NATIONAL MOUNTAIN CLIMBING DAY 2022:Â Mountain climbing is one of the most exciting but dangerous outdoor activities that have become increasingly popular in India. August 1 is celebrated as National Mountain Climbing Day in India to honour mountaineers Bobby Mathews and his friend Josh Madigan, who scaled the top of the Adirondack Mountains in New York. Below, we look at five Indian mountaineers who have reached the summits of mountains in recent times.
Piyali Basak
Hailing from Chandernagore in Hooghly district of West Bengal, mountaineer Piyali Basak climbed to the top of Mount Everest on May 22, this year. Piyali, who is a teacher by profession, accomplished this extraordinary feat without any supplemental oxygen till 8, 450 metres. She had to take supplemental oxygen after this point.
Prakriti Varshney
Fashion and graphic designer from Delhi, Prakriti Varshney, became the first vegan woman from India to climb the top of Mount Everest. She reached the summit of Everest on May 12 this year, at 5.53 AM and stayed there for 45 mins before beginning her return journey.
Baljeet Kaur
Hailing from Solan in Himachal Pradesh, Baljeet Kaur became the first Indian woman to scale four 8,000 metre peaks in 25 days this year. Her record hasn’t been broken yet. Priyanka Mohite, from Satara district of Maharashtra, has also scaled five mountains that are above 8,000 metres tall but it took her a number of years to achieve that.
Advait Bhartia
Pune’s Advait Bhartia was just nine years old when he reached the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, Africa, on July 31, 2019. He reached his destination in seven days, guided by Samir Patham, his expedition leader and Director at Adventure Pulse, a trekking company from Pune.
Ravindra Kumar
Ravindra Kumar, an Indian Administrative Service (IAS) Officer who works in the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation, climbed Mount Everest on May 23, this year. He is the only IAS officer till date to climb Everest. He carried water from Ganges with him and conveyed the message that Indians need to stop water wastage, water pollution and save rivers.
