Haryana cop Anita on top of the world
Anita Kundu, a sub-inspector in Haryana Police, achieved a rare double on Sunday by becoming the first Indian woman to climb Mount Everest from the Chinese side. Hailing from Hisar, Kundu, 36, had earlier, scaled the Everest in 2013 from the Nepal side. With this she also achieved a feat of successfully climbing the mountain for the second time in four years.
LONDON: Mountaineers have confirmed that a famous rocky outcrop near the peak of Mt Everest has collapsed, potentially making the climb more dangerous.
The Hillary Step, named after Sir Edmund Hillary who, along with the sherpa Tenzing Norgay , was the first person to climb the mountain in 1953, may have been destroyed during the 2015 Nepal earthquake .
The 12-metre-high rocky outcrop was a nearly vertical climb on the south-east ridge of the mountain. There had been rumours from climbers on earlier expeditions that the step had been destroyed, but snowy conditions made it difficult to confirm.
The British expedition leader Tim Mosedale, who reached the summit last week, posted a photograph on Facebook and confirmed the destruction of the Hillary Step. “It’s official – the Hillary Step is no more,” wrote Mosedale.
“It was reported last year, and indeed I climbed it last year, but we weren’t sure for certain that ‘the Step’ had gone because the area was blasted with snow. This year, however, I can report that the chunk of rock named ‘the Hillary Step’ is definitely not there any more.”
Last year reports of the step’s destruction began circulating after photographs were published by the American Himalayan Foundation . Snow cover in the pictures made it hard to tell.
Mosedale, who reached Everest’s summit for the sixth time on 16 May, posted a photograph of what remains of the Hillary Step when he returned to base camp after the climb. The photograph shows the topography has changed significantly compared with photographs taken a few years ago.
Located at 8,790 metres, the Hillary Step is a steep and narrow section considered by climbers to be the last obstacle before the summit, which is at 8,848 metres.
Its destruction may make the ascent easier – as it will no longer involve a vertical rock climb – or more dangerous because there may be limited paths up the section, meaning climbers will have to wait for long periods in cold temperatures and at a high altitude while others attempt it.