.jpg "Ravichandran Tharumalingam showing some of his equipment needed to hike an Alpine mountain. u00e2u20acu201d Picture by Yusof Mat Isa")
KUALA LUMPUR, July 30 — Not many people in this world can claim to have climbed Mount Everest.
But Ravi Tharumalingam has conquered the peak, which is at 8,848 metres above sea level, not once but twice in two years!
This earned him the nickname of “Ravi Everest” and although he has lost eight fingers due to frostbite, Ravi said the incident has made him stronger and more determined to complete the Seven Summits and K2.
The Seven Summits are the highest mountains of each of the seven continents and climbing them is a major mountaineering achievement.
K2, of course, is the second highest mountain in the world after Everest.
Here, Ravi talks about his experiences and what drives him to keep going the extra mile in his quest to achieve his goals.
In his own words:
I was a kampung boy from Kuala Pilah, Negri Sembilan and played football actively as a kid. Being the middle of 10 siblings, it was challenging growing up. There will be competition and fights among siblings, but this taught me to keep going forward and to never give up when life pushes you down.
Because I was actively playing football and I was sort of good at it, I received a scholarship from the Public Services Department to pursue my studies in UPM. Of course, I also did well in my SPM examination. Anyway, after studies, I started working and continued playing football for clubs here but I didn’t see myself excelling, so I slowly started concentrating on hiking. In 1998, I went to the Himalaya for my first hike and I have never stopped hiking or looked back ever since.
In 2006, I assumed my first hike up to Mount Everest via the North Face route in Tibet as a solo hiker. It wasn’t cheap as me and six other random climbers had to share the permit fee which was about US$11,000 (RM47,111). It was fun going about from camps to camps and bunking with these random people who became friends along this journey. But it was also a sad one as we lost two people from this expedition. I think it was after the 7,000 metres camp, I met one guy sitting down without his oxygen mask and bleeding from his nose and ears. Things like this, as in losing one’s mind and removing oxygen masks, can happen at such an altitude when the oxygen level is low and not going to your brain. We couldn’t do much as the helicopters wouldn’t come at that level and the only help is hours away. Anyway, we reached the summit and as we were descending I could no longer feel my fingers, but I kept my gloves on until we descended to 6,000 metres or so. When I removed my gloves, eight of my fingers were blue black and I knew they were gone.
My fingers had to be removed as they were already “dead.” Nevertheless, in 2007, I headed to Everest again, but this time from the South Face route in Nepal. It is an addiction for Nature and mountaineering that made me want to keep going and not stop. My wife and 10-year-old daughter were of course not very happy about this. They were afraid for my safety every time but slowly they began to accept and let go of their worries. In fact, now they are also into mountaineering. They both will be hiking Mt Kilimanjaro in Africa this year.
My most memorable or should I say “scariest” experience was when I was on Mount Manaslu in 2012. It was around 4am, I was sound asleep in my camp when something heavy suddenly pushed and beat me repeatedly to the ground as I glided away from my camp. Yes, I was hit by an avalanche. I was buried for minutes but it felt like an eternity until help came my way. At that moment, my life flashed before my eyes. I thought I was going to die. Eighteen people died that day. I packed my stuff and descended as it is considered a bad omen to continue your journey after an incident like that. I, however, returned the following year and reached the peak.
I have conquered more than 10 peaks after Everest. Mount Cho Oyu in 2010, Mount Shishapangma in 2011, Mount Kilimanjaro in 2010, Mount Elbrus in 2011, Mount Aconcagua in 2015, Mount Coropuna in 2015, Mount Ojos del Salado in 2015, Mount Pico de Orizaba in 2015 are among some that I can think of. Every climb is an experience that is meant to be cherished. What I am telling you is not even the tip of the iceberg in terms of the joy you get when you conquer each mountain.
Before I call it quits, which I am not sure if I would ever do, I will want to scale all Seven Summits and K2. K2 may be the second highest mountain to Everest but it is the toughest and hardest. So I am keeping K2 for the last.
Today, I take clients up to Mount Kota Kinabalu, Everest Base Camp (EBC), Annapurna Base Camp (ABC) and other mountains almost every month. My monthly schedule is almost packed with programmes set in different parts of the continent. I am also invited to train some of our own guides from Sabah. The training basically consists of explaining to them etiquette when bringing tourists and what to expect when the unexpected happens. Most of our guides in Sabah are good but more can be done to improve.
To keep myself fit, I exercise regularly and often go hiking at Bukit Saga or Gasing Hill with friends or clients whenever I am in the country. Most of the time I am travelling to other parts of the world to hike and that is also form of training for me. I would usually take a week or two off and spend time with the family before I head off for my next excursion.
One tip I would want to give everyone is to not give up on whatever that is you want to do. For those mountain climbers, there will disappointments like disappointment of not reaching the peak. Not reaching peaks is quite common. That’s why we have second and third summits meaning there will be a second and third day to try.
