Chinmayee Trishulamurthy and Santosh Devarajappa who scaled Mount Everest on May 12, 2026.
| Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
Battling freezing temperatures, winds powerful enough to sweep climbers off their feet, and one of the world’s toughest terrains, Chinmayee Trishulamurthy and Santosh Devarajappa scaled Mount Everest at a height of 29,031 feet on May 12, 2026.The mountaineers, who have climbed several peaks in Karnataka, including Kumaraparvata and Skandagiri Hills, took mountain climbing courses in the Himalayas. Their training regimen included running, weight training, and yoga.Midnight climbThe duo chose the southeast (South Col) route from Nepal for their expedition. Every day, they began the ascent between 11 p.m. and 12 a.m. Due to the harsh weather conditions on the mountains during the day, they preferred to climb at night, and stopped between 7 a.m. and 8 a.m. to rest.The most dangerous part of their summit was at the Khumbu Glacier, an ice glacier they described ‘as tall as a building’. But for Ms. Trishulamurthy, who was mesmerised by the glowing colours of the ice in the sunlight, it was also the favourite part.Needless to say, there were darker moments too.“One of our friends was injured as ice fell on him. Luckily, he was rescued, but that really made me question my journey ahead,” Ms. Trishulamurthy recollected.
