Avnitha Reddy, an MBA graduate from Telangana, became the first Indian to scale Russia’s highest peak, Mt Elbrus, in winter. She achieved the feat on December 7. Mount Everest, the highest peak in the world, is her next target.

In a statement to The Hindu, Avnitha said that she was delighted to achieve the feat in what she felt was one of the most demanding conditions in her five years of mountaineering. Her father is a farmer and her mother is a teacher.

“Mt Everest will be my next target, thanks to the instantaneous financial support extended by Gudur Narayana Reddy Foundation when I approached them for help,” she said.

“The happiest moment of my whole trip was when I unfurled our 10-metre national flag at the base camp of Mt Elbrus,” she said.

She said her team was forced to postpone the trip to the summit as winds touched the speed of 65 km/hr.

Mt Elbrus’s altitude is 5,642 metres. Mount Everest rises to almost 8,849 metres.