The total financial outlay for the Everest project was around ₹1.8 million. Mamta collected the money by way of contributions from several agencies and individuals such as Haryana state government (₹300,000), PWD Minister, Randeep Singh Surjewala (₹51,000), Kurukshetra member of parliament, Navin Jindal (₹500,000}, District Police Commissioner Amneet P Kumar (₹250,000) and various others and the project started in April 2010, with the encouragement of previous Everest climbers Bachendri Pal and Santosh Yadav. The expedition team consisted of 13 members, of which nine mountaineers were from United States, Denmark, Switzerland and Australia and the remaining four from India, including 16-year-old Arjun Vajpai. The team was led by the legendary Apa Sherpa, who held the world record of 19 successful climbs of Mount Everest. The team spent 40 days at Khumbu Glacier, where the team had set up their base camp, for acclimatisation. The route was the traditional South Col route in Nepal. The team, after periodic stop overs at three or four camps en route, finally reached the top around 20 May 2010. At 10.24 am, on 22 May, 2010, Mamta Sodha summited Mount Everest.