Teen from Hyderabad scales new heights

Hyderabad: Kids these days have ample opportunities to learn the hard skills necessary for backcountry play. In a quest to expand her horizon, Muriki Pulakita Hasvi, a 13-year-old from Hyderabad, recently scaled Mount Kilimanjaro (5,895 metres). Having undergone rigorous training for four months in the city, the ninth grader braved bad weather conditions to reach […]

Hyderabad: Kids these days have ample opportunities to learn the hard skills necessary for backcountry play. In a quest to expand her horizon, Muriki Pulakita Hasvi, a 13-year-old from Hyderabad, recently scaled Mount Kilimanjaro (5,895 metres). Having undergone rigorous training for four months in the city, the ninth grader braved bad weather conditions to reach the summit.

“My training schedule was very tough. I walked long distances with my bag and weights tied to my legs. A week before I had to leave for the expedition, I walked almost the whole night — from 11.30 pm to 5 am. Mt Kilimanjaro’s final climb to the summit generally starts late in the night, so this walk helped me there. To increase my endurance I also cycled for 100 km. Initially, it was tough. But being a sportsperson, I have learnt not to quit,” shares Hasvi.

Covering a difficult trek of five days, Hasvi had to make some very tough decisions during her climb.

“I was joined by five other people during our climb. We started at 1.30 am and the weather kept getting worse. The visibility was almost zero and the temperatures also dropped. The trek to the summit takes about 16 hours. Somewhere around the afternoon, three of our team members decided to go back to the base camp as they were finding it difficult to go further. I was asked if I would want to go back. I thought about my parents and decided to carry on. Only three of us made it to the summit. It was very challenging, but worth the effort,” she says.

A national roller skating champion, Hasvi has scaled Mt Nangakarshang (5010m) in Nepal and trekked to the base camp of Mt Everest (5360 m) earlier this year.

“The goal is to scale all the summits of the tallest mountains on the seven continents,” shares the little mountaineer, who has already started preparing for her future expeditions. “I plan on scaling Mt Kosciuszko, the tallest peak in Australia — but that is subject to whether the Australian Government re-opens the summit, which is currently closed due to pandemic. Later in 2022, I will be going to Mt Elbrus summit, which is the tallest peak in Europe. I am preparing to climb Mt Everest in 2024,” Hasvi concludes.

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