New Delhi: Nine-year-old Kadapala Rithvika Sri from Anantapur in Andhra Pradesh has conquered Africa’s highest peak. Rithvika climbed Mount Kilimanjaro on February 25. The Class II student climbed to Gilman’s Point at 5,681 metres above mean sea level with her father and guide. This makes Rithvika the youngest person to scale the mountain, located in Tanzania, The Hindu reported.
Mt Kilimanjaro is a dormant volcano and the highest single free-standing mountain in the world at 19,340 feet. Gilman’s Point is one of the three summit points of Mt Kilimanjaro. Climbers who manage to reach this point receive the official Kilimanjaro climbing certificate, the report added.
Rithvika’s father, Kadapala Sankar, is a cricket coach and sports coordinator in the Special Olympics Bharat wing of Rural Development Trust, Anantapur. He had scaled the peak last year and took his daughter along this time, The New Indian Express (TNIE) reported.
Here is what IAS officer Gandham Chandrudu tweeted congratulating the nine-year-old.
Chandrudu had helped the father and daughter duo by releasing Rs 2.89 lakh from the SC Corporation funds for the expedition, the report added.
Rithvika participated in Level 1 training at the Rock Climbing School in Telangana and Level 2 training in Ladakh before embarking on the quest to conquer Kilimanjaro, said the report.
