I am NOT the prototype of a Mountaineer
I am an ordinary person who had this
extraordinary dream when one dreams big
it is very important to chase that dream
it’s very easy to run away from the
dream because you can find a number of
excuses for that I am a surgeon
what if I lose my fingers to frostbite
on the mountains so when you dream big
it is very important that you plan for
your dream that you prepare for your
dream and most importantly you commit to
that dream I committed to Mount Everest
by going and paying up for the
expedition that’s a big commitment Mount
Everest is the costliest mountain to
climb climbing a mountain is different
from other sports the only opponents
that you face are the demons that play
in your mind
the only goals that you can score are
the limits that you set for yourself
whether it be the summit or anywhere
else in between there are no spectators
to cheer you on so many times it’s a
lonely battle of your mind vs the
elements I grew up in a hill station and
I’m very fortunate I did not have the
distractions of the TV the internet or
the cell phone at my time in school the
mountains or my playing fields and the
playing grounds were my battle stations
life ladies and gentlemen is all about
perspective I graduated from school in
the top 25 of my class there were only
it’s very important you do not compare
yourself to others there will always be
greater and lesser persons than
yourselves I had left school and I
joined the National Cadet Corps while
pursuing to be a commercial pilot over
time I became the all-india best cadet
and won the prime ministers gold medal I
now had a choice an engineering seat or
a medical seat more to escape the trauma
of mathematics than any real love for
biology you’re relating to that I joined
medicine I was scared
here I was the last student in class the
last student to graduate out of school
attempting to be a doctor astonishingly
a few years down the line I did become
the doctor and I realized that academics
is not everything any day sincerity and
hard work will score over academic
excellence normality is a paved road
it’s comfortable to walk on but no
flowers grow on it I took every
opportunity to step out of my comfort
zone to push the envelope and to stretch
my limits my love for the mountains made
me enroll in one of the tough car
rallies in the world
the Himalayan car rally the first time I
was eliminated on day one the second
time we completed the race and the third
time we got a podium finish I dared to
fail because I realized if you have not
stumbled you have not tried hard enough
my love for the mountains again which I
developed at school made me chase my
childhood dream at fifty years of age of
summiting Mount Everest but at fifty
years of age I was told I’m too old to
enroll for the basic mountaineering
courses in India age to me is just a
number
undeterred I scouted around abroad and I
found this when Canadian group called
peak freaks and they said that if I
wanted to climb with them I needed to
come and train with them so in October
two
thousand twelve I went to Nepal and I
trained on these mountains range of
about 19 to 20,000 feet and as we were
climbing these mountains they teach us
everything that we need to know about
ice climbing rock climbing crevasse
crossings crevasse rescues and after
successfully growing through this
program with them they invited us back
for a bid at the summit and while I was
training for Mount Everest I learned so
many life experiences that were very
similar to that being a doctor both are
the loftiest ambitions both extremely
expensive both take very long to achieve
very small opportunities at the top and
both have their inherent risks but one
major difference as a mountaineer my
life is on the line
as a surgeon my patient’s life is on the
line I came back to Mumbai
not the ideal playing ground for someone
who wants to summit Mount Everest and I
tried to weave my training schedule into
my work schedule I started walking to
work I stopped using the elevator and I
found this high-altitude gymnasium I
would go for an hour every day and train
in this gymnasium so that before I
actually get on to the mountains I’m
already acclimatized to about 8,000 feet
on the mountains so this altitude
gymnasium simulates an altitude of about
8,000 feet I would like to introduce you
to my team one by one five strangers
from five continents and what amazing
feats can be accomplished if we have a
common goal the first member of my team
Sean Mooney from Canada
he was the Canadian chess boxing
champion the next person in our group
was Kevin Fairbrother from Australia
Kevin had successfully submitted Mount
Everest earlier and this time was
attempting to summit the mountain
without oxygen unfortunately on the last
day he had to put on his oxygen and it
became his second successful summit with
oxygen the youngest in our team
the only vagin was Patrick from Ireland
if you want to know about commitment
about focus
listen to the story we were once
climbing at about 20,000 feet went but
we got a message that Patrick’s eldest
brother had died in an avalanche we
thought that’s the end of his trip and
he’s going to go back but he was very
practical about it he said it’s going to
take five days to get back to where his
brother’s body was by which time all the
formalities will be over so he said
he’ll continue climbing and do the
summit in honor of his dead brother the
fourth person of the group was myself
the only Indian the only doctor in the
group I was the eldest in the group and
I was the oldest and I was fifty years
of age and I was the slowest in the
group as well the last person in our
group was a lady lead in haand is from
South Africa and she was climbing for
the HIV children of South Africa now
from Katmandu you need to take an
aircraft a small flight in through the
valleys into a place called lukla which
is considered one of the scariest
airports in the world it’s got this huge
valley at one end and a big mountain at
the other end and this runway is only
460 meters long so it’s a very thrilling
exciting flight to get in and out of
lukla and when you enter lukla it’s a
totally different world there are no
more roads there are no more vehicles
and everything that you need for your
climb goes in on the back of the yaks or
the Nepali Porter’s these Nepali
Porter’s phenomenally strong people
carrying these massive loads and still
walking two to three times faster than
you can walk from lukla at 9,000 feet
you need to get to every space camp at
17,000 feet in your enthusiasm if you
rush in you’re going to get acute
mountain sickness so you have to take it
easy as you go in the dictum being
you’ll not ascend more than a thousand
feet in a day it is very important
wherever you go for business or for
leisure you respect the local customer
and whenever we see the tippet in prayer
wheel we keep it on a right move it in a
clockwise direction and your prayers go
up to the heavens
this is Everest base camp at 17,000 feet
this international village of tents come
up only during the climbing season and
this entire region is actually
glacier we pitch our tents on glaciers
and it’s a very unique experience for a
city people to sleep on a glacier now
before we actually start climbing Mount
Everest a Tibetan monk comes and does
another puja this puja is seeking
permission of the revered mountain Mount
Everest sagarmatha Chomolungma to step
onto her and only after this do we
actually start a climb on Mount Everest
I shall first show you in 3d animation
the route we take up to the summit the
most treacherous part of your climb
actually is the first part between
Everest base camp and camp one you need
to get across something called the
Khumbu Icefall these combo ice Falls is
a towering blocks of ice three four five
stories tall that are actually coming
off the mountain there’s a lot of ladder
crossings a lot of crevasse crossings
that you need to do get across this
reach camp one spend a night there come
all the way down to base camp you start
again cross the Khumbu Icefall spend a
night at camp 1 and now proceed to camp
– camp 1 – camp – looks like a lovely
flat area but you’re already at 20,000
feet the oxygen level there is just 50%
that at sea level so you need to keep
breathing in taking a step getting back
your breath and taking the other step
you get to camp to spend a night there
come all the way down to base camp start
the whole process again camp one one
night camp to one right and now you
proceed to camp three camp due to camp 3
is another very long very tiring segment
because it’s a very steep incline called
the load surface which you have to keep
climbing for hours on end to reach camp
3 it is solid blue ice because as the
snow falls there it gets blown away and
it’s a very steep incline so you keep
climbing climbing climbing reach camp 3
again come all the way down to base camp
so for about 4 weeks you have to keep
doing this because that’s the only way
your body will acclimatize to the high
altitude and the lack of oxygen you then
proceed to camp 4 which is considered
the dead zone it is not compatible with
life you have to put on your oxygen you
start in the evening from camp 4 keep
climbing the entire night hoping to
reach the summit sometime in the morning
spend a few moments at the summit and
again come climbing down to the safety
of camp 4 so the last day is going to be
a continuous 22 24 hours of climbing
because that’s the only way you can
reach the summit and come back again to
safety this is the actual visuals early
morning as we sought a climb each
climber with his or her own headlight a
very pretty sight but extremely cold at
this point of time and this is the
Khumbu Icefall towering blocks of ice
look how insignificant I am in front of
Mother Nature a lot of ladder crossings
and the crevasse crossings here I’m
crossing a crevasse the person standing
behind me is Ming ma Mingma is my
personal share power in the mountains he
is literally my guardian angel on the
mountain without the Sherpas it is
impossible for amateur commercial
climbers like me to summit Mount Everest
he’s always there guiding me across
these segments and telling me when to
climb when not to climb this is what it
looks like to do a crevasse crossing the
these aluminium ladders are just thrown
across the crevasse and you need to get
across I sometimes see the bottom of the
crevasse sometimes I don’t see the
bottom it didn’t matter
I was scared either ways this route
keeps changing on a day to day basis I
might go up this way but when I come
down this would have collapsed and the
Sherpa will find another way out for me
so we have implicit faith in our shared
pas just as we hope our patients have
influenced it faith in us whatever he
tells me to do I will do it when he
tells me to climb I climb if he tells me
don’t climb I do not climb we crossed
the Khumbu Icefall and then we at 19,000
feet we reach camp 1 we are supposed to
spend a night there and come back again
to base camp but the first time we went
to camp 1 we got caught in a blizzard
it’s extremely scary to get caught in a
blizzard howling winds you spread-eagle
yourself out on the base of the tent
hoping it’s not going to get blown over
you don’t know how long this Blizzard is
going to last this lasted for two days
and then we could again get back to the
safety of base camp this is where it so
it’s really struck me I was told if
you want to summit Mount Everest you
have to be comfortable at being
uncomfortable
this is Camp 2 at 21,000 feet and now we
proceed to the load surface this is the
steep incline which I was telling you
about and this is it you can see my
crampons they don’t even sink into it
it’s like climbing up a slippery rock
you have to keep climbing this segment
and this it’s where it struck me I am
doing this at my own volition at any
point of time I can chuck it up and go
back to the comfort of my home but what
about my cancer patients however
difficult it is for them however
fatigued they are they have to keep
battling along this is camp 3 at 24,000
feet a ledge in the side of the mountain
and you can see that one of the climbers
has removed his socks he’s wiping the
sweat between the toes so that he
doesn’t get frostbite and it is this
little details that you need to take
care of there is a saying on the
mountains it’s not the mountain that
kills you it is the pebble in your shoe
so this little details you take care of
them and the entire picture will fall
into place we are now proceeding to camp
4 as I mentioned it’s considered the
dead zone man is slowly dying at this
altitude you’re not supposed to be here
it’s at 26,000 feet it is extremely cold
extremely windy you’re supposed to have
a lot of fluids at that altitude but
you’re nauseous you can’t sleep because
you got chains dog breathing in the
evening at around 7 o’clock with your
two oxygen cylinders you set out for the
summit a very pretty sight again but
extremely cold we set out at 7 o’clock
at minus 36 degrees and I didn’t know
how I was going to do this by 7:30 I was
exhausted and again this is where
teamwork comes in pushing each other on
telling you come on one foot in front of
the other one step more one step more
and here we realize you have to run your
own race that’s the only one you can win
if you try to keep up with the other
quicker climbers you’ll be relied on the
wayside to make matters worse at 9
o’clock my headlight backed up again
teamwork helping me wrong throwing light
and helping me along and we kept
climbing you’re beyond exhaustion
and the only thing that enthuses you is
the early morning sunrise for a change
you see the Sun rising from below you
and coming up into the horizon it’s a
fantastic sight and you can see what a
perfect day had been chosen to summit
Mount Everest not a cloud in the sky
hardly any winds it was the perfect day
I’m not ashamed to say that when I came
to rocky segments like this
I was literally crawling across it
because I was so exhausted
we saw the shadow of Mount Everest on
the Nepal Valley at sunrise
a beautiful sight and we managed to
capture this on film all the time we are
climbing even at this point of time I
cannot see the summit of Mount Everest
it’s only when I come here at the South
Summit that way above over there you see
the actual summit of Mount Everest we
have two obstacles remaining now the
ridge which is a very narrow segment you
have to get across this segment to the
left is the Nepal Valley to the right is
the China Valley I was extremely nervous
at this point of time and I asked my
Sherpa if I slip should I slip to the
left or to the right
he said fall to the right fall to the
right you’ll live longer the fall to the
left is 8,000 feet the fall to the right
is 12,000 feet so I got across the
segment and then you have the Hillary
step this Hillary step is just 40 feet
high it is a vertical rock face
you have to haul yourself up straddle it
and get across to the other side it took
me about 20 minutes to get across this
and then you’re walking towards the
summit you know it is within your grasp
and you can see how ever fit you are
however athletic you are you cannot walk
faster than this for every step you take
you have to stop get back your breath
and then take the next step it is
playing on your mind that even though
your summit is just there getting to the
summit is optional getting down is
mandatory most of the deaths on Mount
Everest happen on the way down not on
the way up you’ve got limited oxygen
supply you’ve got a very small weather
in a window at any point of time the
weather changes so you better get back
down to the safety of your camp for
and look at this one step stop one step
stop you cannot walk faster than this at
29,000 feet and this ladies and
gentlemen is the summit of Mount Everest
at 9:10 a.m. on 19th May 2013 I had the
privilege of stepping up on Mount
Everest summit but you have no time to
save at the moment thank you if there is
a message in this talk
it is this dream big dream big and take
that first step because when you altima
tree step on the summit of your Everest
it is not the mountain you would have
conquered but yourself thank you [Applause]
I am an ordinary person who had this
extraordinary dream when one dreams big
it is very important to chase that dream
it’s very easy to run away from the
dream because you can find a number of
excuses for that I am a surgeon
what if I lose my fingers to frostbite
on the mountains so when you dream big
it is very important that you plan for
your dream that you prepare for your
dream and most importantly you commit to
that dream I committed to Mount Everest
by going and paying up for the
expedition that’s a big commitment Mount
Everest is the costliest mountain to
climb climbing a mountain is different
from other sports the only opponents
that you face are the demons that play
in your mind
the only goals that you can score are
the limits that you set for yourself
whether it be the summit or anywhere
else in between there are no spectators
to cheer you on so many times it’s a
lonely battle of your mind vs the
elements I grew up in a hill station and
I’m very fortunate I did not have the
distractions of the TV the internet or
the cell phone at my time in school the
mountains or my playing fields and the
playing grounds were my battle stations
life ladies and gentlemen is all about
perspective I graduated from school in
the top 25 of my class there were only
it’s very important you do not compare
yourself to others there will always be
greater and lesser persons than
yourselves I had left school and I
joined the National Cadet Corps while
pursuing to be a commercial pilot over
time I became the all-india best cadet
and won the prime ministers gold medal I
now had a choice an engineering seat or
a medical seat more to escape the trauma
of mathematics than any real love for
biology you’re relating to that I joined
medicine I was scared
here I was the last student in class the
last student to graduate out of school
attempting to be a doctor astonishingly
a few years down the line I did become
the doctor and I realized that academics
is not everything any day sincerity and
hard work will score over academic
excellence normality is a paved road
it’s comfortable to walk on but no
flowers grow on it I took every
opportunity to step out of my comfort
zone to push the envelope and to stretch
my limits my love for the mountains made
me enroll in one of the tough car
rallies in the world
the Himalayan car rally the first time I
was eliminated on day one the second
time we completed the race and the third
time we got a podium finish I dared to
fail because I realized if you have not
stumbled you have not tried hard enough
my love for the mountains again which I
developed at school made me chase my
childhood dream at fifty years of age of
summiting Mount Everest but at fifty
years of age I was told I’m too old to
enroll for the basic mountaineering
courses in India age to me is just a
number
undeterred I scouted around abroad and I
found this when Canadian group called
peak freaks and they said that if I
wanted to climb with them I needed to
come and train with them so in October
two
thousand twelve I went to Nepal and I
trained on these mountains range of
about 19 to 20,000 feet and as we were
climbing these mountains they teach us
everything that we need to know about
ice climbing rock climbing crevasse
crossings crevasse rescues and after
successfully growing through this
program with them they invited us back
for a bid at the summit and while I was
training for Mount Everest I learned so
many life experiences that were very
similar to that being a doctor both are
the loftiest ambitions both extremely
expensive both take very long to achieve
very small opportunities at the top and
both have their inherent risks but one
major difference as a mountaineer my
life is on the line
as a surgeon my patient’s life is on the
line I came back to Mumbai
not the ideal playing ground for someone
who wants to summit Mount Everest and I
tried to weave my training schedule into
my work schedule I started walking to
work I stopped using the elevator and I
found this high-altitude gymnasium I
would go for an hour every day and train
in this gymnasium so that before I
actually get on to the mountains I’m
already acclimatized to about 8,000 feet
on the mountains so this altitude
gymnasium simulates an altitude of about
8,000 feet I would like to introduce you
to my team one by one five strangers
from five continents and what amazing
feats can be accomplished if we have a
common goal the first member of my team
Sean Mooney from Canada
he was the Canadian chess boxing
champion the next person in our group
was Kevin Fairbrother from Australia
Kevin had successfully submitted Mount
Everest earlier and this time was
attempting to summit the mountain
without oxygen unfortunately on the last
day he had to put on his oxygen and it
became his second successful summit with
oxygen the youngest in our team
the only vagin was Patrick from Ireland
if you want to know about commitment
about focus
listen to the story we were once
climbing at about 20,000 feet went but
we got a message that Patrick’s eldest
brother had died in an avalanche we
thought that’s the end of his trip and
he’s going to go back but he was very
practical about it he said it’s going to
take five days to get back to where his
brother’s body was by which time all the
formalities will be over so he said
he’ll continue climbing and do the
summit in honor of his dead brother the
fourth person of the group was myself
the only Indian the only doctor in the
group I was the eldest in the group and
I was the oldest and I was fifty years
of age and I was the slowest in the
group as well the last person in our
group was a lady lead in haand is from
South Africa and she was climbing for
the HIV children of South Africa now
from Katmandu you need to take an
aircraft a small flight in through the
valleys into a place called lukla which
is considered one of the scariest
airports in the world it’s got this huge
valley at one end and a big mountain at
the other end and this runway is only
460 meters long so it’s a very thrilling
exciting flight to get in and out of
lukla and when you enter lukla it’s a
totally different world there are no
more roads there are no more vehicles
and everything that you need for your
climb goes in on the back of the yaks or
the Nepali Porter’s these Nepali
Porter’s phenomenally strong people
carrying these massive loads and still
walking two to three times faster than
you can walk from lukla at 9,000 feet
you need to get to every space camp at
17,000 feet in your enthusiasm if you
rush in you’re going to get acute
mountain sickness so you have to take it
easy as you go in the dictum being
you’ll not ascend more than a thousand
feet in a day it is very important
wherever you go for business or for
leisure you respect the local customer
and whenever we see the tippet in prayer
wheel we keep it on a right move it in a
clockwise direction and your prayers go
up to the heavens
this is Everest base camp at 17,000 feet
this international village of tents come
up only during the climbing season and
this entire region is actually
glacier we pitch our tents on glaciers
and it’s a very unique experience for a
city people to sleep on a glacier now
before we actually start climbing Mount
Everest a Tibetan monk comes and does
another puja this puja is seeking
permission of the revered mountain Mount
Everest sagarmatha Chomolungma to step
onto her and only after this do we
actually start a climb on Mount Everest
I shall first show you in 3d animation
the route we take up to the summit the
most treacherous part of your climb
actually is the first part between
Everest base camp and camp one you need
to get across something called the
Khumbu Icefall these combo ice Falls is
a towering blocks of ice three four five
stories tall that are actually coming
off the mountain there’s a lot of ladder
crossings a lot of crevasse crossings
that you need to do get across this
reach camp one spend a night there come
all the way down to base camp you start
again cross the Khumbu Icefall spend a
night at camp 1 and now proceed to camp
– camp 1 – camp – looks like a lovely
flat area but you’re already at 20,000
feet the oxygen level there is just 50%
that at sea level so you need to keep
breathing in taking a step getting back
your breath and taking the other step
you get to camp to spend a night there
come all the way down to base camp start
the whole process again camp one one
night camp to one right and now you
proceed to camp three camp due to camp 3
is another very long very tiring segment
because it’s a very steep incline called
the load surface which you have to keep
climbing for hours on end to reach camp
3 it is solid blue ice because as the
snow falls there it gets blown away and
it’s a very steep incline so you keep
climbing climbing climbing reach camp 3
again come all the way down to base camp
so for about 4 weeks you have to keep
doing this because that’s the only way
your body will acclimatize to the high
altitude and the lack of oxygen you then
proceed to camp 4 which is considered
the dead zone it is not compatible with
life you have to put on your oxygen you
start in the evening from camp 4 keep
climbing the entire night hoping to
reach the summit sometime in the morning
spend a few moments at the summit and
again come climbing down to the safety
of camp 4 so the last day is going to be
a continuous 22 24 hours of climbing
because that’s the only way you can
reach the summit and come back again to
safety this is the actual visuals early
morning as we sought a climb each
climber with his or her own headlight a
very pretty sight but extremely cold at
this point of time and this is the
Khumbu Icefall towering blocks of ice
look how insignificant I am in front of
Mother Nature a lot of ladder crossings
and the crevasse crossings here I’m
crossing a crevasse the person standing
behind me is Ming ma Mingma is my
personal share power in the mountains he
is literally my guardian angel on the
mountain without the Sherpas it is
impossible for amateur commercial
climbers like me to summit Mount Everest
he’s always there guiding me across
these segments and telling me when to
climb when not to climb this is what it
looks like to do a crevasse crossing the
these aluminium ladders are just thrown
across the crevasse and you need to get
across I sometimes see the bottom of the
crevasse sometimes I don’t see the
bottom it didn’t matter
I was scared either ways this route
keeps changing on a day to day basis I
might go up this way but when I come
down this would have collapsed and the
Sherpa will find another way out for me
so we have implicit faith in our shared
pas just as we hope our patients have
influenced it faith in us whatever he
tells me to do I will do it when he
tells me to climb I climb if he tells me
don’t climb I do not climb we crossed
the Khumbu Icefall and then we at 19,000
feet we reach camp 1 we are supposed to
spend a night there and come back again
to base camp but the first time we went
to camp 1 we got caught in a blizzard
it’s extremely scary to get caught in a
blizzard howling winds you spread-eagle
yourself out on the base of the tent
hoping it’s not going to get blown over
you don’t know how long this Blizzard is
going to last this lasted for two days
and then we could again get back to the
safety of base camp this is where it so
it’s really struck me I was told if
you want to summit Mount Everest you
have to be comfortable at being
uncomfortable
this is Camp 2 at 21,000 feet and now we
proceed to the load surface this is the
steep incline which I was telling you
about and this is it you can see my
crampons they don’t even sink into it
it’s like climbing up a slippery rock
you have to keep climbing this segment
and this it’s where it struck me I am
doing this at my own volition at any
point of time I can chuck it up and go
back to the comfort of my home but what
about my cancer patients however
difficult it is for them however
fatigued they are they have to keep
battling along this is camp 3 at 24,000
feet a ledge in the side of the mountain
and you can see that one of the climbers
has removed his socks he’s wiping the
sweat between the toes so that he
doesn’t get frostbite and it is this
little details that you need to take
care of there is a saying on the
mountains it’s not the mountain that
kills you it is the pebble in your shoe
so this little details you take care of
them and the entire picture will fall
into place we are now proceeding to camp
4 as I mentioned it’s considered the
dead zone man is slowly dying at this
altitude you’re not supposed to be here
it’s at 26,000 feet it is extremely cold
extremely windy you’re supposed to have
a lot of fluids at that altitude but
you’re nauseous you can’t sleep because
you got chains dog breathing in the
evening at around 7 o’clock with your
two oxygen cylinders you set out for the
summit a very pretty sight again but
extremely cold we set out at 7 o’clock
at minus 36 degrees and I didn’t know
how I was going to do this by 7:30 I was
exhausted and again this is where
teamwork comes in pushing each other on
telling you come on one foot in front of
the other one step more one step more
and here we realize you have to run your
own race that’s the only one you can win
if you try to keep up with the other
quicker climbers you’ll be relied on the
wayside to make matters worse at 9
o’clock my headlight backed up again
teamwork helping me wrong throwing light
and helping me along and we kept
climbing you’re beyond exhaustion
and the only thing that enthuses you is
the early morning sunrise for a change
you see the Sun rising from below you
and coming up into the horizon it’s a
fantastic sight and you can see what a
perfect day had been chosen to summit
Mount Everest not a cloud in the sky
hardly any winds it was the perfect day
I’m not ashamed to say that when I came
to rocky segments like this
I was literally crawling across it
because I was so exhausted
we saw the shadow of Mount Everest on
the Nepal Valley at sunrise
a beautiful sight and we managed to
capture this on film all the time we are
climbing even at this point of time I
cannot see the summit of Mount Everest
it’s only when I come here at the South
Summit that way above over there you see
the actual summit of Mount Everest we
have two obstacles remaining now the
ridge which is a very narrow segment you
have to get across this segment to the
left is the Nepal Valley to the right is
the China Valley I was extremely nervous
at this point of time and I asked my
Sherpa if I slip should I slip to the
left or to the right
he said fall to the right fall to the
right you’ll live longer the fall to the
left is 8,000 feet the fall to the right
is 12,000 feet so I got across the
segment and then you have the Hillary
step this Hillary step is just 40 feet
high it is a vertical rock face
you have to haul yourself up straddle it
and get across to the other side it took
me about 20 minutes to get across this
and then you’re walking towards the
summit you know it is within your grasp
and you can see how ever fit you are
however athletic you are you cannot walk
faster than this for every step you take
you have to stop get back your breath
and then take the next step it is
playing on your mind that even though
your summit is just there getting to the
summit is optional getting down is
mandatory most of the deaths on Mount
Everest happen on the way down not on
the way up you’ve got limited oxygen
supply you’ve got a very small weather
in a window at any point of time the
weather changes so you better get back
down to the safety of your camp for
and look at this one step stop one step
stop you cannot walk faster than this at
29,000 feet and this ladies and
gentlemen is the summit of Mount Everest
at 9:10 a.m. on 19th May 2013 I had the
privilege of stepping up on Mount
Everest summit but you have no time to
save at the moment thank you if there is
a message in this talk
it is this dream big dream big and take
that first step because when you altima
tree step on the summit of your Everest
it is not the mountain you would have
conquered but yourself thank you [Applause]
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