Kaamya Karthikeyan

Kaamya Karthikeyan has already summited the highest peaks in four out of the seven continents covering South America, Africa, Europe, and Australia.

Inspired by her father’s mountaineering activities, Kaamya started trekking from a tender age of three. Her Himalayan odyssey started in 2015 with a high altitude trek to Chandrashila Peak (12000 ft) at the age of seven. In 2016, she graduated to more difficult and higher treks like Har-ki Dun (13500 ft), Kedarkantha Peak (13500 ft), and Roopkund Lake (16400 ft). In May 2017, Kaamya trekked to the Everest Base Camp in Nepal at 17600 ft to become the Second youngest girl in the world to accomplish the feat. Recently, in May 2019, she successfully trekked to the famous Brighu Lake (14100 ft) and crossed the Sar pass (13850 ft) in Himachal Pradesh. On 24 August 2019, Kaamya successfully summitted on Mt Mentok Kangri II (6262 m / 20544 ft) which is her second successful climb above 6000 m, proving her ability to repeatedly conquer such heights. Soon after completing the expedition, on 27 August 2019, she also cycled from Leh to Khardung La (5359 m), the highest memorable road in the world. This gave the confidence to attempt Mt. Aconcagua, the highest peak outside Asia, and the second-highest of the 7summits (behind Everest). Adding to the list of achievements, On Feb 20, Kaamya stood undeterred and overcame multiple hurdles, administrative, physical and mental, to become the youngest girl in the world to summit the mighty Mt. Aconcagua. With this, she hasn’t just caught the attention of the international climbing community, but has captured the imagination of millions of young Indians and inspired them to pursue their dreams. She even got the attention of the Honourable Prime Minister, who lauded her efforts in his Mann Ki Baat of February 20.

Also, she treks regularly in the Sahyadris and even guides her friends and other trekking enthusiasts in experiencing the great outdoors.

Adding to the long list of achievements, this young chap also planned for the next 3 years of her future where Kaamya wishes to ski to the South Pole and climb Mt. Vinson Massif, the highest mountain in Antarctica in Dec 2020. The other assignments are planned to be accomplished in a tightly knit schedule in 2021, finally culminating with Mt. Everest in May 2022. She is planning to undertake a cycling expedition from Kanyakumari to Kashmir, covering a distance of about 3800 km, symbolizing national integration and spreading awareness on the importance of physical fitness, especially amongst girl children.

Kamya is a bright student and has been focused since childhood which can be established with her performance in her academics curriculum and her exemplary participation in co-curricular activities. She has also been indulging in fine arts by learning to play the Piano (passed Grade 5 from the Trinity school of music), Guitar (passed Grade 2 from the Trinity school of music), Western and Carnatic vocals, and Barathanatyam. She has been rendering Barathanatyam performances on stage for the past five years.

Success is not final; failure is not fatal: It is the courage to continue that counts and Kaamya have left no stone unturned to keep the spirit of achievers alive in her. Kaamya has undertaken many climbs presumed impossible at her tender age, making many records in the journey and bringing laurels to the Nation. Her accomplishments have been widely covered in print and TV media. Her social media profiles cover many of her success stories which are shared widely, including publishing houses and major organizations like The Indian Navy. It has been seen that her story has percolated even to remote and backward areas and has been inspiring people at the grass-root level. She has also been delivering motivational lectures at various institutions/ forums. The message of achievements by such a young girl will motivate a multitude of children to pursue their dreams and also encourage the people of our country to lead an outdoor way of a healthy life.