ONGOLE: Scaling snow-capped Turkey’s Great Mount Ararat, one of the world’s highest and troublesome mountains, Akshaj Udaiwal has made international headlines by becoming the youngest boy in the world to perform this feat when he was just eight-year-old.
Often referred as ‘Mountain Boy’, Akshaj was a native of Ongole and has been residing in Mascot with his parents. Beginning his journey in 2021, class 3 student Akshaj scaled many great heights and etched his name in many records. The young lad has successfully scaled Chandrashila Summit, which is 4,000m high located in Uttarakhand on December 29, 2021 and received ‘Honour of Appreciation’ from India Book of Records.
In 2022, Akshaj reached the pinnacle of Mount Nangkartshang, which is 5,077m high located in the Everest region of Nepal and was honoured with the title ‘Youngest to climb this mountain in Asia’ by Asia Book of Records. He also secured a spot in the India Book of Records and he was just 6 years and 11 months old at that time. Later, in the same year he went on to reach Mount Everest Base Camp in Nepal and once again etched his name in the India Book of Records for being the youngest. Expressing determination, the boy aims to complete the Annapurna Base Camp climbing in Nepal by the end of 2024.
Recalling the successful journey of his grandson, retired APTransco superintending engineer Venkata Ramana said that Akshaj Udaiwal and his mother Anuradha Velagapudi began their journey to Mount Ararat via Istanbul on September 1 and reached 3,200m height on September 2. Unable to reach the next camp due to bad weather conditions, they successfully reached the final base camp which is 4,200m above mean sea-level on September 4 and hoisted the Indian flag on the Great Mount Ararat.
“The temperature was -5 degree celsius and due to strong gales, the temperature further dropped to -11 degree celsius. But the persistence and determination of Akshaj has moved him forward and helped him scale the summit,” Venkata Ramana explained.Little Akshaj claims that mountaineering comes naturally to him and he feels a deep sense of exhilaration as he fearlessly explores the natural terrains of the Indian subcontinent and in Oman, he added.
This little ‘Mountain Boy’ achieved all the above accolades under the mentorship of the Indian Army retired Colonel Pradeep Bist, SM who initially identified Akshaj’s unique ability in climbing and trained him in honing his mountaineering skills which helped Akshaj in successfully scaling several mountains including Chandra-shila summit in Uttarakhand.