Malavath Poorna is just one shy of making it perfect seven

Poorna is the first and youngest tribal woman to set foot on six tallest peaks across six continents
Mountaineer Malavath Poorna
Mountaineer Malavath Poorna

HYDERABAD:  Breaking stereotypes, mountaineer Malavath Poorna achieved a rare feat by scaling the six world’s tallest mountains located in six different continents with the 4,987 metres high Mt Vinson Massif, Antarctica’s highest mountain peak, being the latest. She summited Mt Vinson Massif on December 26. She becomes the first and youngest tribal woman in the world to set foot on the six tallest mountain peaks across six continents.

Her next mountain hike will be Mt Denali (North America’s highest mountain peak) in an attempt to make the all seven summits. The 18-year-old tribal girl climbed Mt Everest in 2014 when she was 13 years and 11 months old, setting a world record.Subsequently, she conquered Mt Kilimanjaro (Africa, 2016), Mt Elbrus (Europe, 2017), Mt Aconcagua (South America, 2019) Mt Cartsnez (Oceania region, 2019) and Mt Vinson Massif (Antarctica, 2019).

Poorna is currently pursuing an undergraduate course at the Minnesota State University, USA, as a fellow of the Global Undergraduate Exchange Program, USA. Her parents work as agricultural labourers in a remote Pakala tribal hamlet of Nizamabad (district) in Telangana.Poorna’s journey started with climbing small hills in her tribal hamlet of Pakala. 

With the encouragement, she received from the State Telangana Social Welfare Residential Educational Institutions Society (TSWREIS), she managed to overcome financial and traditional barriers. She is now waiting for the movement to scale the seventh tallest mountain to fulfil her dream. In a message, Poorna expressed her thanks to the Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao and minister for welfare Koppula Eshwar and TSWREIS Secretary Dr RS Praveen Kumar.

She said, “I wouldn’t have achieved mountaineering feats, if not for the solid support of the Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao.” Expressing pleasure, Poorna’s mentor Dr Praveen Kumar said, “Poorna’s expeditions will remain engraved in golden letters in the annals of the world’s mountaineering history. Today, Poorna has become an accomplished world-class mountaineer and pride of Telangana and India, thanks to the State government for extending a promising hand to children from the marginalsed sections of the society under the KG-PG Mission.” He added that the conquest of the formidable world’s tallest mountains by Poorna left an indelible impression on millions of marginalised children, particularly girls across the world.

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