CHENNAI: For adventure seekers, the lure of Everest is too strong to be ignored. Even fear of death can’t deter them from conquering the world’s highest peak and defy extreme conditions that mortals have to survive to reach the top.
Every now and then, a regular narrative turns either into a story of great triumph or a sordid tale of tragedy.
Last week while four unknown teenagers from Andhra Pradesh Social Welfare Residential School managed to summit the peak, Ravi Kumar of Moradabad, Uttar Pradesh, lost his way and perished in the weather.
After going missing on his way back from a successful summit, he was declared dead last week. The body was spotted near balcony area after a fall (of around 200m). According to reports, his body was handed over to the Indian embassy.
The story of the other four youngsters, including two girls from Andhra Pradesh, can be preserved in the annals of mountaineering history of the state.
Sandhya Bhai Vadithe is from Guntur district, Hari Prasad Ganugapenta from Kadapa, Sundar Raju Repalle from Kurnool and Rani Boddu is from West Godavari. The common thread that binds them together is poverty.
If Sandhya and Sundar Raju are children of farmers, Rani and Hari’s parents are daily wage labourers. The four youngsters were trained and sponsored by the Social Welfare Department of the Andhra Pradesh government. Though all are studying in Class XII, Rani is the youngest at 18.
Speaking to The Sunday Standard, expedition leader and coach B Shekar Babu said that the weather conditions were bad.
“Our first summit took place peacefully, even though it got postponed from May 10 to May 13. Later, the second summit was also great but while returning to the base camp, the weather turned violent. Even for the third and last summit, what we planned has been a little hectic due to heavy snowfall and high winds.”