Hyderabad teen scales Seven Summits challenge
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Hyderabad: City lad Padakakanti Vishwanath Karthikey made history on Tuesday by becoming the second youngest in the world and the youngest Indian to complete the Seven Summits challenge — scaling the highest peaks in each of the seven continents.
Considered the toughest of mountaineering expeditions, Vishwanath scaled
Mount Everest
, the final frontier, to complete the remarkable achievement aged 16 years, six months and 27 days.
American mountaineer Jordan Romero, at 15 years, five months and 12 days, holds the world record for the youngest to complete Seven Summits, which he achieved in 2011. Vishwanath had scaled Aconcagua (highest peak in South America), Denali (North America), Mount Elbrus (Europe), Kilimanjaro (Africa) and Mount Kosciuszko (Australia) earlier.
But for the new rule that prevents those below 16 from scaling Everest, Vishwanath could have had the world record in his bag, reckon his mentors Bharath Thammineni and Lt Romil Barthwal.
"Vishwanath had to turn 16 to complete this final trek to achieve Seven Summits," Bharat told TOI from the base camp in Kathmandu, Nepal. "He has been training for this for the last four years and worked very hard to achieve it. He has been very committed in his training," he added.
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Lt Barthwal and Vishwanath are on their way back to the base camp.
An intermediate MPC second year student at Resonance College, Vishwanath's interest in mountaineering began as an 11-year-old in 2020 when he forced his parents to allow him and his sister Vaishnavi to trek Mount Rudugaira in Uttarakhand. Though he couldn't finish the trek, it motivated him to take up mountaineering seriously.
He then attended a 10-day adventure course at the Nehru Institute of Mountaineering to learn essential skills.
He first attempted to scale Europe's highest peak Mount Elbrus aged 13, but had to return as one of his teammates fainted. But he went on to conquer the Everest Base Camp trek, Nangkartshang Peak (5,364m), and tackled Friendship Peak, gaining priceless trekking and mountaineering experience. He also scaled Kang Yatse II and Dzo Jongo within 72 hours, becoming the youngest to do so.
"This journey tested every part of me — physically, mentally, and emotionally," said Vishwanath.
"But standing on the summit of Everest and completing the Seven Summits is a dream come true. I am deeply grateful for the love and support I've received throughout this journey," Vishwanath said.
He dedicated his achievement to his parents — Padakanti Rajendra Prasad and Laxmi. While his father Rajendra runs a rice mill in Gummadidala, his mother Laxmi is a homemaker.
Vishwanath has been pursuing his dream of Seven Summits for five years and has been putting the hard yards under the guidance of Bharath and Lt Barthwal, who is an Indian army veteran and an accomplished mountaineer.
"We were impressed with his dedication. Whenever we chose any expedition for him, we assigned him to a trainer. He would then work on his strength training, endurance and cardio. He would put in hours of hard work for his goal," added Bharath.
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