08-07-2025
Mountaineer Umesh Zirpe conferred with Sahyadri Ratna award
Veteran mountaineer Umesh Zirpe, known for his successful expeditions over more than three decades, was honoured with the Sahyadri Ratna award on Sunday in Nashik. The award was conferred in the presence of Milind Gunaji, Dr. Vijay Suryawanshi (IAS), and Advocate Nitin Thakare.
This award is given by the Sahyamitra Foundation in memory of the late Avinash Joshi. And the foundation has been organising the Sahyadri Mitra conference in Nashik for the past three years, which features photography exhibitions, expert lectures, interviews, panel discussions, and honours individuals and organisations that have made outstanding contributions in the fields of mountaineering and rock climbing.
Enthusiasts who include mountaineers, adventure seekers, and admirers of Shivaji Maharaj, across the state, participate in the programme. This year, the Sahyadri Ratna 2025 award was conferred to Umesh Zirpe.
Zirpe is the founder and director of Guardian Giripremi Mountaineering Institute, a Pune-based mountaineering club and Giripremi Adventure Foundation.
He is also the recipient of the Tenzing Norgay National Adventure Award 2023 and the Shiv Chhatrapati Award 2014. Over the past 35 years, Zirpe has had vast experience of the adventures in the Sahyadri and Himalayan mountain ranges. And is also famously known to have scaled eight of the world's highest eight-thousanders, including Mount Everest.
