Georgian women mountaineers ascend Mount Ushba in first independent effort

The United Federation of Georgian Mountaineers on Monday said women mountaineers from the country had independently ascended Mount Ushba, the two-headed peak in the state's north-western highland region of Svaneti, for the first time.

The Federation said the northern part of the Ushba had been ascended by Mariam Gelashvili and Maia Sitchinava, who were participants of the Chaukhi sports camp of Archil Badriashvili, a 34-year-old Georgian mountain climber who lost his life in an accident on the Shkhelda peak in the Svaneti region earlier this month.

The mountaineers also travelled the third and fourth challenging routes of Tetnuldi peak in the central part of the Greater Caucasus Mountain Range and southern part of Mount Shkhara, the highest point in the country.