By Our Staff Reporter
Dehradun, 9 Feb: Ankit Kumar Bharti, a mountaineer from Dehradun, who is skilled in adventure sports, today brought glory to Uttarakhand and India by hoisting the Tricolour on South Africa’s highest peak, Mt Kilimanjaro.
Kilimanjaro, with its three volcanic cones Kibo, Mwenzi and Shira, is a dormant stratovolcano in northeastern Tanzania and is the highest mountain in Africa with a height of 19,341 feet above sea level. Mount Kilimanjaro is the world’s tallest free-standing mountain as well as the world’s fourth tallest mountain.
Ankit Bharti’s main objective of conquering this inaccessible peak is to pay tribute to the late mountaineer Savita Kanswal, a Tenzing Norgay National Adventure Awardee. The second objective is to give a message to the youth of India that impossible goals can be made possible without losing courage in adverse circumstances.
In 2022, Ankit Bharti had a steel rod inserted in his hip due to an injury. Despite this he did not give up mountaineering and, with the completion of this climb, he has become the first Indian mountaineer to conquer Mt Kilimanjaro with a metal road insertion.
Ankit Kumar completed the Basic Mountaineering Course in 2019 and Advanced Mountaineering Course in 2021 with A grade from Nehru Institute of Mountaineering.
He is also a member of the Technical Committee of Uttarakhand Athletics Association.
His campaign was flagged off by Cabinet Minister Ganesh Joshi.
Navraj Singh, Reena Kosal Dharmashaktu, Sandeep Sharma, President of Uttarakhand Athletics Association, Secretary KJS Kalsi, Senior Vice President Jitendra Singh Negi, International Athlete Pritam Bind, International Coach Guruful Singh, President of Baluni Classes Vipin Baluni, RS Rana, Avtar Singh, Neeraj Sharma, Savinder Singh were among those who extended their congratulations.
