13-year-old Jaahnavi is all set to conquer Seven Summits despite no sponsorship from government or corporate world

It’s a classic case of indefatigable spirit taking precedence over indifference by way of sponsorship. Thirteen-year-old Jaahnavi Sriperamubuduru has decided to embark on what she feels the toughest of all the journeys to fulfil her dream of scaling the Seven Summits despite no support from either the corporate world or the Telangana State government.

This city girl hailing from Alwal, who created a world record by climbing Stok Kangri peak in Leh, Ladakh (6,125m) and Mt. Kilimanjaro in Africa (5,895m) last year, is aiming to be the youngest mountaineer of the world to climb the Seven Summits from India and TS.

“I am ready for the challenge. This is not the time to crib about lack of sponsorship. My focus is already on how to scale the summit,” says the confident youngster. She has already managed to raise personal loans and contributions from a couple of individuals to meet the total cost of Rs. 8 lakh. Her school – Pallavi Progressive High School (Alwal) – too has come forward to take care of a major chunk of the cost.

Jaahnavi is planning to complete three summits of her ‘Mission7 Summit’ by the end of this year to become the youngest ever from India to achieve this feat.

After successfully climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro and Mt. Everest earlier, she will be attempting Mt. Elbrus in Russia (July), Aconcagua in South America (August), Mt. McKinley in North America (September), Mt. Kosciuszko in Australia (October) and then special training to master skiing in Switzerland before the last summit in Antarctica Mt. Vinson Massif (November).

“We will be going to Russia to climb Mt. Elbrus (5,642m) and will be attempting the traverse route from south to north side,” points the articulate mountaineer, also youngest girl from India to scale Mt. Kilimanjaro last year. “I wish to fulfil my dream by 2016. My stint with the professional mountaineering training at Himalayan Mountaineering Institute, Darjeeling, has been of a big help,” she says.

Unlike climbers who after reaching a peak follow the same route back to the base camp, she likes to take the ‘Traverse Route’, means trekking along the ridge of the mountain. It takes, if weather is good, a minimum of eight days to return to the base camp,” she reveals.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Hyderabad / by V.V.Subrahmanyam / Hyderabad – July 22nd, 2015