Veteran mountaineer to hike Everest and fourth highest mountain

 

Mountaineer T Ravichandran plans to scale the world’s highest and fourth-highest mountains next month as part of his plan to tackle the 14 highest peaks on Earth.

The ‘Himalaya Sport Everest-Lhotse Expedition 2023’ is set to start in April at the Mount Everest base camp after a month of preparation before the actual five-day trek which will see his back-to-back ascents of Everest and Lhotse in May.

The two peaks stand at altitudes of 8,848m and 8,516m respectively.

“Many mountaineers dream of completing this ambitious double-summit feat and I have set this new challenge for myself as part of my goal to climb the fourteen highest peaks in less than four years.

“This back-to-back ascent will make my fourth expedition to Mount Everest more difficult than my previous climbs, but it reflects my life’s motto - challenge your summit and constantly raise our bar so we can achieve our very best,” said Ravichandran in a statement today.

He is doing this despite having lost some fingers to frostbite on his maiden hike up Mount Everest in 2006.

Ravichandran told Malaysiakini that he had already completed four out of 14 of the world’s highest mountain peaks a total of eight times but now he will be starting from zero with this challenge.

The world’s 14 highest peaks are located along the Himalaya and Karakoram mountain ranges in China, Nepal, Pakistan and India. He aspires to be the first South East Asian climber to conquer and plant Malaysian flags on all 14 peaks.

“The most difficult for me was K2 around last July until August because it was too hard for human endurance, and I hope to continue with the same momentum and finished three or four this year.

The fastest person to finish this challenge took six months but it will not only cost money but also stamina,” he said.

Deputy Minister of Youth and Sports Adam Ali Abdul Halim officiated the ‘Himalaya Sports Everest-Lhotse Expedition 2023’, where the main sponsor Himalaya Sports also presented Ravi with RM100,000 in support of the expedition.

“We hope that by sponsoring Ravi and helping him achieve his dreams, it will inspire more Malaysians to embrace a positive can-do attitude and persevere in their passions,” Himalaya Sports founder and managing director of Nicko Jeep Manufacture Sdn Bhd Kenny Low said.

On July 24, 2022, Ravichandran became the first Malaysian (able-bodied or handicapped) to summit K2, the most hostile peak in the world, and the dedication of his feat to the people of Malaysia was widely broadcast by local media.

He holds two Malaysia Book of Records as the nation’s first solo climber to conquer Mount Everest in 2006 and K2 in 2022. - Mkini