Farmer's daughter conquers Antarctica's tallest peak

She belongs to a humble family that depends on agriculture but this young mountaineer from Telangana has not let the odds stop her from scaling new heights.

Barely three months after she scripted history as the first Indian woman to scale the 'true summit' of Mt. Manaslu, Anvitha Padamati (24) has gone on to scale the tallest peak in Antarctica.

On December 17, Anvitha scaled Mt. Vinson, the highest peak of Antarctica continent - an altitude of 4,892 m above sea level.

She was part of the international expedition team in Antarctica with Transcend Adventures India that set out from Hyderabad on December 3 to Punta Arenas, Chile. After completing the documentation and other paperwork, she flew to Union Glacier in Antarctica on December 7.

"It was not an easy mountain to climb but I summited it successfully with the team. All the previous mountain climbing experience helped me a lot. It is my 4th summit as part of 7 summits," Anvitha said.

From December 8 to 15, Anvitha spent time getting acclimatized to the harsh Antarctica weather braving extremely windy conditions with temperatures hovering around minus 30 Degree Celsius. Finally on December 16, she attempted the summit climb.

"It was a very windy day, almost minus 30 degrees and my hands were too cold and I couldn't even put up a tent. With great difficulty we built the tent and it was almost minus 35 degrees inside the tent. On December 16 we set out for a summit around 11 a.m. We reached the summit of Mt.Vinson around 9 p.m. and placed the Indian flag on the summit at 4892 m. Almost 20 minutes on the summit is a very great experience because the mountain on top is like a pyramid.

"Due to very bad wind we packed all our stuff and descended directly to base camp on the same day. It took us 20 hours. It was a long day but a great day," she reminisces.

Anvitha's coach and mentor, Shekhar Babu Bachinepally said, "Climbing the Vinson Mountain is not technically difficult but the mountain location is incredibly remote and conditions often extreme. Good pack-fitness is important considering extreme cold conditions, and the load ferry of the expedition supplies and equipment to various heights of the mountain."

Anvitha's father, Madhusudhan Reddy is an agriculturist while her mother, Chandrakala Padamati works in Anganwadi school at Bhongir.

For Anvitha, who is aiming for seven summits spread across the seven continents, this feat in Antarctica marks her fourth achievement, and brings her closer to her goal.

In January 2021, Anvitha climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro, the highest peak on the African continent. She went on to scale Mt. Elbrus, the highest peak on the European continent in December 2021, becoming the only Indian to achieve the feat.

In May 2022, she climbed the world's highest peak, Mt. Everest. Her victory over Mt. Vinson, the tallest peak in Antarctica leaves Anvitha just three peaks short of achieving the seven peak goal. Mt. Aconcagua, in South America, Mt. Kosciuszko in Australia, and Mt. Denali in North America, comprise the remaining three peaks of the seven summits.

Anvitha's next goal is the tallest peak in South America, Mt. Aconcagua in Argentina. "I'm preparing for a February ascent," she said, signing off.