Nepal, Today early morning, when most of us were steering from our sleep, 24 year old Sheetal from Pithoragarh, Uttarakhand unfurled the tri-colour atop Mount Everest, creating history.
Just 25 days ago, enroute to Everest, this young lady updated :
“Finally reached Everest base camp. I am living the dream & will be heading for camp 2 for acclimatization cycle tonight.
Thank you once again for all the love & support…”
Standing tall at 8,848 mtrs, Sheetal accompanied by another fellow climber, 42-year-old Canadian lady along with three Sherpas, summited the peak early morning, putting India on the world map of mountaineering.
Known by her fellow climbers as someone who has a passion for high altitude, extreme temperatures, low oxygen and high velocity winds, Sheetal did not disappoint anyone. An advocate for gender equality, she took along with her UN SGD flag as well to unfurl on Mt. Everest, which is 8,848m above sea level.
Smitten by the peak which represents the purest form of wonder and magnificence of nature, Sheetal set out on the daring task on the 13th of May this year when the team of five made their way to Camp two at 03:00 hrs early morning. On the 14th they moved to Camp 3, and successfully completed the ascent from Camp 3 to Camp 4.
Yesterday when we were calling it a day at 20:00hrs Sheetal along with her teammates started the final climb to the summit. After over ten hours of climbing she and her teammate successfully scaled today early morning.
Sharing the wonderful news, Yogesh Garbiyal, an accomplished mountaineer and Sheetal’s guide, mentor and trainer tells us, “I dint have even an iota of doubt in terms of her capabilities at extreme altitudes. It’s all about weather since she left India. You won’t believe and nobody will believe looking at her stature unless you see her climb at that altitudes.”
Telling us more about the young prodigy Yogesh lets us know how, “Sheetal trained for months on end at an altitude of 3000m-5500m at Darma and Vyas Valley bordering Pithoragarh, which put her endurance and technical agility to test,” adding, “Sheetal also went to Leh in the dead of winter for winter conditioning, training in deep snow conditions carrying 20 kg + loads, 8-9 hours daily.”
In 2018, the young mountaineer claimed the coveted title of being the Youngest Woman Mountaineer in the World to summit Mount Kanchenjunga in April 2018.
Despite achieving international feat the State government was oblivious to her laurels and did little to help her in any which way. Sheetal tried hard to win the attention of various national, international organizations, institutions, corporate homes in time to get funds together for her Everest Expedition 2019.
But all is well that ends well and sure enough today Uttarakhand has another Youth-Icon whom they will proudly call their own.
