“I was at the top of the world, literally! It felt great. My dream is to scale the seven highest peaks in the world out of which I have already climbed four,” said Yaashi Jain while speaking with The Indian Express over the phone from Kathmandu, after the 24-year-old scaled the world’s highest peak, Mount Everest (8,848.86mts) and Mt Lhotse (8,516 mts) in a span of 26 hours on May 17 and 18. Jain said she is the youngest woman in India to have set this record and the Nepal government will soon be giving her a certificate for achieving the rare feat. Unlike many who hunt for jobs, this youngster from Chhattisgarh after completing her B-Tech began her conquest of scaling the seven highest peaks in the world. Speaking with a sore throat on Friday after returning to Kathmandu from Mount Lhotse, Jain said she was part of a group of five people including four Indians who scaled Everest. The small group began their journey on May 12 and scaled the highest peak while carrying bags weighing 10-15 kgs. They carried easy to make food like upma, poha, cornflakes, several litres of water and a gas burner for melting the water they had carried which turned to ice. Jain, whose voice sounded choked due to the high altitude and wind, said, “The climate was harsh. It was around -45 degree Celsius. As we were reaching the top, the sun was rising and I could see an orange line above the mountain. I felt very happy. It was the best moment of my life,” said Jain, who had also tried to scale Everest in 2021 but had to pull back due to the harsh climate. Her father, Akhilesh Jain, 53, a banker in Raigarh, Chhattisgarh, said, “I am very happy. I am proud to be her father. She was preparing to climb Everest in 2020 but the pandemic hit and a year passed by. She was inspired by a TV show on mountaineering when she was 15 and was inspired by Arunima Sinha (first female amputee to have climbed Everest). I told her I will fulfil her dream but first she needs to complete her studies, which she did. After this, I searched on the Internet and got her admission for a mountaineering course. Her journey began in 2016.” Before Everest, Jain has climbed Mount Elbrus (5,642mts) in Russia and Europe, Mount Kilimanjaro (5,895mts) in Tanzania and Mount Aconcagua (6,961 mts) in Argentina. However, it’s just not the grit and years of hard work that is required to scale Mount Everest but a strong financial backing is required as well. In Jain’s case, it was her father who stood like a rock behind her and ensured financial issues did not come in the way of his daughter’s dream. Her father said, “We spent around Rs 35 lakh. In the past, too, we spent several lakhs. We also gathered money through crowdfunding where the government, friends and some citizens from Chhattisgarh helped us. I have also taken a loan. I have two daughters and I just want to fulfil their dreams. But I must say that our government must encourage women who create world records by reserving government jobs for them. Otherwise, it is difficult to even think of pursuing a career in mountaineering and achieve such feats.”
