The first woman from Meghalaya to conquer Mount Everest
- Created on Saturday, 20 July 2013 08:31
- Last Updated on Thursday, 27 March 2014 10:39
- Written by womanspanorama
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The first woman from Meghalaya to conquer Mount Everest
Mount Everest is located in the Mahalangur section of the Himalayas. The discovery of this great mountain was made in 1847 by the British during their Great Trigonometric survey, and its official name was given by the Royal Geographical Society in 1865 upon the recommendation of Andrew Waugh, the British Surveyor of India. Its official height was also given by Andrew Waugh estimated at a staggering 8,848m or 29.029ft making it the tallest mountain on Earth. However, the height of the mountain was revised by the Chinese Academy of Sciences after several months of measuring and calculating, announcing the official height of the mountain to be 8,844.43m or 29,014.16 feet which they claimed to be the most precise measurement. The first persons to ever successfully scale this mountain were Sir Edmund Hilary and Tenzing Norgay in the year 1953, proving to the world that this feat was possible.
Meghalaya can now also boast of having citizens who have conquered this mountain. Although she is not the first from the state to reach the summit of Mount Everest (Gary Jarman Lamare being the first), Wansuk Myrthong has recently been successful in her quest to reach the top of the mountain. After being flagged off for the challenge by the President of India at Rashtrapati Bhavan, Wansuk set off with her team to the Himalayas filled with determination to succeed in the quest for reaching the top of the tallest mountain in the world.
”Here I am walking through the valley of death in order to reach the top” Wansuk Myrthong |
Wansuk Myrthong on her arrival back to her home town of Shillong was greeted with open arms. She has been the talk of the town ever since. She was even felicitated by the Chief Minister of Meghalaya, Dr. Mukul Sangma for her awe inspiring achievement. During the felicitation programme Dr. Sangma stated that Wansuk Myrthoing has made the state proud by becoming the first ever woman from Meghalaya to conquer Mount Everest. He also said that he hopes that this achievement will further inspire the youth of the state to take part in various other such activities and further glorify the state with outstanding achievements. Another important statement made by Dr. Mukul Sangma was that it was very vital to recognize and appreciate this great achievement of Wansuk Myrthong while adding, “Anything good must be appreciated, otherwise the bad will prevail”.
My dream to climb the highest peak started from a very humble beginning. In 2004 I began my trekking with the MERCMA. Since we don’t have an artificial wall like in other states, we had to practice on natural rock which is very difficult to climb and dangerous, I was selected every year to compete in the zonal competitions at Imphal MMTA which is the Headquarters of the North East Zone Competition from there I was selected for the National Competition which was held in different parts of India every year. |
Wansuk Myrthong was born in Shillong in the year 1983. The 30 year old mountaineer who is currently an armed Constable of the Meghalaya Police Force was a very active girl as a child. She was brought up in an environment where most of her childhood friends were boys and so her lifestyle was not a very feminine nature. When she was a teenager she took up football as a hobby, and even stated playing in the junior levels of the state, she was also encouraged by her father to keep on playing. By the age of 15 she was selected to represent the state in playing the sport in the junior levels. This played a crucial role in making her tougher and was instrumental in her later quest to scale Mount Everest.
Her dream or goal in life was decided when she was just 18 year old. It was during that age that she realized that she wanted to climb and conquer Mount Everest. After getting the opportunity to train for mountaineering which she was offered from her police department she accepted the offer and discovered that she had a developed an interest in the sport and was also very passionate about it. She ventured into this sport with all her heart and decided to take it up to her utmost ability. It was then that she decided to take on Mount Everest. Later after receiving an invitation from Manipur to join a team and go on an expedition of Mount Everest with them, she agreed and thus began her journey to the top of the world.
Recently, Eastern Panorama’s Hubert Nongkhlaw had the opportunity to meet Wansuk Myrthong and ask her some questions about her recent achievement and her whole experience which lead to her climb on Mount Everest. The following are excerpts of this interview.
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