She was just seven years old when she first set foot into the wilderness. It was a trip to Matheran, a quaint hill station 100 km from Mumbai. She was so taken in by nature’s serenity at that impressionable age that as she grew up she took advantage of every opportunity she had to travel into the wild.

She started my trekking career in the Sahyadri ranges in Maharashtra when she was in her teens. Soon she started taking friends on treks and also led treks for a friend’s adventure sport company in Mumbai as a volunteer, over the weekends.

Despite having done a lot of trekking in the Sahyadri ranges she could never get herself to do a Himalayan trek. There was some kind of a fear inside her. She felt that she would not be able to climb into high altitude. This fear was due to her being a chronic asthmatic. However, a friend encouraged her and his confidence in her eventually got her  to gather her courage and set out on her first Himalayan expedition in the Arunachal Himalayas in 2006. The team of 6 scaled up to a height of 14,000 ft and the trek took them to the Indo-Bhutan border.

Doing this trek made Anusha realise that she could do high altitude treks without any problems. Not once since that fateful trek has Anusha’s Asthma acted up at high altitude. She advises all individuals with an asthmatic condition to try out the outdoors as it helps to get one’s regular attacks in control.

Today, Anusha has trekked across the Uttarakhand, Himachal, Arunachal and the Ladakh Himalayas. She made it a point to do one Himalayan trek every year. It was only after she had done sufficient Himalayan trekking that she decided to go and do her Basic course at the Nehru Institute of Mountaineering and then the Advance Course.

Apart from India, Anusha has also trekked and cycled in the US and the UK. She has trekked the Grand Canyon and done the lake 3000er, which is a climb across the four highest peaks of England – Skidaw (931 mts), Sacfell (964 mts), Scafel Pyke (978 mts) and Helvylyn  (950). She climbed all four in three days in 2012.

Listed below are a few of her climbs in the Sahyadri Range:

• Kalsubai – 1648 mts
• Salher -1567 mts
• Ghanchakkar-1532 mts
• Alang- (1479 mts) – Technical peak – Requires rock climbing and jumaring skills
• Kulang (1471 mts) – Highest climb in Maharashtra from base village situated at 1250+ mts
• Harishchandragad- 1429 mts – Exhaustive climb of a minimum of 14 kms to maximum of 35 kms uphill
• Telbaila – Pinnacle climbing of 250 mts
• Harishchandragad via Nalichivat- Difficult climb and requires rock climbing skills.

Apart from these she has trekked the Sahyadri range in almost its entirety, including Waterfall rappelling and Canyoning.

Himalayas

• Uttarakhand: Valley of Flowers – 14000ft (2005)
• Uttarakhand: Nandadevi Outer Sanctuary –High altitude trek via Dahransi Pass 4250mts/13940ft (2007)
• Arunachal Pradesh: Trekked to the Indo-Bhutan Border (14000 ft) – Snow trek (2006)
• Ladakh: Nubra Valley and Lasermola Pass (18000ft) in 2008
• Ladakh: Winter-Ice Climbing and trek to Lamayuru, Alchi (2009)
• Uttarakhand: Mt Draupadi ka Danda – Height gain of 16000ft during basic Course in 2009
• Uttarakhand: Mt Rudugaira (5819m) – Summitted the peak during Advance Course in 2010 and again in 2013
• Uttarakhand: Mt Thelu (6001m) in 2016
• Himachal Pradesh: Chadrakheni Pass and Indrahar Pass
• Cycling Expedition from Manali to Khardungla in 2018, an inclusive cycling expedition with the differently abled and the abled.