Oriya woman climbs Everest.

After failing twice in her ambition to climb the Mount Everest, 38-year-old Kalpana Dash from Dhenkanal finally made it to the top of the world fighting against all odds, on Wednesday.Kalpana, who hails from the Kumbhar Sahi locality of Dhenkanal, became the first Oriya to climb Mount Everest at 11.45 am on Wednesday. Kalpana had made her first attempt to climb the world's highest mountain peak in 2004, but had not been successful.Her second attempt in 2006 had also ended in failure due to hostile weather conditions.But this time round, Kalpana had left her hometown on March 5 with strong determination to make it a success. And she finally made it big by scaling the 8,848 metre high Mount Everest making the whole State proud. As news about her achievement reached in the afternoon, it was celebration time at her home. She was among the 27 individuals who successfully scaled Everest as members of High Altitude Workers of HAD International Everest Expedition 2008.

While Kalpana was the only Indian among the 27 members, others belonged to Nepal, the United States of America and other countries. She led a team of five persons. Other climbers in her team were Ryszard Kurdziel from Canada and three persons from Nepal Lhakpa Rangdu Sherpa, Kusang Tenzing Sherpa, and Ngima Nuru Sherpa.Meanwhile, Governor Murlidhar Chandra Kanta Bhandare and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik congratulated Kalpana for becoming the first Oriya to climb Mount Everest. "It was indeed amazing, I wish a great future of Kalpana," Governor Bhandare said."I congratulated Kalpana for her commending success and I will extend all help for the future growth of the women mountaineer," Chief Minister, who holds the Sports portfolio, said. Similarly, all leading sports institutions of the State congratulated Kalpana for her success. Her sponsors including Arcelor-Mittal group, Bhushan Steels, Coal India Ltd, Orissa Mining Corporation and Indian Metals and Ferro Alloys have also congratulated her.