Cash-strapped Bengali climber gets Everest nod

KOLKATA:

Piyali Basak

, who is out to summit Mount Everest and Mount Lhotse without supplementary oxygen support, almost had to give up her expedition owing to funds shortage but she finally received the permission for Everest on Friday morning. She will attempt to climb to the top of Everest by night.

Piyali's satellite communication device showed her location at Camp 4 on Thursday. "She is at Camp 4 now and will go for the final push on Friday evening. They should be out of the Camp 4 by 7pm-7.30pm and the summit should be over by Saturday morning," said Pasang Tenje Sherpa, chairman of Pioneer Adventure, the agency facilitating her expedition.

The entire expedition costs nearly Rs 35 lakh, but

Piyali

has fallen short of Rs 12 lakh. "A lot of people have helped through crowdfunding, but that is not enough," said Tamali, her sister. While Piyali had the permit for Mount Lhotse, she could not pay for the Everest permit. But her agency decided to pay on behalf of her for the time being and get the permit for Everest. "We are taking the financial risk for the time being as we don't want her dream to die," Sherpa said.

Tamali pointed out that they had applied to the Union sports ministry for financial help. "We hope to get some. The sherpas are also helping," said Tamali.

Piyali is the only climber from Bengal on Everest expedition this time. "Not many attempt Mt Everest without supplementary oxygen support. She is a brave girl and has been doing well during her acclimatisation. We took the risk as we were happy with her performance so far," Sherpa said. On May 14, Piyali was back to the base camp after completing the rotation-acclimatisation. "She is being accompanied by an experienced climber, Dawa Sherpa, and they are on schedule now. After she comes down from Mt Everest, Piyali will take rest at Camp 4 and head straight for Mount Lhotse from there," Pasang Sherpa added.