Umesh Zirpe

Umesh Zirpe
Receiving Tenzing Norgay National Adventure Award at the hands of Honorable President of India, Smt Droupadi Murmu.
Born
Pune, Maharashtra, India
OccupationsMountaineer and Mentor
Known forLeading multiple 8,000 m Himalayan expeditions; member of Giripremi mountaineering club
AwardsTenzing Norgay National Adventure Award (2023), Shiv Chhatrapati Award

Umesh Zirpe is an Indian mountaineer. He is also known by the name "मामाजी (Mamaji)" by the mountaineering fraternity in India. Zirpe is an expedition leader, and senior member of the Giripremi mountaineering club, a mountaineering club in Pune, Maharashtra.

Zirpe is known in the mountaineering community for leading successful expeditions to eight of the fourteen eight-thousander highest mountains in the world.[1] These include Mount Everest, Lhotse, Makalu, Manaslu, Cho Oyu, Dhaulagiri, Kanchenjunga, and Annapurna-1. He has also led expeditions to some of the other technically difficult peaks including Mount Shivling, Mount Manda, and Mount Meru.

Early life and mountaineering career

Zirpe joined the Giripremi mountaineering club in Pune in 1986 to promote mountaineering sports in the society. He planned expeditions to several unexplored and technically demanding mountain peaks.[2] In his early mountaineering journey, he attempted peaks including Manda-1,[3] Satopanth, Thelu, and led expedition to Mt. Shivling.[4]

He led the club’s first Everest expedition in 2012,[5] followed by ascents of Lhotse in 2013, Makalu in 2014,[6] Cho Oyu, Dhaulagiri in 2016,[7] Manaslu in 2017,[8] and Kanchenjunga in 2019.[9] He scaled Mount Mera at the age of 54 in a solo attempt in October 2019.[10]

In 2023, he led the first successful Indian ascent of Mount Meru’s 6,600-metre high central peak.[11] The documentary film of this expedition, The Ascent of Mt. Meru [12] was screened in several International Adventure Film Festivals including the Torello Mountain Film Festival 19th Edition in Spain.[13]

For his contribution to the field of mountaineering, he was awarded the Tenzing Norgay National Adventure Award under the Life Time Achievement category for 2023.[14]

Zirpe was also involved in the foundation of Maharashtra's first mountaineering training institute, Guardian Giripremi Institute of Mountaineering,[15] which was founded in 2015. Along with promotion of Mountaineering sports to masses, he contributed for the inclusion of mountaineering in Indian education. In 2020, Savitribai Phule Pune University adopted a Diploma Course in Mountaineering and Allied Sports.[16]

Along with mountaineering, Zirpe has been active in community initiatives related to mountains and mountaineers. During natural disasters such as the Nepal earthquake, Uttarakhand flash floods, and COVID-19 pandemic, he took part in relief and rescue work.[17] Zirpe is current President of Akhil Maharashtra Giryarohan Mahasangh, an organization of mountaineering in Maharashtra.[18] Zirpe was also invited as one of the committee members of Fort Conservation Committee by Government of Maharashtra.[19]

Zirpe supported the Chhatrapati Shivaji Sherpa Social Project which was established for the betterment and upliftment of Sherpa people in Solu-Khumbu, Nepal.[1][20] In and around his hometown, Zirpe has been involved in works including environment conservation, sports promotion, training underprivileged youth for mountaineering sport.[21]

Awards

  • Tenzing Norgay National Adventure Award for lifetime achievement in mountaineering (2023).[14][22][23]
  • Shiv Chhatrapati Award by the Government of Maharashtra.[24][25]
  • Sahyadriratna Puraskar by the Sate level Conclave of Mountaineering.[26]
  • Sanskriti Award for Outstanding Achievements (National Award 2023) by the Sate level Conclave of Mountaineering.[27]

Publications

  • Himalayateel Diwas (2023)[28][29]
  • Gosht Eka Dhaysachi - Everest (Marathi 2014, English translated 2022)[30][31][32]
  • Shikharratna Kanchenjunga (2022)[33][34]
  • Mountain-Men SHERPA (2021)[35][36]
  • Joy of Mountaineering (Marathi and English 2019)[37]
  • Parvatputra Sherpa (2019)[38]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "A Pune Club and Its Tryst With 8000m". Shyam G Menon at Outrigger blog. 5 September 2019.
  2. ^ "गिर्यारोहकांना घडवणारा 'गिरिप्रेमी' सेनापती". Maharashtra Times (in Marathi). 20 May 2020.
  3. ^ Brg. Ashok Abbey (2020). "Kedar Ganga Valley". Himalayan Journal vol 75.
  4. ^ Rupesh Khopade (2007). "Climbing the Dream Mountain: Shivling". Himalayan Journal vol 63.
  5. ^ "12 mountaineers from Pune scaled Mount Everest". The Times of India. 16 May 2012. Retrieved 11 August 2025.
  6. ^ "'गिरिप्रेमी'चे नवे पाऊल: मकालू". Loksatta (in Marathi). 5 March 2014.
  7. ^ "Pune-based mountaineering group Giripremi scales Mt. Cho Oyu and Mt. Dhaulagiri". indian Express. 24 May 2016. Retrieved 22 August 2025.
  8. ^ "Pune's Akshay Patke and Ashish Mane summit Mount Manaslu". The Times of India. 28 September 2017. Retrieved 11 August 2025.
  9. ^ "10 mountaineers from India summit Mt Kanchenjunga". ANI News. 15 May 2019. Archived from the original on 26 September 2020. Retrieved 11 August 2025.
  10. ^ "Veteran mountaineer Umesh Zirpe climbs Mount Mera". ANI News. 12 October 2019.
  11. ^ "Giripremi team scales Mt Meru, first Indian group to achieve feat". Hindustan Times. 28 September 2023. Retrieved 11 August 2025.
  12. ^ "The Ascent of Mt. Meru". IMDB. 2024.
  13. ^ "Indian film on Mt Meru expedition invited in international festival". Deccan Herald. 21 November 2024.
  14. ^ a b President Droupadi Murmu presents National Sports and Adventure Awards 2024 at Rashtrapati Bhavan. Retrieved 22 August 2025 – via www.youtube.com.
  15. ^ "GGIM Marks 10 Years Of Adventure With Mountaineering Experts Gathering In Pune". My Pune pulse. 17 February 2025.
  16. ^ "Pune Univarsity and Giripremi launch 1-year diploma in Mountaineering". hindusthan Times. 19 January 2021.
  17. ^ "Heroes in the mountains, intrepid volunteers in search & rescue ops". TOI. 8 August 2018.
  18. ^ "Umesh Zirpe to head Maharashtra mountaineering body". Deccan Herald. 15 November 2022.
  19. ^ "Umesh Zirpe appointed as a member of Fort Preservation and Conservation Committee of state government". Punekar News. 2 July 2021.
  20. ^ "Giripremi mountaineers install Shivaji statue at Everest base camp". Times of India. 24 April 2012.
  21. ^ विश्वशांती संवाद- Shri. Umesh Zirpe (President, All Maharashtra Mountaineering Association)-Part 1 (in Marathi). 25 June 2025.
  22. ^ "Zirpe to receive Tenzing Norgay Adventure Award". The Times of India. 22 August 2023. Retrieved 11 August 2025.
  23. ^ "अनुभवी गिर्यारोहक उमेश झिरपे यांचा सर्वोच्च सन्मान; राष्ट्रपतींच्या हस्ते मिळाला मानाचा तेनझिंग नॉरगे नॅशल अॅडव्हेंचर पुरस्कार". MENSXP (in Marathi). 17 January 2025.
  24. ^ "Umesh Zirpe decorated with Shiv Chhatrapati Award". Giripremi. 12 December 2015. Retrieved 11 August 2025.
  25. ^ "'साहसा'चा गौरव". Lokasatta (in Marathi). 29 October 2015. Retrieved 22 August 2015.
  26. ^ "Mountaineer Umesh Zirpe conferred with Sahyadri Ratna award". Indian Express. 8 July 2025. Retrieved 22 August 2025.
  27. ^ "Giripremi's Umesh Zirpe conferred with Sanskriti Award". Pune Mirror. 14 August 2023. Retrieved 22 August 2025.
  28. ^ Zirpe, Umesh (2023). Himalayateel Diwas (in Marathi) (First ed.). Sakal Prakashan. ISBN 978-81-19311-78-1.
  29. ^ Zirpe, Umesh. "Himalayateel Diwas". sakalpublications.com.
  30. ^ "'एव्हरेस्ट'च्या ध्यासाची गोष्ट! (The story of the obsession with 'Everest'!)". Loksatta. 29 March 2015.
  31. ^ Zirpe, Umesh (2014). Goshta Eka Dhyasachi - Everest (गोष्ट एका ध्यासाची - एव्हरेस्ट) (in Marathi). Samakaleen Prakashan.
  32. ^ Zirpe, Umesh (2022). Everest - The Story of India's biggest successful civilian expedition to Mt. Everest (First ed.). Pune, India: Samakaleen Prakashan. ISBN 978-93-92624-09-4.
  33. ^ Zirpe, Umesh (2022). Shikharratna Kanchanjunga (in Marathi). Rohan Prakashan. ISBN 978-93-92374-29-6.
  34. ^ Zirpe, Umesh. "Shikharratna Kanchanjunga". rohanprakashan.com.
  35. ^ Zirpe, Umesh (2021). Mountain-Men SHERPA (First ed.). Rohan Prakashan. ISBN 978-93-89458-26-8.
  36. ^ Zirpe, Umesh. "Mountain-Men SHERPA". rohanprakashan.com.
  37. ^ Zirpe, Umesh. Joy of Mountaineering. Rohan Prakashan. ISBN 978-9389458022.
  38. ^ Zirpe, Umesh (2019). Parbatputra Sherpa (पर्वतपुत्र शेर्पा) (in Marathi). India: Rohan Prakashan. ISBN 978-93-89458-00-8.
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