West Bengal duo scales Asia's highest volcano peak

Mountaineer Satyarup Siddhanta has another feather in his cap by scaling Asia’s highest volcanic peak, Mt Damavand in Iran. He achieved this feat along with Mousumi Khatua.

The 5,609 metre volcanic summit, is Siddhanta’s fourth such expedition and in the process is one step closer to achieving the distinction of scaling seven summits.

On Monday, at around 12.40 pm in Iran (around 1.45 pm India) Siddhanta and Khatua scaled the peak. Another member, Bhaswati Khatua had to stay behind due to time constraints.

Siddhanta, Mousumi and Bhaswati had left for Iran on September 6 to scale Mt Damavand, which is Asia’s highest volcano, and Iran’s highest peak. This morning at around 6 am, they started their trip.

Siddhanta says he has planned two more volcano expeditions in November, and one in January 2019 to achieve his dream of scaling seven volcanic summits.

Previously, he had scaled Mt Everest, as well as the world’s highest volcano Ojos Del Salado in the Andes in South America. He had also scaled seven summits, including one in the South Pole. If he achieves this in January he will become the youngest person (aged 35) in the world to have scaled the seven summits, and seven volcanic summits.

 A patient of chronic asthma since childhood, Siddhantha never dreamt that he would become a successful mountaineer. However, with sheer willpower and hard work, he made his dream come true. Although he has faced several challenges, including the budget, he managed to achieve all his success by raising money through various platforms.

What next after achieving the World Record? He looks at doing an Adventure Grand Slam or the Explorers Grand Slam:   an adventurers' challenge: to reach the north and south pole and climb the Seven Summits.