9-Year-old Boy from Pune has Summited Mt Kilimanjaro

In Summary

Before the Kilimanjaro Advait Bhartia had attempted the world’s highest mountain by reaching the base of the Everest.

Advait, who also successfully trekked to the Everest base camp as a boy of six in 2016, finished the summit in seven days.

"This trek was really difficult but fun at the same time. When I was submitting (sic) the Everest Base Camp, we were living in wooden houses but during the Kilimanjaro trek, we stayed in tents and it was a good experience being exposed to snow and the surroundings,” he said.

He added: I could have completed the trek faster but the mountains were very beautiful and I took a lot of breaks to take in the beauty.

Advait also has Europe's highest peak Mount Elbrus on his bucket list for next year, said.

He added that thin air, reducing atmospheric oxygen by approximately 50 percent, and sub-zero temperatures ranging between minus 21 and 25 degrees Celsius at higher altitudes were some of the challenges he braved during his expedition.

According to his mother Payal Bhartia, Advait underwent stringent training over a period of two months as he prepared for the climb.

"His routine included swimming for an hour, cardiovascular training like playing football, cricket, and tennis in the second hour and climbing 100 floors and practicing Parkour (military obstacle training) was a regular part of the training during the third hour," she added.

Payal, who accompanied her son during the hike, had to cut short her journey by 1000 ft on the way up as she was unable to acclimatize to the increasing altitude.

"I am very proud of Advait and his dedication towards completing this trek. On the last day, Advait got emotional and he individually thanked the porters, the tent pitchers and the catering team for all their efforts," she said.

But he is not the youngest, in 2017, 8-year-old Roxy Getter became the youngest woman ever to get to the summit Mount Kilimanjaro.

Keats Boyd previously became the youngest person to ever summit Mount Kilimanjaro when he was 7 years old.