The Indian Army's triumphant Everest expedition headed for home Wednesday - taking back with them new records and also reminiscences of a brush with death.

Fifteen climbers, including four women, of the team headed by Major Saurabh Singh Shekhawat summitted the 8,848 m peak June 2.

It is a personal record for Major Shekhawat, who with three summits now is one of two Indian climbers to have scaled Mt Everest the highest number of times.

While Nepalese climber Apa Sherpa with 15 summits holds the world record, in India it is three summits with the other climber being Osag Sherpa.

It is also the first time an Indian Army women's team reached the top as well as the first time an Indian women's team summitted from the north side via Tibet.

When Bachendri Pal had led a joint India-Nepal women's expedition to Everest in 1993, they had gone from the south side via Nepal.

For Bengalis, it is an especially heady triumph since Captain Shipra Mazumdar, who hails from Murshidabad in West Bengal state, became the first Bengali woman to summit Mt Everest.

However, the Indian Army team's triumph nearly turned to ashes when two team members ran into trouble.

One of the Sherpas fell nearly 100 m below and for some time no one even noticed he was gone.

It was only after the climbers saw the light from his headgear glittering on the snow that they realised what had happened and rushed to his rescue.

The other fright came from Mazumdar, who was hit by exhaustion and
dehydration while coming down.

"I thought I would never be able to make it," the petite 25-year-olod told IANS.

"I owe my return to my Sherpa, who literally dragged me forward by hand."

When Captain Mazumdar's condition deteriorated, Major Shekhawat took a lightning decision to abandon further summit attempts.

Six more male climbers in the team had reached the Second Step, just a couple of hours from the summit, when they were pulled back to launch the rescue operation instead.

"It was the most important decision I had to take," Major Shekhawat said. "But the most important thing was for all of us to return to the camp safely."

Apart from four women, the successful Indian Army team consisted of five men and six Nepalese Sherpas.

The team was flagged off from New Delhi in March and reached the base camp on April 4. On the slope of the peak, they endured avalanches, blizzards and torrential winds for nearly two months before the weather gods finally relented.

A small window opened in June, creating conducive weather conditions for the climbers to reach the top.

The threat of death hovered strongly over climbers this season with six mountaineers dying due to accidents or sudden illness. With their deaths, the toll on Mt Everest climbs to 191.

The Indian Army team was especially chastened by the news of the death of a colleague, Squadron Leader S.S. Chaitanya of the Indian Air Force, who had summitted before them with a separate team but was lost in a blizzard while descending.

His body has not yet been found.