Youth scales Chamundi Hills in less than 10 minutes

Climbing over 1,000 steps to the summit of Chamundi Hills is in itself an arduous task. But, doing it in less than 10 minutes is quite an achievement.

Twenty-one-year-old K.S. Rajesh reached the hilltop in nine minutes and 56 seconds during the Stepping of Chamundi Hills competition held as part of Dasara Sports here.

The 1,008 steps leading to the summit of the Chamundi Hills are considered steep, uneven and challenging even by fitness enthusiasts, who scale it to keep themselves fit.

Mr. Rajesh, a native of Maddur in Mandya district, in his maiden attempt at climbing the Chamundi Hills, raced past Rahul and Krishna, who came second and third respectively, and took home a cash prize of Rs. 5,000.

A student of M.Com at SDM College in Dharmasthala, Mr. Rajesh is an athlete and has represented the University of Mysore at the Inter-University Cross Country race. “I regularly practice for cross country races and used to run 10-km and five-km races,” he told The Hindu on Monday.

Muniraju, coordinator for the Stepping of Chamundi Hills competition held on Saturday, said a total of 92 persons participated in the event, which was categorised into men, women, junior (below 16 years), seniors.

In the women’s category, Meghana, an athlete, who is in her twenties, came first by reaching the hilltop in 13 minutes. She beat Sowmya Savanti and Pratima, who came second and third, respectively.

‘Regular climbers’

“Quite a few competitors who turned up for the event were regular climbers,” said Mr. Muniraju. Sixty-five-year-old M.N. Sadashiv, who won the race in the senior (men) category by reaching the summit in a little over 16 minutes, was a regular climber. So was 48-year-old Mamatha, who completed the race in about 17 minutes, added Mr. Muniraju.

About 60 to 70 participants climbed all the 1,008 steps, he said.

Mr. Muniraju said a few volunteers carrying water and juice were positioned midway and at the top to come to the aid of participants. Races for different categories were conducted in batches, he added.