Krishna Patil on Thursday became the first Maharashtrian woman to conquer the world's highest peak, Mount Everest.
Eleven Indians did the country proud on Thursday by scaling Mt Everest in the 50th anniversary year of the first Indian expedition to the peak.
Ten climbers, among them a 24-year-old woman from the Nehru Institute of Mountaineering, Uttarkashi, reached the summit early in the morning. Within an hour they were followed by Pune’s Krushnaa Patil, 19, who was part of the international Eco Everest Expedition 2009. The leader of Patil’s team, Apa Sherpa, reached the summit for a record 19th time.
Patil is only the second Maharashtrian woman, and the youngest, to climb Everest. The first Maharashtrian to conquer the peak was Surendra Chavan, also from Pune, who was part of a 1998 expedition.
Patil’s mother was on cloud nine when news of her daughter’s feat reached her. “My daughter is one of the youngest to scale Everest. I just can’t express how happy I am. Krushnaa has made the nation proud,” said Ranjana Patil without a trace of tiredness in her voice despite being flooded with calls from journalists.
Ranjana said her daughter has always had an adventurous streak, and had been trekking and mountaineering since she was in the fourth standard. “She completed basic adventure and advance training courses from the Nehru Institute of Mountaineering, Uttarkashi, fetching As in all the subjects.”
Patil reached the Everest summit at 7:10 am. Including her, only seven from an initial team of 17, led by Sherpa, completed the mission. The team started from base camp in Nepal, reaching camp 1 on May 17, camp 2 May 18, camp 3 May 19 and camp 4 on May 20, before embarking on the last mountain stretch.
But for her father, Patil might not have been able to join the expedition. When she was not able to find a sponsor, her father, Madhav, procured a bank loan of Rs30 lakh to finance her climb. Thursday evening, he was a contented man.
Patil, along with the rest of her team, is expected to reach base camp within two days. “If she feels like it,” her mother said, “she will cycle from Kathmandu to Kolkata.”
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