Hyderabad: 7-year-old, Virat Chandra scales Kilimanjaro (PICS)
The 7-year-old says he was inspired to climb after listening to the inspiring stories of the experiences of his cousins
New Delhi: Virat Chandra, the 7- year-old from Hyderabad is being praised after he turned out to be one of the youngest to have scaled Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest mountain in Africa at 19,341 feet.
“I was scared but all I wanted was to reach my goal,” said Virat Chandra.
He achieved the rare feat on March 6. Virat’s coach, Bharath told ANI that he decided to take Virat for mountaineering after a month long rigorous training. “Virat has that passion in him. He was very excited to train. Unlike many who quit midway through the training,” says Bharath.
The 7-year-old says he was inspired to climb after listening to the inspiring stories of the experiences of his cousins. “I talked to my cousins about their experience of climbing mountains. At that moment I also wanted to climb like them. I had a discussion with my parents about my interest, they approached Bharath sir, my coach, who trained me,” says Virat.
Virat’s mother says that he was excited at listening to his cousins and wanted to do something similar. She said, “Virat had a video call with his cousins once when they had gone to Rudugaira Mountains in Uttarakhand for a trekking trip. He was fascinated when Virat saw the place in the video call, he became fascinated. Even he wanted to try something like that.”
Detailing Virat’s training, his coach says: “Virat took the training seriously and completed all the tasks including running and mock climbing with utmost dedication. The journey started on March 5, we were 100 per cent ready as he still a child and we could not take risks with him.
Telangana: A seven-year-old boy, Virat Chandra, from Hyderabad has scaled Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest mountain in Africa
“We took all precautions & had decided that we’d return if he’d feel uneasy but he made us proud,” said Bharat, who led Virat’s expedition (15.03) pic.twitter.com/Z04qwwQvn6
— ANI (@ANI) March 16, 2021
In between they took some time out to sleep and rest before taking to trek up the mountain again. “We took all precautions and had decided that we’d return if he feels uneasy but he made us proud,” said the coach. “After beginning the climb on March 5, we reached the Uhuru peak of Kilimanjaro on March 6,” says coach Bharath.
My heartiest congratulations to Master Virat Chandra from Hyderabad who successfully scaled Mt Kilimanjaro’s Uhuru Peak, Africa’s highest mountain on the 6th March, 2021 at a tender age of 7.
Congrats to his parents who encouraged him to pursue his hobby & his Coach Bharat too. pic.twitter.com/7SiimeEzgj
— Y. Satya Kumar (@satyakumar_y) March 18, 2021