Kodagu woman scales Mt Elbrus

MADIKERI: Eight hours and plenty of determination was all it took for Bhavani Nanjundaswamy to climb the 5,642 feet to scale Mount Elbrus, the highest peak in Russia and the 10th highest peak in Europe. She planted the Indian tricolor at the top to mark her success.
Daughter of Tekkada Nanjundaswamy and Parvati of Perur village near Napoklu, Bhavani had set out to scale the peak alongside three climbers from Mexico, France, and Romania.The quartet trained for three days in Russia before tackling the climb. Bhavani, a teacher at the Himalayan Mountaineering Institute of Darjeeling, was the first of the four to reach the top of the snow-capped peak.
Bhavani began her trip after midnight on October 19 and reached the summit at 9.30am. She told TOI her ultimate goal is to climb Mount Everest. “But it won’t be easy climbing Everest. If the government helps me, I will achieve this goal.”
She is the only woman who completed several of the Himalayan Mountaineering Institute’s activities successfully.