From summit to ocean: All-women adventure team arrives in Malpe

Team Udayavani, Oct 29, 2021, 12:46 PM IST

Malpe: A team of five young women from Karnataka is on a historical adventure tour ‘Ahikhradinda Sagara’ (From Summit to Ocean) to mark the 75 years of India’s independence i.e. Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav.

Aishwarya and Dhanalakshmi from Shivamogga, Asha from Bengaluru, Pushpa from Madikeri, and Bindu from Mysuru are part of this all-women adventure team from Karnataka.

In this journey, the group has scaled the Kolahoi Peak (5,425 m) and traversed the 3,000 km bicycle ride from Ladakh to reach Karwar shore. From Karwar, the team kayaked about 300km and reached Malpe on Thursday. The journey will end in Mangaluru.

At Malpe, the team was felicitated by Zilla Panchayat CEO Dr. Naveen Bhat on behalf of the Udupi district administration. He said that young women should actively engage themselves in adventure sports and make a bold decision to do well in national, international, and the Olympics.

Young women shared their experiences:

The team had to overcome several difficulties on their journey. “We had to carry bags weighing 25kg on our backs while climbing the dangerous mountain. We also had to pitch tents and cook food by ourselves. Despite these difficulties we scaled the summit well ahead of the schedule,” they said.

They further said they had seen problems of women in different areas during the cycling expedition.  “We have plans to hold awareness programs to encourage women to get out of the house and become adventurers,” the team said.

Assistant director of Udupi district tourism department Clifford Lobo and the team’s mentor for the expedition Shabbir were present.  Assistant director of the department of youth empowerment and sports, Dr. Roshan Kumar Shetty greeted the guests.

Adventure sports training center at Padukere:

Dr Naveen Bhat said that a site has been identified in Padukere to establish an adventure sports training facility. The training in association with General Thimmayya Adventure Academy will begin soon. “I urge the youngsters to reap the benefits of the training facilities,” he added.