Inspired By Mahakal To Start Mountaineering, Ratnesh Pandey Aims To Climb Matterhorn Of Himalayas

Indore (Madhya Pradesh): “Sir Edmund Hilary said that Ama Dablam (known as the 'Matterhorn of the Himalayas' due to its soaring ridges and steep faces) peak is ‘unclimbable’ which is now in my bucket list and my aim is to reach its top,” said 39-year-old mountaineer from Satna Ratnesh Pandey on Saturday while talking with Free Press.

“I got my inspiration for mountaineering from Baba Mahakal. On the day of Shivratri, I went there and all of a sudden it came in my mind to start mountaineering and so I pursued the basic and advanced mountaineering courses at Atal Bihari Vajpayee Institute of Mountaineering and Allied Sports, Manali and started mountaineering in 2014,” he said.

Ratnesh Pandey climbed Mount Everest in 2016. He also holds a Guinness World Record for his motorbike stunts. He received the Khel Alankaran award by the Government of Madhya Pradesh in November 2016. “It is said that the first experience is always memorable, the first peak I climbed was Mt Friendship in Himachal Pradesh.

It was my last day of training and I suffered from dehydration and nausea. Somehow, I strengthened my willpower and my training learning helped me much and I completed it,” said Panday. Pandey scaled Mount Everest on 21 May 2016, where he recited the national anthem of India, Jana Gana Mana. In September 2016, Pandey climbed Mount Damavand, Iran's highest mountain and Mount Sabalan, its third-highest mountain, in a mountaineering expedition organized by the International Climbing and Mountaineering Federation.

“Mountaineering is 70 per cent about mental health and 30 per cent is physical health meaning 100 per cent of physical training plays only 30 per cent role while climbing mountains. The temperature reaches around -25 degree Celsius, winds blow at 50kmph which puts so much pressure. However, the one who survives these situations wins and reaches the top. The one who wins over hard situations wins in life,” he said.

In April 2015, Pandey succeeded in climbing 22,000 feet of Mount Everest, but could not make it to the top of Everest due to an earthquake, which caused an avalanche and the death of 21 climbers. Pandey was trapped on the mountain after the earthquake; later he was rescued. “I was in Iran for climbing where my tent and kitchen tent were near each other. I came out of my tent and saw a female bear with two cubs there. I blew my whistle and my co-climbers were alerted and somehow we managed to shoo the bear away from there,” he added.