Pune Mountaineer Achieves Remarkable Feat on Mount Sudarshan

A team of five women from Pune, including Smita Kariwadekar, Purva Shinde, Padmaja Dhanvi, Sneha Gude, and Sneha Talwatkar, achieved a remarkable feat by scaling Mount Sudarshan, a challenging peak standing at 6,529 meters in the Garhwal Himalayas. Trained at a renowned mountaineering club in Pune, these mountaineers embarked on an arduous journey, facing treacherous terrain, rivers, steep climbs, and crevasses to reach the summit.

Smita Kariwadekar, one of the Pune-based mountaineers, went on to hoist the Tricolour and the Maharashtra flag atop Mount Sudarshan, becoming the first to reach the summit. The team had to endure over 13 hours of continuous climbing, overcoming unpredictable weather conditions, rockfalls, and avalanches along the way. Due to deteriorating weather and safety concerns, four of the five women decided to return to the camp a few meters below the summit.

However, Smita Kariwadekar pressed on, accompanied by Gyalbo Sherpa and three instructors from the Nehru Institute of Mountaineering. On Wednesday, at 12:45 pm, she successfully raised both the national and Maharashtra flags on the summit. Umesh Zirpe, a seasoned mountaineer and a mentor, praised the team’s dedication, emphasizing that the ascent of Mount Sudarshan posed not only physical and mental challenges but also demanded the ability to navigate ever-changing weather conditions and treacherous terrain.

Re-reported from the article originally published in The Indian Express