Kalpana Das and her guide Lahakda Rangdu Sherpa after her felicitation for Kalinga Everest-2008 expedition. Picture by Badrika Nath Das

Cuttack, Jan. 28: Dhenkanal lawyer Kalpana Das’s (41) next assignment may take her further from Orissa courts — into the base camps of the Himalayas.

Despite two failed attempts, the lawyer and mountaineer, is ready to tackle the 8,848-metre Mount Everest. In May 2004, the climber from Sariapara, a nondescript village in Orissa’s Dhenkanal district, scaled 7,300metres without oxygen. Two years later she went up to 8,048metres, entering the death zone — an area marked by oxygen scarcity, sub-zero temperature and hurricane winds.

However, Kalpana’s determination has not wavered from the dream that she has nursed since she was seven years old. This year she has set her sight on the highest peak in the world, yet again, as an individual, and not as a part of an expedition. To do that she has been practising dawn-to-dusk every day on the 785-metre Kapila Hill, 22km from her village.

“A recent training session under Bachendri Pal helped me to prepare myself for the expedition,” said Kalpana Das, talking to The Telegraph today.

“It is commendable that she is determined to become the second Indian woman to scale Mount Everest. And she would be the first climber from Orissa to attempt such a thing,” said Girija Bhusan Patnaik, the general-secretary of The Universe, a socio-cultural organisation that felicitated her on Sunday for her expedition christened Kalinga Everest-2008, slated to start on March 23.

Guide Lahakda Rangdu Sherpa, too, gives the climber a thumbs up. “Her dedication to her training, her strength, tenacity and endurance makes her Everest material,” he said.

Pursuing her dream, however, has not been an easy task for the Dhenkanal-based lawyer. For those hailing from a middle-class family, scaling the Mount Everest is an expensive proposition, especially if there are no sponsors.

A climber has to raise at least $ 62,000 to tackle Everest.

“I am fortunate that sponsors have come forward with generous donations for the expedition,” she said. “My family, including my 75-year-old mother, has also backed me in all possible ways,” she added.

ArcelorMittal Group’s executive vice-president Sudhir Maheswari on Friday presented a Rs 5-lakh cheque to Kalpana in the presence of chief secretary Ajit Kumar Tripathy at the Secretariat.

“Bhusan Steels, Coal India Limited, Orissa Mining Corporation and Indian Metals and Ferro Alloys are also sponsoring the expedition,” said the general secretary of The Universe, Girija Bhusan Patnaik, to The Telegraph today.