BENGALURU: If you think that Covid-19 warriors are only health care professionals, think again. There were many who quit their jobs to become dedicated Covid-19 warriors. Now, as the travel restrictions have eased, they’re all set to pursue their dreams. One such person is 34-year-old Naveen Mallesh, the founder of TrekNomads, a Bengaluru-based startup .
Mallesh was chosen from the Karnataka StartUp Cell to work as a Covid-19 warrior. In March 2020, he was assigned the role of an incharge of volunteers for South Zone Covid War Room.
On Friday, he climbed Mt.Elbrus ( 5,642 mts), the highest and most prominent peak in Russia and Europe. He has dedicated his ascent of Mt. Elbrus to all the Covid-19 warriors in the State.Speaking from the base camp of Mt Elbrus, Mallesh told TNIE, that he’s the only person from Bengaluru and Karnataka to have summited the mountain, during the pandemic.
“It is my dream to scale all the mountains in seven continents. I had climbed Mt.Kilimanjaro in October 2019 and wanted to climb Elbrus in 2020, but could not do so owing to the pandemic. But now, as the restrictions have eased, I decided to start again,” he said. Narrating his journey, Mallesh said, “I underwent a two-month training and practice sessions in Kashmir before going to Russia. I was the only one from here (Karnataka) and was accompanied by three Russians. Since this was the end of the season for Mt.
Elbrus expedition, I had to rush. The protocols followed in Russia were a shocker to me. I was cordoned off for about three hours before getting the clearance. Then, I went to Mineralnye Vody and met my trek guide. Eventually, we travelled to the base camp of Mt. Elbrus.”
To acclimatise with the climate, two treks were conducted before setting off at 1 am on Friday to reach the summit. It took him nine hours to reach the peak.