Odia Girl Lipika Seth Scales Mt Elbrus

Bhubaneswar: Lipika Seth, an Odia girl from a nondescript village Dalaba in Bargarh district, has brought laurels to Odisha by scaling Mount Elbrus in southern Russia.

Lipika is the fourth mountaineer after Kalpana Das, Ganesh Jena and Nrusingha Sahu to have scaled the highest mountain peak (5642 metre/18,510 feet) in Europe.

Daughter of Laxman Seth and Anusaya Seth, Lipika had joined the base camp on September 28 under the guidance of Nrusingha Sahu. After acclimatizing with the environment, she left the base camp on October 5 morning and scaled the mountain peak on October 8. After reaching the peak, she waved the tricolour and sang the National Anthem.

She is scheduled to arrive at the Biju Patnaik International Airport in Bhubaneswar at 11.10 am on Friday.

Talking to mediapersons after returning to the base camp, Lipika thanked her uncle Dibakar Majhi and aunt Damayanti Majhi for motivating her.

She plans to scale Mount Aconcagua, the highest peak in South America, (22,841 feet/6,962 meters) on December 25 this year. The mission will cost around Rs 12 lakh, she added.

Seeking support from the Odisha government, Lipika said that the mountaineers are having difficulties due to lack of materials required for mountaineering. “I request the government to identify the registered mountaineers in the state and provide them with necessary materials free of cost,” she pointed out.

Prior to her scaling the Mt Elbrus, Lipika had successfully climbed Mt Kilimanjaro, the highest mountain peak in Africa 5895 metre), in 2018. For her expedition to Mt Elbrus, the Vikash Institute of Bargarh had provided her with the financial assistance of Rs 50,000.