Arunima Sinha
, the first female amputee from Lucknow to climb Mount Everest, is in shock on hearing about the news of the death of Moradabad-born mountaineer
Ravi Kumar while on his way back after summiting Mount Everest earlier this week. Before going for the summit,
Ravi had spoken to Arunima and sought her advice for the journey to the world’s highest peak. Remembering the 27-year-old mountaineer, Arunima also tells us about the perils mountaineers face while climbing Mt Everest.
"I was in shock for some time when I came to know of Ravi’s death at Mt Everest," says Arunima, adding, "Mujhe yaad hai ki Ravi mujhe aksar call kar ke mere experiences ke bare main poochha karta tha. Maine bhi usko bahut saare climbing tips diye thay. Par jab Ravi ki death ke baare main pata chala toh main shocked reh gayi. Aaj bhale hi mountaineers ke pass bahut hi sophisticated mountaineering equipment hon, par aaj bhi Mount Everest utna hi durgam aur kathin hai jitna 1953 main tha jab Sir Edmund Hillary and
Tenzing Norgay
ne ussey fateh kiya tha."
Arunima, who climbed Everest on May 21, 2013, says that no
mountaineer
should ever underestimate Mount Everest. "Jab hum Mount Everest par chadh rahe hote hain toh kahi na kahi hum nature ke against jaa rahe hote hain. Mt Everest ek aisi jagah hai jahan weather har minute change hota hai. Kabhi mausam bilkul clear dikhta hai aur agle hi minute snow girne lagti hai. Jab hum itni height par hote hain tab humko weather changes ko acche se samajhna aana chahiye. Hum itne bade pahaad ke saamne kuch bhi nahi hote hain. Hamein itne bade pahaad ki izzat karni padti hai tab hi hum uski peak par pahunch paate hain. Frostbite, high air velocity and less oxygen levels are other problems that mountaineers face while ascending the Mt Everest," says Arunima.
Arunima wrote a Facebook post as a tribute to Ravi Kumar (BCCL)
Arunima wrote a Facebook post as a tribute to Ravi Kumar (BCCL)
Talking about what may have gone wrong with Ravi Kumar's expedition Arunima feels his timing of summiting the peak was perhaps not right. A climber is supposed to start descending from Mount Everest latest by 11am while Ravi reached the peak at 1.28pm. "I came to know that Ravi reached the Mt Everest peak at 1.28pm, which is a very dangerous time for the summit. When I was climbing Mt Everest, I had reached the peak at 10.55am, which is also considered to be a suicidal attempt because wahan se wapas aane ke liye bhi time hona chahiye. Mount Everest climb karte waqt hum logon ko bataya jaata hai hi har haalat main hum logon ko summit se 11am tak descend kar lena hai. Mujhe samajh nahi aa raha hai ki Ravi 1.28pm par summit kaise kar raha tha?" says Arunima, who is also surprised that an experienced mountaineer like Ravi could make such a mistake.
Arunima further adds, "Uss waqt tak aam taur par wahan mausam bahut kharab ho jaata hai. Hum logo ke saath jo Sherpa hote hain woh bhi generally itna late summit ke liye mana kar dete hain. Par pata nahi kyun Ravi ne itna late summit kiya? Also balcony area is a death zone. Summit ke baad lagbhag sabhi climbers relaxed hone lag jaate hain aise main balcony area cross karna aur bhi difficult ho jaata hai aur iss kaaran yahan par haadse ho jaate hain. Ravi ne descent mein bahot der kar di hogi."
Ravi had attempted to scale Mt Everest in 2014 too but he couldn't summit the peak due to an avalanche. That time too Ravi had been missing for four days but was eventually found and his family in Moradabad was hoping that this time too he would come back home safe.
Arunima Sinha (Top left) and a picture (R) sent by Ravi Kumar (below left) of himself to his brother last week during his Mt Everest expedition (BCCL)
Arunima Sinha (Top left) and a picture (R) sent by Ravi Kumar (below left) of himself to his brother last week during his Mt Everest expedition (BCCL)
A seasoned climber who has summited most of the peaks in the world, Arunima strongly feels that a system should be put in place to restrict the number of climbers attempting to summit the Mount Everest. "Iss saal bhi 300 plus mountaineers Mount Everest summit ke liye gaye hue hain. Mujhe personally aisa lagta hai ki koi aisa system in place hona chahiye ki restricted number of climbers hi Mount Everest summit ke liye jayen. Although Mount Everest is the safest peak to climb, the terrain there is so difficult that a lot of mountaineers fall prey to mishaps there. When I climbed Mount Elbrus, the highest mountain in Russia and Europe, the guides there refused to take ropes with them. When I asked them about the ropes they said you should return to India if you want to take ropes with you to climb a mountain. Then I myself took the ropes and completed the summit. Mount Everest climb karte waqt Sherpas climbers ka bahut khayaal rakhte hain. If the climber falls, they will motivate them to keep on trying. Sometimes we climbers don’t have the strength to even take out water from our bags and drink it, then these Sherpas help us get back on our feet, literally. Pata nahi kya hua jo Ravi apne Sherpa se alag ho gaya aur itna dardnaak hadsa ho gaya. After all we are challenging nature and my point is that how many times can we humans do that? When I summited Mt Everest, it wasn’t to climb it but to touch its feet. Main hamesha yehi bolti rahi ki hey parwat mujhe apne tak pahunchne ki taaqat do jisse ki main uss divine feeling ko ek baar jee sakun," says Arunima.
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