Khasim Raza conquers Mt. Elbrus, wants to climb all ‘Seven Summits’ by 2017. Though the ascent to the base camp which is at an elevation of 10,000 ft by chairlift is easy, it took nine days for his five-member team and guide to scale the mountain.

Vijayawada-born Khasim Raza made big news in the city when he climbed the Khilimanjaro, the highest free-standing mountain in the world. Now he is back in the limelight by conquering Mt. Elbrus the highest mountain in Europe. He plans to climb all ‘Seven Summits’ of the world by 2017.

It is the dream of every mountaineer to climb all seven mountains on the list. Mount Everest is the highest peak with an elevation of 29,020 feet. It is followed by Aconcagua (22,838 ft), McKinley (20,322 ft), Kilimanjaro (19,341 ft), Elbrus (18,510 ft), Vinson (16,050), Puncak Jaya (16,050 ft) and Kosciuszko (7,310). (The names of eight mountains are listed because there are two different lists of the Seven Summits. Mountaineer Bass lists Kosciuszko in his list, but mountaineer Messner lists Puncak Jaya in his list.)

Mr Raza did his schooling in N.S.M. Public School here and went on to become a British citizen.

He now operates with Dubai has his base. His father, owner of Metro Opticals in Gandhi Nagar, is one of the first opticians of the town. Mr Raza’s sights are trained next on Aconcagua, the second highest peak in the list, located in South America.

“Every mountain teaches you something. Kili (the affectionate way he refers to the mountain) taught me how to deal with wind speeds and high altitude, Elbrus taught me about cold. It is all snow and ice there,” he said.

Though the ascent to the base camp which is at an elevation of 10,000 ft by chairlift is easy, it took nine days for his five-member team and guide to scale the mountain. “We lived in accommodation that is similar to a container used for shipping goods. Every alternate day we went out on acclimatisation climbs. Unlike in Kili, the gradients on Elbrus are very steep,” he said. He says the view from the mountain slopes were really breathtaking.

Besides mountaineering, Mr Raza is every inch an adventure junkie. Just a couple of months ago he and some friends went on a cross-country cycling expedition in Cyprus. “I want to share my experiences to inspire youngsters to become more adventures and pursue challenges,” he said.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Vijayawada / by G. Venkataramana Rao / Vijayawada – August 09th, 2014