INDIANA Jones-like plane rides and minus 20 degree centigrade wake-up calls did not stop a 49-year-old becoming the first woman to scale the sacred Mount Mukot in Nepal.

“It was the toughest thing I’ve ever done,” said Siân Beaty, as she sat in the warmth of The Whitehaven News office, flicking though breathtaking pictures on her laptop.

The Holmrook nuclear consultant, who has been mountaineering for 10 years, said she feels incredibly privileged to have conquered the 6,000 metre summit.

Siân was part of a team of four climbers and three Sherpas who successfully completed the first recorded ascent of the remote Himalayan peak – an achievement that has now been officially ratified by the Nepalese government.

“We flew into beautiful valley of Jhupal, in the Dolpo region of West Nepal, in a tiny aircraft – it was like something from Indiana Jones,” recalled Siân. “There, we met the trek crew and started a seven-day hike to the Mukot base camp.

“Once we were there we took two days out for acclimatisation and training, but we found out there was an issue with the weather.

“It was looking like we might not be able to climb Mukot because the snow was so heavy. We waited and they told us that it was going to be safe, but difficult because of the conditions.”

It was a 2am set-off for the team from the base camp at 5,200m above sea level and the first thing Siân remembers about the day is how cold it was.

“It was bitterly cold, I think it was about minus 20 degrees centigrade that morning,” said Siân. “You wake up and your sleeping bag is frozen and you have to break the ice off.

“Another issue is oxygen, because there is 50 per cent of the oxygen in the air that we have sat here, which makes exerting yourself incredibly difficult.”

Siân had eight hours to reach the peak using axes and ropes, but pushed herself and made it in just six-and-a-half hours.

“The views around you are incredible and enchanting, but when you get to the summit you can’t celebrate too much because, of course, you have to climb all the way back down again,” said Siân. “It was a tough climb so there was a huge sense of relief too.”

Mukot Peak, which is located in a little-trekked valley in Dolpo in West Nepal, was only included in the list of permitted expedition peaks from January this year.

Only mountains that appear on the government list of permitted peaks are allowed to be climbed in Nepal.

Some peaks are not allowed as their summits are considered sacred places while others lie within restricted zones, where Westerners are not allowed.

“Mukot, like a lot of mountains in that region, is a very spiritual place for the Nepalese people and the Sherpas held a Puja ceremony with chanting to appease the mountain gods,” said Siân. “It is something that they take very seriously.”

A Puja is the act of showing reverence to a god, a spirit, or another aspect of the divine through invocations, prayers, songs, and rituals.

“You build up this incredible relationship with your Sherpas because they can’t make it without you and you can’t make it without them,” said Siân. “They are with you the whole time, cooking, cleaning and being your guide so you build up a real bond.”

Mukot Peak was added to the permitted list of expedition peaks from January 2015.

To top the trip off, Siân was greeted by 13 of her friends who flew out with her husband, Mike, to enjoy some more leisurely Himalayan trekking.

“Mike and myself had been out to Nepal 25 years ago and we wanted an excuse to go back!” said Siân. “It has changed dramatically since we were last there. There wasn’t any proper tourist accommodation 25 years ago, you just had to knock on someone’s door and hope that they’d let you stay the night. That was just what you had to do back then.

“There weren’t event any roads back then and now there are proper tracks and roads everywhere.”

The expedition was organised by KE Adventure Travel and Siân sent in her ‘climbing CV’ which includes her biggest climbing achievements and her qualifications.

Siân, who has scaled Mont Blanc twice and conquered the four highest peaks in Morocco with her husband, said she was delighted when she was selected for the journey.

From there, she trained for 18 months to make sure that she was ready for the trip.

Now she is back to running her own business – High Moorside Consulting – which she started in September.

Siân said: “There’s a lot of work involved in running your own business and the thought of it daunted me before. But since climbing Mount Mukot, I feel like I can do anything.”