KOLHAPUR: A 19-year-old mountaineer from Kolhapur, Kasturi Savekar, successfully summitted the Mt. Manaslu, eighth highest mountain in the world at a height of 8,163 metres.
Her father, Deepak Savekar, said Kasturi set out for the summit on September 4. After two rotations, she started climbing on September 25. She reached Camp 2 on Sunday (September 26), then reached Camp 3 on Monday (September 27). She started climbing again at night and reached the top of Manaslu in Nepal on Tuesday morning (September 28) and waved the Indian flag with pride.
He added that this year in March, Kasturi received a setback as due to strong winds, she had to call off her Mount Everest quest from camp 4, when she was only 200 metre away from the summit. After successfully scaling Mt Manaslu, she has again set her eyes on the Mount Everest Summit in the year 2022.
Kasturi's mountaineering guide Dr Amar Adake said, “The challenges of the eight thousand-plus height peaks are different. Biting cold, more than 60 km/hour winds, snowfall, and climbing in extremely rugged terrain with only 1% to 2% oxygen level in the air is a miraculous feat. There are a total of 14 peaks in the world, which are 8,000 metres or more in height. Kasturi is the youngest climber from Kolhapur to wave the tricolour on Mount Manaslu. Kasturi has shown that big dreams can be achieved and looking at her, many young climbers from the Sahyadri region will get inspired to conquer the mighty Himalayas.”
Kasturi’s father Deepak Savekar is a four wheeler mechanic, while mother Manasvini Savekar is a home maker. Kasturi started trekking at a young age.
Deepak Savekar recalled that Kasturi faced a lot of hurdles due to the Covid situation.
“After overcoming many difficulties due to the Covid pandemic, she left for Everest on March 14 this year, but the heavy winds and snowfall on Everest played spoilsport. For safety, her team had to come down from Camp 4 our to Camp 3 and again to Camp 2 and finally eave the summit,” he said.
