Just Rs 2.5 crore short of becoming the youngest woman to scale Seven Summits

Jaahnavi Sriperambaduru’s mountaineering exploits are the stuff legends are made of. That the 15-year-old Hyderabadi is the youngest Indian to have scaled four of the Seven Summits — highest mountains of each of the seven continents — is public knowledge. But not many know that she conquered three of these four peaks after her father, who’s also her coach, was diagnosed with cancer in 2015.She was all of 13 years and prepping to become the youngest Asian to climb Europe’s highest mountain, Mt Elbrus, when the shocking discovery of her father’s cancer was made. “It was a few months before we were supposed to take off for the trek. The news came as a shock. My father was going to accompany me for the trek but he was forced to opt out after being diagnosed with lung cancer. However, he insisted that I go ahead and complete the trek,” recalls Jaahnavi, who went on to complete the trek braving the snowy wilderness of Russia. “It was my first solo trip, but I
managed to survive the cold wind and fatigue and finished the climb in just 12 days,” she adds.
Jaahnavi’s father, Krishna Rao breaks into a smile listening to his daughter. “She a special child, a million-dollar kid, if ever there was one,” exclaims the 50-year-old. His battle with cancer makes for a very inspiring story in itself. “Doctors told me then that I was in the last stage and they did not give me more than six months. But I proved them wrong.
Seeing my girl scale the highest peaks of the world gives me all the strength I need to fight cancer and keep going,” says the resident of Alwal, who accompanied Jaahnavi when she led India’s largest contingent of 28 school kids to Everest Base Camp situated 5,364 meters above sea level on the eve of Diwali.
A high altitude rescuer by profession, Krishna Rao introduced Jaahnavi to mountaineering. “I would take her along when I took students for trekking expeditions from the time she was barely three,” shares Krishna. Jaahnavi nods in agreement and confesses that mountain peaks beckoned her from her childhood. “My father is my mentor and guide, he trained me from the time I was just three years old, and also accompanied me on my treks all these years. My mother, Saraswati also stood by me. I owe everything to the my parents,” says Jaahnavi.
Her first high altitude trek was to the Roopkund in Uttarkhand, when she was just eight. Four years later, she became the youngest Asian to reach Kilimanjaro (5895 Mts) in October 2014 at the age of 12. “The trek lasted 15 days and I experienced four different climate zones before reaching the summit. It was a sight to behold. The snow-capped mountain is just 322 km away from equator and its tallest peak, Kibo is a dormant volcano,” she recalls.
This expedition turned the spot light on her when a team from Guardian flew in from London to report the feat by the Indian girl. Overnight, she became a celebrity mountaineer of sorts. Next, she scaled the Mt Elbrus (5,642 meters) in July 2015. Kosciusko, the highest peak in Australia was her next summit, which she completed in one week besides accomplishing the Aussie 10 challenge (climbing 10 tallest mountains of Australia) in just four days in December 2015. But, Denali (McKinley) trek in July of last year in remote Alaska remains the hardest climb for the teenager, to date. “Fortunately, my father accompanied me on this arduous 25-day trip. The place was so remote and without even the faintest sign of civilisation that many Americans themselves have no idea about it. The landscape was so grim and completely filled with snow,” says Jaahnavi.
“We had to take a chartered flight equipped with sledges to land on snow to reach the Kahiltna Glacier Base camp. We had to tie ourselves to ropes all the time as avalanches are so common,” adds Rao.
With an elevation of 20,156 feet (6,144 meters), the highest mountain of North America is one of the harshest terrains in the world. “Walking on the slippery slopes of the peak was the most dangerous thing I’ve ever done. The sun never sets for six months in Arctic and for the first time I saw the incredible spectacle of the sun and moon standing side by side in the sky. The glare was so strong that, I had to wear sunglasses even inside the tent to escape from sun-blindness.
I also had to battle sleeplessness,” says the mountaineer.
Her doting dad is determined to support her until his last breath. His greatest dream is to see Jaahnavi become the youngest woman to complete the Grand Slam — an adventurers challenge to reach North Pole, South Pole and all of the Seven Summits! Jaahnavi has scaled Mt. Kilimanjaro (Africa), Mt. Elbrus (Europe), Mt. Kosciuszko (Australia) and Mt. Denali (North America) so far and has three left — Everest (Asia), Aconcagua
(South America) and Vinson Massif (Antarctica).
Fulfilling her father’s dream has become Jaahnavi’s mission in life. “My ambition is to complete the Grand Slam by 2019 and enter the record books and make my country proud. Now, my focus is on reaching the summit of Mt. Everest by April next year and later on, complete the rest of the expedition, depending on the funds available,” says Jaahnavi, who started a crowd-funding campaign in 2017 to raise funds for her mission.
In the course of supporting Jaahnavi all these years her father has sold all his properties, but he has no regrets. “Unlike other adventurers who can afford to go on special flights and ships, we take the toughest tracks and walk all the way to summits in
distant lands. I sold all my land, car and three houses to pay for Jaahnavi’s treks. Today, we live in a rented home in Janaki Nagar Colony in Alwal, fearing creditors and battling court cases. But, I will continue to support my child,” says Rao.
He laments that despite making the country proud, Jaahnavi hasn’t received any help from either the government or corporates. “We need at least `2.5 crore to complete the mission. Now, we need the support of government and the people, as I am short of money, having already borrowed money from everyone. Even the crowd funding failed to generate the funds, may be because I never tried to publicise her accomplishments. Now, Jaahnavi needs everyone’s support to complete her mission,” say an emotional Rao, signing off.