What’s the story?
In a recording breaking climb, Indian climber, Anshu Jamsenpa, created history by summiting Mount Everest for a second time in less than a week, according to her expedition team. Jamsenpa has set a new world record for a woman’s double ascent of the world’s highest mountain in a single season.
The context
The 37-year-old climber had returned from a previous expedition to the Everest only on the 16th of May for the fourth time in six years. After a short period of rest, she set out to repeat the 8,848 metre (29,028 feet) climb again.
Jamsenpa started her fifth ascent on the 19th of May, after receiving blessings from the Tibetan spiritual leader, Dalai Lama, and climbed almost without any break from the Everest Base Camp at 17,500 feet.
The heart of the matter
According to a Times Of India report, Jamsenpa finished her climb around 8.00 am today i.e. the 20th of May, setting a new world record, as per Dawa Sherpa Lama of Himalayan Adventures Private Limited who conducted her expedition.
Jamsenpa hails from Bomdila, Arunachal Pradesh. This was not her first attempt at a double ascent. She had successfully accomplished scaling the peak twice within a 10-day duration during her first attempt in 2011. Her third successful ascent was two years later.
The current Guinness World Record belongs to Nepali climber, Chhurim Sherpa, who was the first woman to scale the Everest peak twice in a season in 2012. Last week, Nepali climber Lhakpa Sherpa scaled the peak for the eighth time, breaking her own record of the most number of successful climbs by a woman.
Jamsenpa had planned an ascent in 2014 but her plans were foiled after an avalanche killed 16 Nepali guides. Her next attempt in the following year was thwarted as a result of the massive earthquake in Nepal that triggered an avalanche, leading to the deaths of 18 people at Base Camp and subsequently left pockets of the country in ruins.
What’s next?
This season has seen more than 120 climbers making the summit, despite delays due to high winds, bizarrely cold temperatures and fresh snowfall. There have already been two deaths so far, including that of the celebrated Swiss climber, Ueli Steck whose acclimatisation climbing exercise led to an accidental fall from the ridge.
However, passionate climbers continue to make their ascents during this favourable weather cycle before the monsoon hits the region in June.
Author’s take
To climb the highest mountain in the world is no easy task, but to do it twice in only five days is a mammoth achievement. At this age and as a mother of two, her remarkable trysts with the Everest make Anshu Jamsenpa someone to draw immense inspiration from.
