Andhra Pradesh mountaineer set to enter record books

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Andhra Pradesh mountaineer set to enter record books
Malli Mastan Babu, an adventure-sportsman, is set to enter record books for scaling seven of the world's highest peaks in over just 172 days.

Babu from Andhra Pradesh achieved this feat earlier this year between January and July. A unique feature of his record is that he conquered the seven summits on seven different days of the week.

"I am the fastest of the seven-summiteers in the world. I did that in72 days. And, I am also the only person in the world to climb these seven summits on seven different days of the week. It is a unique record. I have applied to the Guinness Book of Records. They would be coming for their next edition," said Babu.

The first South Asian to do so, Babu scaled Mount Everest in Asia, Mount Denali in North America, Mount Elbrus in Europe, Mount Kilimanjaro in Africa, Mount Vinson Massif in Antarctica, Mount Aconcagua in South America and Mount Kosciuzsko in Australia.

Babu had the zeal to climb peaks since his formative years. He is an alumnus of the Indian Institute of Technology (Kharagpur) and Indian Institute of Management (Kolkata).

Through school and college, Babu won several state and national level recognition for achievement in adventure sports.

He left his white-collar job in a top software company, after three years to pursue adventure sports. He has enthusiastically lined up his future plans.

"My next mission is to climb Mount Everest and Lhotse without oxygen, which nobody in the world has achieved. I would also like to do another national feat- to run a marathon in each state of India - 29 states, 29 marathons, 29 days in February 2008 to encourage the spirit of fitness and health among Indians," he said.

Babu, who had to expend his own resources to pursue his love for adventure, recently got support from the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) to support his future plans. (ANI)

By Narendra

Hyderabad (Andhra Pradesh), Dec. 14 (ANI):
Andhra Pradesh mountaineer set to enter record books