Arjun Vajpai, a 24 year old recently summited his sixth 8000+ feet mountain, Kanchenjunga in May 2018. A graduate from the prestigious Nehru Institute of Mountaineering (NIM), he is the youngest Indian to have conquered Mt. Everest at the age of 16 and went further on to conquer the dreaded Mt. Makalu after four attempts. He was trekking and at the base camp of Mt. Makaluwhen his team got caught in the dreadful avalanche post the Nepal Earthquake of 2015. In an interview with Manushi Desai, a fellow alumni of NIM, he shares his experience of summits and challenges.
My first experience as a climber would be at NIM in 2008-2009 and it was a great feeling just to be with people I could relate to. I think I need more monkeys like me to be together who like to climb. Once I found more people like me, I knew there was no going back. So I think my first experience as mountaineering at NIM was absolutely incredible with a sheer feeling of a place that I could belong to.
Can anyone start mountaineering?
I think to start climbing in India they have a minimum age of 17 or 16 years but I feel climbing can be started at any age, much more younger- you can be as young as you want, all you need is another person who could guide you through the mountains, so you should be amongst the right company. The courses in India generally start at the age of 16 or 17, so I think anybody and absolutely anybody can climb mountains. There are no limits.
What do you suggest for the young professionals out there who want to do something different?
I think if the corporates are interested in the outdoors, there are several programs being run. I am associated with a program called Find your Everest which has partnered with conglomerates such as Aditya Birla Group, Google India, Procter & Gamble and international business schools as well. We keep running the whole perspective of learning via the outdoors through various adventure activities. It is based on the concept of looking towards the outdoors to gain learning. It is a very sought after method which brings in a lot of leadership qualities in employees and a lot more teamwork and synergy. Because when you are in the outdoors, it is humans against the nature and you really come together to work on conquering the nature. I think there is a great mindset to that and I encourage corporate professionals to engage in the outdoors.
What would be a good beginning for a student in high school or college to start mountaineering?
I think that any student who wants to start mountaineering should start with an Adventure Course at a good mountaineering institute in India. It is generally a one-two week long course which does not cost you a lot of money (it is approximately5000-6000 rupees). There are various courses even if you just look it up online which are run by government institutes. There are various activities such as mountaineering, rock climbing etc.in the outdoors which can be learnt at a nominal cost. These activities can be started by students who can start venturing into the outdoors. The first step would definitely be to get your basic mountaineering courses done.
What is your daily routine?
You need go stamina for climbing mountains and a healthy pair of lungs. So start running, I run 10 kms everyday and also do cross fit training.
What would you consider your most memorable moment in all your expeditions and the mountaineering experience?
The best moments across all expeditions are mostly a combination of highs and lows. Both highs and lows have a lasting impact on your memory. The good times like the summits, the good memories, the happy memories are very nice. But there are even scary moments like when the weather is bad, our you are stuck in a storm and you come out of it- I think even these moments last you for a lifetime. Those are special moments bringing humans together irrespective of religion, caste, creed, language, diversity, nationality. Both highs and lows are memorable moments of an expedition.
What was that particular moment when you felt this is why you joined mountaineering?
When we were climbing Kanchenjunga, we reached the last part and the weather cleared up and in the part distance in the earth’s horizon I could see the summits of the Everest, Lhotse and the Mansatu, the other 8000 metre peaks which thankfully and very gratefully with lot of people’s help with God’s grace I had conquered. Just looking at these mountain peaks, the first three mountain peaks that I had conquered, and just looking at these mountains all the way from Kanchenjunga, I remembered the journey along which I have come along, the last 8 years from the time I started climbing mountains, the whole journey just flashed in front of my eyes. I felt very grateful. Since the time I was 16, I felt that if I got to do just another expedition - thatwould be fantastic. And now I have successfully conquered sixof the tallest peaks. I have done 16 expeditions so far, not all of those have been successful but the journey has been incredible.
What kind of struggles do you generally face while mountaineering?
There are lots of struggles that I generally face but one has to understand that when you are an outdoor person, you cannot consider these as struggles. We were attempting the Makalu for continuously four years, after failing for three years in a row on Makalu. Just going back every year – that was a four year long struggle. There are long struggles and I enjoy them. These are just hard times physically but are of great mental peace for us. Although these situations are physically at risk, they put me in a space in my head where I am extremely comfortable and very relaxed. For me, even these hard times are actually great physically challenging moments where you feel like giving up, you feel like you cannot take the next step, feel like it is very difficult but you take one step at a time and you move forward. So all of these hard moments are actually a great learning experience and I particularly enjoy them.
What are the plans for the next expedition?
I am currently resting. I will start training again very soon. I intent to attempt Shishapangma (8027 ft.) next. But that depends on a lot of factors like where is the wind going, whether we have the right kind of people who want to be in the expedition team.
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