At first sight, Arjun Vajpai is like any normal young teenager. He likes eating Maggi noodles and watching football, and he has plenty of friends. But there’s just one thing that’s different. At 17, he’s the youngest Indian to have reached the summit of Mt Everest — the world’s highest mountain peak.
While it sounds quite simple on paper, it wasn’t so in reality. There must have been a hundred times when he nearly lost his balance on the rope while he was on his way up. Then, there were multiple bruises to contend with, and innumerable thoughts about reconsidering the goal he had chalked out for himself — at all of 16 years old. Now, however, with the feat comfortably behind him, this Humanities student of Ryan International School, NOIDA, UP, can open up about the obstacles he confronted on his way to the top.
“Someone once said ‘no pain, no gain,’ and I lived that,” he says. The 8,850-metre high terrain of the Himalayan mountain range was treacherous to say the least. One tiny mistake — and you could plunge all the way to the bottom. Recollecting the innumerable tough moments, he says, “If ascending is difficult and dangerous, descending is even more so. It requires one to be fit, in control, and loaded with patience.”
Vajpai, who now dreams of scaling Mount McLoughlin (USA), the Seven Summits and conquering the Poles, is a professional adventure freak (in case you hadn’t figured that out already!). The endurance built up during years of training over uncomfortable physical terrain helped him take on this phenomenal task. “Though years of trekking, playing outdoor games and learning martial arts like Karate and Taekwondo helped a lot, the difficulties of withstanding inhuman temperatures like -42 degrees were really something else. I particularly remember crossing the Lhotse Wall,” he recalls. “Camp 3 at the Lhotse Wall is situated at a height of 6800-8000 m. It’s really dangerous. In fact, it’s even hard going to the toilet, because the temperatures were so dreadful. It was a better idea to carry our ‘pee’ bottles with us!” he says laughing.
While lack of space and freezing temperatures were part of everyday life, the snow on the ground and the ever-changing weather all played their parts as major nuisances. “There were times that I had tears in my eyes, but I never showed my emotions. I think my teammates always saw me as a positive soul to be around,” he opines.
What is Vajpai’s advice to young adventure buffs who want to emulate him? Well, one piece of advice is to constantly bolster the team one is part of. For those who are particularly looking at following in his footsteps, he warns — you must also be prepared for the ultimate Camp 4 above the Lhotse Wall. “Keep in mind that at 7,300 metres and above, oxygen is not available, and one is moving with every object needed for survival. The night is the time when you have better weather conditions, and that’s when you climb to the peak,” he goes on.
Yes, Arjun Vajpai may physically be back on the plains, but it’s clear that his soul is still high up on Mt. Everest. “It’s mind-blowing. I don’t think I can ever erase the experience from my memory,” he says before signing off.