Two nurses become Mount Ağrı summiteers
ANTALYA
Two nurses from the southern province of Antalya have reached the climax of Mount Ağrı, Turkey’s highest mountain with an elevation of 5,137 meters, following a week-long climb under freezing temperatures as low as minus 50 degrees Celsius.
“A Turkish woman can succeed everything she aims for,” Ayşe Kalkan, 50 and who planned the event, told Demirören News Agency.
Kalkan is also a mountaineering instructor. She made two attempts to climb Mount Ağrı last year, but due to bad weather she failed to reach that goal.
Without giving up, she convinced Semra Keskin, a 20-year-friend who is also a nurse, to join her third effort. The duo set a camp at the height of 3,500 meters on the first day of the climbing and arrived at the top on Jan. 27 after several efforts.
“The temperature was minus 40 degrees Celsius when we summited,” Kalkan said.
Now the two friends are back in Antalya, one of the warmest provinces of the country.
The two had serious difficulties with braving the cold weather.
“It was so cold at the top that we only could stay for 15 minutes,” Kalkan said.
