Karnataka : Kundapur lad sets sights on Mt. Kanchenjunga

Harshad Rao
Harshad Rao

This 29-year-old has made a habit out of scaling peaks. On May 21 last year, Harshad Rao summited the Mount Everest at 8.20 am, and is now aiming to scale the Mt Kanchenjunga, which he will be climbing around May next year.

Mt Kanchenjunga (8586m/28,169ft) referred to as the ‘treasure of the snow’ is the highest peak of India. Rao will take the Nepal route and attempt this extremely tough climb. The software graduate will also give his climb a unique tech touch. He will adapt Live Location Tracking (LLT) system during his climb. “This will help track my climb real time on Google Maps. This is going to be done for the first time in civilian Indian mountaineering history,” he said.

The total budget for Rao’s expedition is about Rs 20 lakh and he is currently working on the permissions and logistics for the expedition in form of oxygen, food and equipment. He is practising long-distance running, cycling and yoga. It is going to be a 60-day expedition along with an international team. He will soon be practising in the hyperbaric chamber in Pune.

“I am working towards it mentally and physically. The peak remains unclimbed in this year and in 2016. In 1988, mountaineers from India attempted to climb Mt Kachenjunga, but fell short of the summit. The summit is definitely technically difficult because of the presence of soft snow on its route. The death ratio is also higher than Mr Everest,” he said.

Rao hails from Ardi village of Kundapur in Udupi district. He gave up his job for the sake of the Mt Everest expedition, which was a tough one especially because his oxygen mask developed a leak. He developed an interest in mountaineering after going on treks regularly. He got formally trained from the Nehru Institute of Mountaineering in Uttar Kashi and the Himalayan Mountaineering Institute. In 2009, he climbed the Jaonli peak (6632 mt) and Jogin 1 and 3 in 2011. He had also undertaken a cycling expedition from Pune to Kanyakumari.

source: http://www.bangaloremirror.indiatimes.com / Bangalore Mirror / Home> News> State / by Deepthi Sanjiv, Bangalore Mirror Bureau / December 21st, 2017

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