Poorna thrilled at scaling Everest

New Delhi: Young Poorna Malavath is thrilled at the feat she accomplished of being the youngest girl to scale Mount Everest. The 13-year-old Poorna and the 16-year-old S Anand Kumar, first Dalit and in Class XI, both interacted with the media at the Andhra Pradesh Bhavan in the capital to share their experiences in accomplishing the feat of scaling Mount Everest.

Poorna said it was at the Bhongir Rock Climbing School that she first heard about the Mount Everest and got the idea for the first time to scale the heights. After seeing the videos of mountaineering expeditions, she was inspired to undertake the expedition.

Recalling the problems she confronted, she said the biggest problem was food as she never liked packed food. Her first exposure was at the Bhongir Rock Climbing School. Later, she had been to the Himalayan Mountaineering Institute in Darjeeling. It was in Darjeeling that she faced the first problem of coping with the cold climate. Anand Kumar said, “I feel proud that as an Indian, I scaled the Mount Everst and hoisted the national flag and took atop the photos of Babasaheb B R Ambedkar and S R Sankaran,” he said.

Narrating his experiences, Anand Kumar said they went to Nepal, which is a beautiful country. The Sherpas accompanied us to the base camp, from where the trekking commenced. With temperature as low as -30 degrees, first of all they had to get acclimatise to the weather, before setting out on the venture. He said his parents encouraged him and they had full faith that he would achieve honours.