Page 98 - LuxuryWellness 3 Edition

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Due to the nature of my work I trek
in the mountains often which is
obviously the best exercise. When
I go the gym I will usually partake
in structured training regimes like
kick boxing and functional fitness.
In terms of my diet, I maintain a
philosophy of eating sensible. This
means eating whatever I like, but
sizing the portions to meet my
weight and fitness goals. When
I get into a training regime for a
specific goal, I use an electronic
weighing scale and a calorie
counting app which helps me
keep track of my progress. At the
same time I also use a watch with
a fitness tracker to monitor my
calorie expenditure, so I can make
sure that my calorie intakes are
balanced. Some people can see
that as a chore but I approach
it as game and derive a lot of
fun out of it. I go back to eating
normally when I have completed
my goal or my project is complete. 1. I love the freedom and sense
What is your constant
inspiration to scale the Everest,
share a brief of your journey?
I feel that I am one of the few
people who are blessed to do
the job that is also their passion.
Since childhood, I have loved
the mountains, so it was only
natural that I would go into the
family business of organizing
expeditions. I have climbed five
8000m mountains till date, of
which I have climbed everest
January 2020
3 times. There are three main
reasons that Mt. Everest keeps
calling me back.
of connection with the ‘here and
now’ that mountaineering gives
me. When we are climbing, our
focus is singular and our mind
and body work together in unison.
All the small and petty problems
in the outside world don’t matter
anymore. It’s almost a type of
meditation for me.
2. My biggest sense of
achievement is when I am
able to lead a team safely and
successfully to the summit of the
highest mountain in the world. To
be able to help people fulfill their
life long dreams is a reward that is Share the activist activities you
incredibly fulfilling.
3. When I first climbed Mt.
Everest in 2007, I saw that years
of irresponsible expeditions had
caused garbage and debris to
accumulate on the mountain. At
that time I promised myself that I
would clean up the mountain each
climbing season until there is no
more garbage left. I thus started
the Eco Everest Expeditions in
2008 and my team and I have
managed to clean up over 20,000
kilograms of garbage from the
slopes of Mt. Everest. That is the
equivalent of four fully grown
Indian Elephant Bulls.
are currently doing ? Please
share the Ballys campaign of
cleaning the Himalayas and
your role in it:
I am currently working with the
Swiss luxury brand Bally on their
Peak Outlook Initiative. Bally’s
mountain heritage stretches back
to the first ascent of Mt. Everest,
when Tenzing Norgay Sherpa
stood on the summit of Mt.
Everest wearing specially made
boots by Bally. Working together
this year, we cleaned over 1500kgs
of garbage from Mt. Everest.
What made the partnership with
Bally particularly impactful, is
that they helped me overcome
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a problem I always had in the
past. Cleaning in the death zone
is extremely difficult and requires
specialised manpower and
equipment. Together with Bally’s
support we were able to form
a team of 4 dedicated climbing
sherpas with all climbing gears
and oxygen equipment to be able
to stay and work in the death zone
for an extended duration of time.
This was not possible to do in the
past due to my limited financial
resources.
Another major difference that
my cooperation with Bally made
was the fact that for the first time
in history, we sent a cleaning
team to Everest Base Camp,
after the last climbers had left.
With no more tents and camps
to disturb, we were able to do
a thorough clean up of Everest
Base Camp and collected nearly
a ton of Garbage there. We were
also able to identify if any teams
had been polluting the glacier,
based on where we found the
garbage. I was then able to use
this information to approach those
expedition organizers to start a
dialogue on the need for them to
improve themselves in the future.
Eight of the 10 highest mountains
in the world are in Nepal and
have been visited by climbers for
many decades. Next year in 2020,
together with Bally on the Peak
Outlook Initiative, we will once
again form clean up teams to go
and clean up all the base camps of
Nepal’s eight 8000m peaks.
I’m also working closely with the
Ministry of Tourism to introduce
better regulations to help protect
our mountain environment. But
until such time as these new
regulations come into force, I
will continue to stay true to my
promise and keep the clean up
campaign going.