Giripremi’s Jitendra Gaware summits Mt Everest; his 2nd 8K-m peak in less than a month

PUNE Jitendra Gaware believes his endurance and mental fitness helped him summit Mt

PUNE Jitendra Gaware believes his endurance and mental fitness helped him summit Mt. Everest. On May 12 at 7.30 am, Gaware and Sherpa, Pasang Zarok, reached the top of Mt Everest, a height of 8,848.86 metres.

Jitendra Gaware and sherpa Pasang Zarok on the last ridge before the Mount Everest summit, which they reached on May 12. (HT)

Gaware, a member of the Giripremi mountaineers club in Pune, summited his second 8,000-metre peak in less than a month. He climbed Mt Annapurna 1, the 10th tallest mountain in the world, on April 16.

“I am tired, drained out, but extremely happy,” said Gaware, a resident of Wadgaonsheri, over the phone from base camp in Nepal. He calls his wife, son and his parents his strongest supports, that led him to achieve this feat.

Jitendra Gaware (HT)

According to Umesh Zirpe, veteran mountaineer and leader of Giripremi expeditions, “Jitendra has been training for two years and has an exercise regime of six to seven hours, which is not easy. He has a good physique and was very focused on his training and goal of achieving his dream of summiting Everest. Although, Mount Annapurna is known for its extremely risky peak, it is every mountaineer’s dream to summit Everest.”

Gaware has also climbed Mt Kanchenjunga, the third- tallest mountain in the world, in May 2019, and Mt Ama Dablam (Nepal), in October 2019.

Gaware says he focused on endurance and trained rigorously by trekking 86km nonstop, from Sinhagad fort to Raigad, to Torna and back to Raigad.

Bhushan Harshe and Dr Sumeet Mandale mentored Gaware.

Ganesh More, Vivek Shivade, and Avinash Kandekar, a professor at the Savitribai Phule Pune University (SPPU) helped Gaware with the weather forecasts.