Shillong, May 19: Rifiness Warjri, a 20-year-old student from St Anthony’s College and a cadet of 61 Meghalaya Girls Battalion National Cadet Corps, reached the top of the world by scaling Mt Everest yesterday morning.
Rifiness was chosen as the sole representative from the entire North East region as part of the NCC Mt Everest Expedition 2025. The 38-member team reached the summit of the 8,849 metres peak at around 4:45AM yesterday.
This was informed through a press release by the Directorate of Information and Public Relations today.
Rifiness follows in the footsteps of Wansuk Myrthong and Dolyne Kharbhih, who climbed the world’s highest mountain in 2013 and 2016 respectively. Wansuk is an armed police constable while Dolyne is a Senior Girl Cadet Instructor in the NCC.
In the run up to this feat, Rifiness had also successfully scaled Mt Abi Gamin, a 7,355m peak in Uttarakhand in August last year.
Rifiness spent her childhood at Jylli Shop before shifting to the scenic Kynton-u-Mon, Laitkor. Third of five siblings, she credits her parents Shlurbor Kharmyndai and Diamondsea Warjri as her source of unwavering support throughout her journey.
Her passion for mountaineering began with her involvement in the NCC during her school days at Auxilium Convent, Shillong. It was through the NCC that her interest in the sport blossomed, eventually leading to her participation in various NCC activities, the DIPR press release said. Alongside her mountaineering ambitions, Rifiness is also an accomplished wushu martial artist and kickboxer, having represented her state in competitive events.
These experiences have helped her develop both physically and mentally, leading to her successful summit of Everest.
(DIPR photo)
