Scaling dreams: Hyderabad techie carries late father’s legacy to world’s highest peaks

HYDERABAD : “The summit was not just a peak, it was a testament to resilience. With every challenge, I reminded myself — this journey was never just about reaching the top; it was about conquering the self, about proving that the mind is the strongest muscle we have. And as I raised my father’s picture at each summit, I knew — this was exactly where I was meant to be,” was how 36-year-old Rohit Rao Madasu described scaling one of the many peaks in his career.
Rohit, who found his calling in mountaineering as a 30-year-old, feels that his passion was ignited by his late father Srinivas Rao, who was an Arjuna awardee and a well-known para-athlete, who competed in different disciplines and represented India in several international events.
Rohit, a techie by profession, began trekking mountains in Dec 2018. “The reason I started was to make my father proud. He was a great source of inspiration for me with his achievements,” he told TOI.
Rohit is now on a mission to accomplish the task of conquering all the top peaks in the seven continents. One box is already ticked — Mt Kilimanjaro, the highest peak in Africa. Rohit’s first trek was the Kedarkantha, a 3,810 metres peak in Himalayas, Uttarakhand in 2018. The following year, he conquered Pangarchulla (4,590 metres) and Stok Kangri base camp (4,969 metres).
With each trek, his passion grew manifold despite the hardships involved in the sport. His successful treks include Rahmatal (3,750m), Dayara Bugyal (3,639m), Dzo Jongo (6,240m) till 2021. He lost his father in 2021 to lung cancer but that only spurred him on. In 2022, he was at the Everest base camp at 5,364 metres and then Kang Yatse 2 peak. Rohit successfully completed Mount Kilimanjaro trek (5,895) and Black Peak advance base camp last year.
“When my father passed away, I trekked the mountain in Ladakh and displayed my father’s photo on the top. I was always fascinated by the Himalayas and Mt Everest. That is one of the reasons for my passion. This year, the focus is on Mt Aconcagua, South America’s highest mountain at 6,961. My dream is to trek all the tallest mountains in seven continents. And Everest is my ultimate goal,” he revealed. However, he says he needs financial assistance for his dream.