Anvitha has achieved what no Indian woman mountaineer has, i.e., climbed five mighty peaks in just eight short years.
She has scaled Mt Kilimanjaro, Mt Khadey, Mt Elbrus, and Mt Renock, following up with the Jewel in the Crown – Mount Everest on the 17th of May 2022 at the age of just 24 years.
Anvitha is also the first Indian to climb Mt Elbrus from the Bosnia side at an atmospheric temperature of -50 degrees.
This gutsy girl’s mountaineering journey started when she was 17. Anvitha had never planned to climb mountains, but she was called to it like all exceptional mountaineers are.
Lying in her tent one night at the Basic Mountaineering Camp organized by The Himalayan Mountaineering Institute (HMI), one of the premier mountaineering institutes in the world, it just dawned on her that she wanted to climb mountains. It was a crucial turning point in Anvitha’s life, and she credits this epiphany to the view of the mountain peaks.
“Mountains mirror me perfectly, bringing me face-to-face with the real me,” says Anvitha on what the mountain peaks mean to her.
From that day onwards, Anvitha was hooked to the highs of mountaineering and focussed on scaling Mt Everest.
Her journey to the pinnacle of Mt Everest didn’t come easy. There were many obstacles on her path. Her family, however, was never one of them. Her parents and her elder sister stood with her as a rock support. Her father, who is a farmer treated his daughter with much respect.
Anvitha proudly recalls a moment when her father faced up to her school Principal when she was adamant about Anvitha discontinuing her ‘mountain-climbing madness’.
“Please don’t scold my daughter ever because she loves mountaineering,” very firmly, though respectfully, Anvitha’s father countered the Principal’s charade.
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Anvitha’s mother also relinquished six months’ earnings for fulfilling her daughter’s dream of scaling the world’s five most challenging peaks.
Anvitha’s most significant support was Sekhar Babu, her coach at Bhongir’s Rock Climbing School, where her mountaineering journey started.
With the three-pronged support, it was easy for this indomitable warrior to fade out the multifarious voices coming at her – “She is a woman,” “How can you allow your daughter to climb mountains alone?” “… After all, your family is middle-class… who will marry you…”, and focus on her dream.
After her Basic Mountaineering course, Anvitha went on to hone her technical and survival skills by completing several advanced courses in mountaineering. These helped her in scaling ‘technical mountains,’ where she needed to climb with the help of technical gear.
This fiery woman didn’t look back when she thought she was ready.
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The high points in her journey are many: trekking in -50 degree temperatures while climbing Mt. Elbrus, the highest peak in Europe, plowing through Khumbu Icefall, the most treacherous route to Everest, and using five ladders to cross 100-200 ft deep gaps between the mountains on the way to Everest Base camp.
Anvitha completed her MBA in between because her father wanted her to have a fallback option. She would attend classes during the day and work on her fitness in the evening. It was not easy, but she never let the obstacles faze her.
Talking about obstacles, Anvitha claims that sponsorship is the biggest roadblock to her dreams. Her single-minded dedication made Anvita Group’s Atchuta Rao Bopanna sponsor her for scaling Everest, but she has to seek new sponsors for her future expeditions.
As giving up is never an option for this ace mountaineer, she is already on her next challenge: scale seven mountain peaks on different continents in 18 months.
Anvitha is also the CEO of Rock Climbing School at Bhongir, Telangana, where she started from. She mentors young mountaineers and gives them the wings to fly, just like her ‘Sekhar sir.’
She claims that climbing a summit is less important than testing her limits. Anvitha’s approach to obstacles is also truly unique.
“Obstacles are there to make you strong, and they reveal how capable you are. When you conquer them, you truly learn and grow,” she says.
Predictably, her advice to youngsters is to “Scale your own Everest, even if it is talking to your parents about your marriage or career choice.“