Kannur native Safrina Latheef becomes first woman from Kerala to scale Mt Everest

Kannur native and a resident of Qatar Safrina Latheef was a banker and a baker before she turned to mountaineering a long term desire of hers and became the first woman from Kerala to scale the over 8000 feet Everest peakLatheef describes herself as a jack of all trades as she did a bit of banking and baking before moving on to mountaineeringDescribing the momentous feat as one of the toughest things she has done in her life till now Latheef said that not just physical fitness but mental strength was also very important to make the climbShe reached the Everest base camp on April 19 began the climb on April 28 started the final push for the summit on May 12 and reached the top on May 18It is a mental struggle as we see a lot of unexpected things like avalanches rock falls and dead bodies of climbers who tried to scale the summit with the same aspirations and dreams as usThe dead bodies shake you up You could be the next body on the line that thought crosses your mind You have to fight all that to reach the summit she said in a voice note shared with PTI from NepalHowever reaching the peak is worth all that gruelling effort because of the view from there said Safrina Latheef who is in her late 30sYou are on top of the world the clouds There is nothing above you that is the feeling you get It is difficult to describe it You have to experience it she saidBut her decision to take off her goggles to experience the view with her naked eyes proved a bit costly as she got blinded by the snow and had to make the descent with poor vision and was subsequently briefly hospitalised for it she saidEarlier in the day speaking to a news channel from Nepal Latheef said that she did not realise the heights she was climbing while scaling the summit but on the way down I came to realise the enormity of itI am excited with the experience and happy that I got back alive she addedGiving details of the effort she put in to achieve the feat she said that it was during the COVID19 pandemic that she and her husband realised the importance of health and physical fitnessWe became health conscious joined a gym and began running It was a longterm desire of mine to do adventure trekking So after we became healthier when we had time we climbed Mt Kilimanjaro 5895 meters in Tanzania with some friends she said in the voice noteSince then her only thought was to climb the highest peak on Earth Mount Everest which stands at 8849 metersFor that we have been training for the last four years We found a trainer and asked him to train us specifically to climb Everet We planned to scale Everest last year but unfortunately my husband suffered a training injuryThis year again he suffered a training injury but I said I cannot wait any longer and decided to climb it alone However my wish was to climb it together with my husband she stated in the voice noteAs part of the training to climb Everest the couple climbed Mt Aconcagua in Argentina which is close to 7000 meters but it was a rocky mountainIn order to understand how it was to climb a snow mountain like Everest we climbed Mt Elbrus 5642 meters in Russia We also went to the Everest base camp in Nepal to understand the trekking culture she saidShe said she was lucky to have a life partner like her husband Dr Shameel Musthafa who is a surgeon at Hamad Medical Corporation in Doha Qatar as they both think alike and have the same prioritiesLatheef said that he was supportive of her decision to make the climb without him and she went for itOn what was important to survive the arduous climb to the summit of Everest she said it was physical and mental fitness and appropriate clothingProper clothing is important to combat the weather conditions at that altitude Physical fitness is also very important in order to make the gruelling climb to the top But most important is mental fitness as without it one might give up halfway she saidLatheef said that each day of her trek she questioned why she was spending so much money to torture herself physically like thisIt is very hard to keep our aim in mind because of the amount of physical torture So we have to be mentally strong if we have to reach the top she saidNow that she has returned alive from Everest she has no immediate plans to climb any other high peaksBut I want to complete the seven summits sometime she said referring to the highest mountains on each of the seven traditional continentsLatheef who has been residing in Qatar for the last 25 years said We need to find our own happiness and we cannot depend on others for thatThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoeveratOptionskeyd0ddb8ef8f1a62a8cdd22fac27fc5ea7formatiframeheight90width728params