For siti, no injury can stop her from conquering mountains

KUALA LUMPUR: Siti Hanisah Sharuddin (pic) has suffered multiple injuries and nearly lost her life in her quest to conquer the world’s highest mountains.

But for the 26-year-old, these injuries are “souvenirs” from her passion for mountaineering.

Three years ago, she became the youngest woman in Malaysia to have successfully scaled Mount Everest.

The Negri Sembilan-born Siti Hanisah aims to become the first Malaysian woman to conquer seven of the highest mountains on Earth, scattered across seven continents.

“I am not looking for fame but to prove that Malaysia is capable of producing female climbers who can conquer the highest peaks of the seven continents,” she said.

Siti Hanisah tried to scale Mount Everest a second time after becoming crippled with acute mountain sickness.

She camped out for a total of 60 hours at Camp 4 before continuing her mission again, even though her six friends had already reached the peak and made their way back to the Everest Base Camp.

She managed another 12 hours of climbing to the reach the peak of the 8,848m-tall mountain.

“There are no words to aptly describe how I felt then.

“I was exhausted, yet exhilarated and extremely proud to have been able to fly the Jalur Gemilang at the peak,” said Siti, who went on to scale Mount Aconcagua in Argentina, the highest peak in South America.

Strong winds of 80kmph, however, had caused her to fall during her ascent.

“At the time, I was only 400m away from the peak (of the 6,962m-tall mountain). I sustained a broken hipbone due to the fall and had to be flown to the hospital via helicopter,” she said.

Siti Hanisah has since recovered from the injury, but the expedition had to be put on hold as she is now pregnant with her first child.

“I find that there are many ways to show our patriotic spirit. For me, it is making Malaysia known to the world through my climbing achievements,” said the former Royal Malaysian Navy personnel and the fifth of seven children of Felda Jelai 1 settlers in Gemas.

She is currently part of a mission called Srikandi 7 Benua Kelab Eksplorasi Tujuh Benua Malaysia (KE7B) and has conquered four highest peaks in four continents so far.

Now she needs to scale Mount Aconcagua in Argentina (where she had her fall), Mount McKinley (North America) and Mount Vinson Massif (Antartica). — Bernama