- Saturday, April 20, 2024
By: Shubham Ghosh
TWO members of a family of expatriates in Dubai achieved a feat that many from the world of athletics would envy – successfully climbing Mount Kilimanjaro, the tallest peak in Africa at a height of 5,895 metres (19,341 feet).
Shashwat Mahalanobis, 14, and his mother Shobha Mahalanobis, a fitness enthusiast, not only became the first-ever mother-son duo to scale the world’s highest single-standing mountain, but the teenager also became the youngest expatriate Indian in the Emirates to climb the mountain which is located in Tanzania.
The youngest Emirati to reach the summit was Seif Saleh Al Shunnar, who had scaled the summit in 2018 at a similar age. Shashwat is a student of Gems Modern Academy, Dubai, and an AI (artificial intelligence) professional and Python specialist. He has 11 certifications in data science, machine learning and AI. He has also taught 15 kids on Python during the Covid-19 pandemic. Shashwat also loves to play the guitar. He also loves outdoor activities and is known to be a sports guy, his mother told Khaleej Times.
The duo started their mission on July 4 to scale the peak five days later. They returned the next day.
Preparations for the mission were arduous for the Mahalanobis family members. In order to face challenging weather conditions like extremely low temperatures and strong winds, both Shashwat and Shobha attended personal training sessions over weeks. They also walked long distances every day to boost their stamina and raise their fitness level. Shashwat’s father also accompanied them during the walk.
“Reaching the summit of a mountain, especially the tallest peak of Africa, can be a nerve-wracking exercise, even for a skilled mountaineer,” Gulf News quoted Shashwat as saying. “This is because of the high altitude, extremely low temperatures, strong winds and lack of oxygen that can make the trek and acclimatisation tremendously challenging. As you inch closer to the top of the peak, the terrain gets unexpectedly perilous and the oxygen level can plummet to a staggering below 50 per cent of what it is at sea level,” he said.
Shashwat said on reaching the peak of Kilimanjaro, he was overwhelmed with a sense of pride and now feels that no mountain is too high. He also hoped that his feat would inspire others to bring more records to the UAE.
Shashwat is also proud of his mother’s achievement. “I am so impressed by my mother’s mental and physical strength. We were there for each other and kept pumping each other whenever we were feeling a bit low. This is especially true on the first day. Once we reached the top of Mt Kilimanjaro, it felt surreal. It was a brilliant moment. We felt that all the hard work was worth it,” he told Gulf News.
The duo has bigger plans post Kilimanjaro. “We chose Mt Kilimanjaro as our first challenge because we wanted this success to become a stepping stone for our future expeditions. Now that we have reached the summit of the tallest peak in Africa, in the next six months or so, we will achieve our dream. We will practise to bolster our skills, strength and stamina to take on the tallest mountain in the world — Everest,” she said.
Mount Everest, the tallest mountain in the world, has a height of 8,849 metres or more than 29,000 feet.
