After her maiden climb to Mount Kilimanjaro, teenager Muriki Pulakita Hasvi from Hyderabad is working to complete the seven-summit challenge
After her maiden climb to Mount Kilimanjaro in Africa this year (September 28 to October 9), 13-year-old Muriki Pulakita Hasvi from Hyderabad treated herself to a bar of Snickers at the peak and brought the wrapper back with her as a memento.
Back in the city after the five-day climb, the thrilled teenager is already working on her next mission — to climb Mount Kosciuszko in Australia next year. Hasvi says she felt having a bar of chocolate at the summit was the best treat after a three-month-long diet restriction before the climb. “I love chocolates, so not being able to indulge for three months was a big deal for me,” she says.
Hasvi, a student of Class IX at Excellencia Infinitum is also a national skater and badminton player. It was watching Everest (2015) in February this year that motivated her to climb six summits. The challenges of the climb in the movie made her want to give it a shot. She expressed her desire to her parents and began looking for professionals who could help her train online for the 5,895-metres climb. Hasvi says, “I didn’t have to search hard. My dad was already training with Boots and Crampons for fitness. It is an adventure and mountaineering company with specialisation in mountaineering expeditions to daunting peaks around the world.”
Before she began her training, she made a quick trip to the Everest base camp in April when travelling restrictions were eased. Being a sportsperson, she did not have to work a lot on her physical fitness, instead she had to train her breathing, gain a few kilograms of weight, change her diet and train on slow yet lengthy treks. Hasvi explains, “As a sportsperson, I am used to speed, quick movements. Mountaineering is about long hours of strenuous slow walking. Consistency is the key to a climb. I was put on yoga for my breathing. I had to stop eating foods that do not build stamina like chocolate and instead eat foods like carrots and peas.”
Hasvi’s fitness routine included 30 to 40-kilometres cycling with weights on her back and ankles; sprints for 200-300 meters and night walks for six hours. “Since it was not safe to go anywhere for training, endurance training was within the community we live in. I would walk my target kilometres and night walk between 11 pm to 5 am there. My parents accompanied me at some distance to keep me company,” recollects Hasvi.
As a student, Hasvi loves Biology and Chemistry and her parents made sure she did not miss many classes while on the expedition. “Online classes for school and holidays made it very convenient for me,” she says.
