Telangana mountaineer and CEO of Bhongir Rock Climbing School Anvitha Reddy became the first Indian woman to reach the True Summit of Mt Manaslu in Nepal.
Telangana's Anvitha Reddy became the first Indian woman to reach the True Summit of Mt Manaslu in Nepal. (Supplied)
Mountaineer Anvitha Reddy Padamati is in news yet again. This time, it is for becoming the first Indian woman to reach the True Summit of Mount Manaslu — the world’s eighth-highest mountain (8,163 metres) — in Nepal.
And this, the 24-year-old claimed, was the toughest of all her treks to date. Extreme weather and other conditions, like avalanches, heavy snowfall, temporarily-closed crevasses, temperatures hovering at around -35 degrees, winds blowing at 30-40 km per hour, and a 50-metre-long narrow ridge made the 17-day trek quite demanding for her.
“Around 100 people started the trek on 11 September at base camp 1 (5,400 m). However, after an avalanche killed two and severely injured four people near camp 3 (7,100 m) on 27 September, only four to six climbers decided to finish the True Summit the next day,” Anvitha told South First.
The summit point was fixed 50 m below the actual height of Mt Manaslu until May 2021 due to a narrow ridge that posed a threat to the climbers. It was, however, fixed at the actual height recently. Hence the name: True Summit.
Anvitha reached the peak at 9.30 am on 28 September, after about a 19-hour climb from camp 3, and became the first Indian woman to achieve this remarkable feat.
“I’ve planned to climb seven mountains in the seven continents in one-and-half years. Now that I’ve already climbed three, the next treks will begin in December,” she revealed.
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Anvitha Reddy with a fellow climber. (Supplied)
A resident of Bhongir in Telangana, Anvitha is quite an ordinary girl with a humble background. However, her zeal and willpower helped her pursue her dream — to become a mountaineer — against all odds.
Her father Madhusudan Reddy is a farmer and her mother Chandrakala is an anganwadi worker. Her sister is settled in Australia. The youngster discovered a passion for rock climbing in her first year of Intermediate.
“I used to climb the rocks at the Bhongir Fort at weekends and attend college on weekdays. I didn’t realise it when I fell in love with the adrenaline rush, but I was sure that this was what I wanted to do,” she recalled.
Little did she know that the unconventional path she chose to tread would shape her journey through life. And needless to say, convincing her parents wasn’t an easy task.
“I pleaded with my parents persistently for a week. They acquiesced after meeting my coach Shekhar Babu Bachinepally from the Rock Climbing School in Bhongir. And I promised that I wouldn’t neglect my studies. This was in 2015.”
Anvitha Reddy at one of Mt Manaslu’s camps. (Supplied)
Anvitha joined a local degree college so she could practise rock climbing on the weekends. She completed the Basic Mountaineering Course at the Himalayan Mountaineering Institute (HMI) in Darjeeling in 2015 and took a three-year break to finish her graduation.
“I joined the Andhra Mahila Sabha in Hyderabad to pursue MBA in 2019, which was when I convinced our college’s Director Vijaya Lakshmi to grant me a month’s leave to complete the Advance Mountaineering Course. She was quite supportive and encouraging, especially in finding sponsors for my treks,” she reminisced.
As part of the advanced course, Anvitha climbed Mt BC Roy (around 5,500 m) located near HMI in Darjeeling in September, her first expedition, which she claimed left an indelible mark on her.
“I had to spend almost a week at the height of 1,800 feet during the course and one night changed my life forever. The starry sky with a blue glow and the crystal-clear mountain peaks in the darkness of the night was the view of a lifetime. It was then that I resolved to become a mountaineer,” she said with a smile.
She has never looked back since. The 24-year-old has so far climbed several mountains, including:
Anvitha Reddy atop Mt Manaslu. (Supplied)
Anvitha joined the Bhongir Rock Climbing School as a junior instructor as she couldn’t afford to buy the necessary gear — now being sponsored by Transcend Adventures in Hyderabad, which trained and prepared renowned mountaineer Poorna Malavath.
She is now the CEO of the School and has trained over 10,000 people — mostly children — to date.
Being an adventure sport, mountaineering isn’t recognised by governments. As a result, climbers are compelled to look for sponsors.
“Finding a sponsor is a key issue and the toughest task for a climber. Only two out of 100 agree to sponsor treks, and not many can take the ‘No’ in their stride,” Anvitha explained.
Further, maintaining proper physical and mental health apart from upgrading oneself is quintessential for mountaineers.
Anvitha has been visiting Ladakh for the past three years for the latest technical know-how and gear.
Her rigorous fitness schedule includes three-four days of rock climbing with about 16 kg of load, revising climbing techniques, boosting shoulder and muscle strength, and following a stricter diet regime.
“Being an instructor, it’s essential for me to upgrade my skills. And as a mountaineer, I often need to test my sustainability, physical, mental and medical well-being.”
Anvitha Reddy with fellow mountaineer atop Mt Manaslu. (Supplied)
Since this is an expensive affair, and quite a risky one, too, there aren’t many women climbers in India, especially down South.
“We can find sponsors easily if our governments recognise mountaineering as a sport. Rock climbing is more than just an adventure sport. It builds confidence, inculcates life skills, and helps face problems. While physical stamina is important, the mental posture one maintains in the face of death is what rock climbing teaches us,” she pointed out.
Advising prospective women mountaineers to push their limits and not give up, Anvitha cited her experiences from the summits: “I saw several corpses atop Mount Everest. Some of them had been there for eight-nine years. It was a scary sight, but I didn’t turn back. I wouldn’t have accomplished the Mt Manaslu feat had I returned home after the avalanche.”
However, she admitted that it was a gamble with death. “It’s true that our families won’t get to perform our last rites if we die there. But what makes the trek and the risk worthy is the contentment that we are pursuing our dream,” she said.
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