TS man becomes 1st triple amputee from India to scale Elbrus

Hyderabad: Mount Elbrus in Southern Russia is the tenth most prominent peak in the world. A team of six Indians - Asha, Nisha, Arun, Megha, Satish, Mahipal – and a Russian Yuriy set out on August 2 and took seven days to achieve their goal.

Bharath Thammineni, who led the team, said, "A team leader, a local guide with complete knowledge on geography and commitment, is required to scale peaks," and, hence, the presence of Russian.

Thammineni is the owner of the startup Boots and Crampons, an academy to train trekking enthusiasts. The team was divided into three batches to support one another while climbing. Bharath and Arun shared a major responsibility of guidance all the way to climb Mt Elburs, as they were regular mountaineers and trainers with many successful achievements in their kitty.

Shekar Goud, a triple amputee, an employee of Pranaam Hospital in Hyderabad and with a desire to scale peaks, was part of the team. An active cyclist with one hand and one leg, Shekar was egged on by a sheer will power to become a mountaineer. He is the first triple amputee from India to accomplish this feat.

Speaking about physical fitness, Arun, Director, Information Technology Department Service, said, "A normal person must train himself to run 10 kilometers in an hour and must be fit enough to climb 140 storied building without a break. To scale any peak, a minimum of 8-week physical training is required."

"The only objective for encouraging mountaineering is to inject the interest about climbing among people and we wish someday people shall show as much interest as they show for cricket," said Bharath.Bharath has trained more than 1,200 people and wants to summit all highest peaks of all the seven continents and all the nine of 14 death zone peaks in the world.

1. Asha owns an adventure company. She trained many school kids and she also scaled Kilimanjaro (19,346 feet).
2. Mahipal is an ex-army person, presently working in Telangana Excise Department and has also climbed Kilimanjaro.
3. Satish works in Telangana Education Department; he is very active in adventure sports from biking to mountaineering.
4. Arun Kumar Tiwari works for an IT company, he did Mt Everest base camp and Kilimanjaro
5. Megha is from Bhopal, she is the first lady from Madhya Pradesh to climb Mt Everest.