Shayla Bithi conquers Island Peak of the Himalayas

Bangladeshi mountaineer Shayla Parvin Bithi successfully conquered the Island Peak of the Himalayas, a 6,160-metre mountain in Nepal.

 Born in Swarupkathi Pirojpur, Shayla has been visiting hill tracts since 2014. She visited Chandranath Hill with her friends, where she was introduced to Bangla Mountaineering and Trekking Club. Through this club, she went trekking up the Himalayas for the first time in 2015.

Her recent achievement was conquering the Island Peak of the Himalayas, which was also her first self-organised adventure. After three days of preparation, Shayla started her journey on October 28 of last year from Lukla, Nepal. After three hours of journey to Phakding, Shayla and her guide reached Namche Bazaar on second day. Her planned itinerary took a turn as she visited Thame and Lungden. After that, she started her extended trekking, including three challenging 5,000 m passes: Renjo La on November 2, Cho La on November 4 and Kongma La Pass on November 6. After these treks, Shayla reached Chukung, the last village before the Island Peak basecamp. On November 7, Shayla and another Indian team started their journey from Chukung to the basecamp.

She completed climbing the Island Peak on the evening of November 8; it took her 11 days to reach the peak. She trekked back to Luka on November 11. 

 "A part of my plan is to conquer an 8,000 meter mountain in 2022," asserted Shayla.

She also expressed her concerns regarding the trend of young people visiting mountains across the world. "I hope the younger and future mountaineers will take proper preparation and advice as well as equipment along with them, when they decide to go trekking, because faulty or unsuitable equipment do not just hinder the journey, but also create discomfort, which essentially ruins the fun of trekking," she says.

In celebration of the Golden Jubilee of the independence of Bangladesh, Shayla took a portrait of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and another placard to promote her anti-rape campaign on her journey.

The author is a freelance journalist. Email: labibakabir99@gmail.com.