The journey goes on, unmindful of the innumerable hurdles that come on the way, for 14-year-old Jaahnavi Sriperambuduru. On being part of the Mission7Summit (scaling the seven highest mountain peaks in the world) which she will embark on Thursday, she says scaling the summit in North America’s highest peak at 6,190 metres – Mt. Denali, also known as Mt. McKinley – is one of her most challenging adventures.
“Scaling Mt. Denali is extremely difficult and dangerous compared to Mt. Everest. The fact that there are only five Indians who have made it to its top, you can imagine the difficulty I am gong to face. The success rate is just 50 per cent because of the strong winds at 120 kmph,” says Jaahnavi.
Significantly, unlike in the past, Jaahnavi will be climbing this peak solo as her mentor-cum-coach father Krishna Rao is not well and cannot accompany her.
And, this daring youngster too wants to spread the message about cancer awareness and girl child empowerment through her adventure trips.
With just one sponsor (Mytrah Energy), Jaahnavi has decided to take up the challenge mostly through self-financing, and is keen on realising the goal which many cannot even dare to dream of.
One of the many records set by the gritty young girl includes climbing Stok Kangri in Leh which is 20,080 ft. (6,125 mts.) at the age of 12. She will be the youngest mountaineer of the world to climb the Seven Summits.
“The schedule was to complete two of the Seven Summits, and two practice climbs in different parts of the North India. But, due to financial constraints, I was not able to achieve that,” she says. For the record, Jaahnavi has covered three continents out of her #Mission7Summit.
“My target is to complete all the summits by next year-end. I know it is not going to be easy especially on the financial front, though Dhatri Advertising too is chipping in for my cause,” she said.
