascinated by the scenery," said Nikos Kroupis excitedly.

Voutiropoulos and Lazanas are fixing the Greek flag into the ground atop Lama Su

Background - the challenge, UFOs, and spending the night on the rocks

Indian Himalayas are a challenge for alpinists from around the world, but many do not dare to conquer them because there is evidence of local people who speak of the appearance of ... UFOs. Some say that they have seen purple spaceships and green men who got off them, and the stories are countless.

The Greek expedition started from Athens and first stopped at New Delhi and from there continued on another flight to the city of Leh. From Leh, the alpinists reached the village of Raru in the eponymous valley by car, accompanied by two chefs from Nepal, and 8 horses with riders carrying their equipment.

From there, they gradually started climbing the mountain, first at a lower altitude, then at a higher altitude. On their way, the alpinists supplied themselves with water from springs; they walked for hours and spent the nights at secluded places. At an altitude of about 5,300 metres, the alpinists divided into two groups. After that George Voutiropoulos and Nikos Lazanas spent the night in the open or under the rocks or in a place protected from rain. Despite the rain and snow, they managed to climb to the top called "The monk’s tooth" at a height of 5,947 metres and set foot on it for the first time.