Scaling the world’s highest peaks with no fingers

MALAYSIANSKINI | Malaysia’s first disabled person to scale Mount Everest is on his way home from the world’s second-highest peak, also known as the deadliest mountain in the world – Mount K2 in Pakistan.

Proving his resilience with every climb, T Ravichandran has been scaling the world’s highest peaks with no fingers for the past 16 years but this year, in less than three months, he reached the world’s top two highest peaks, while creating a Malaysian record.

Ravichandran, who returned to Malaysia on May 22 after leading a successful Everest expedition, didn’t waste any time before his solo ascend that led him to become the first Malaysian to summit K2.

The 57-year-old mountaineer lost a considerable portion of all eight fingers during his Mount Everest maiden ascent in 2006 but, undeterred, he has since reached the peak of the world’s highest mountain, twice.

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

Dubbed “Savage Mountain” by an American climber in his 1953 expedition, K2, at 8,611m has subsequently gained notoriety for claiming one life for every four who make it to the peak.

Speaking to Malaysiakini before leaving for K2, the mountaineer, said: “It would be an honour I want to share with Malaysians in conjunction with our national day.”

However, he lamented the fraying unity of Malaysians and hoped the government’s Keluarga Malaysia initiative would be able to mend the divide.

“I feel sad looking at the situation in our country. We are so divided.

“I am so sad to see this but hopefully, Keluarga Malaysia can achieve its target of bringing everyone together,” he said.

Ravichandran hopes for the nation were unchanged even after his gruelling K2 ascend, stating: “I want this success to help our nation transition into a very strong nation and be very united and harmonious”.

The K2 experience

Despite his experience climbing to the peak of Everest three times and a total of eight summit climbs above 8,000 meters, Ravichandran said K2 was three times more challenging and difficult to climb.

He said his previous climbs, especially his Everest 3.0 climb just two months before, helped to prepare him mentally for the journey to the peak of K2, yet on every gruelling step forward, Ravichandran said he was fighting with himself not to give up.

“During the day, we made the last push for the summit, we were facing falling rocks from Camp1 to Camp 3.

“We came across dead bodies above 7,300 metres, and I will always remember it.

“It was three-times the tears during the day we did the summit push, and reaching the summit was my best feeling as a professional mountaineer,” he expressed.

It is widely known among mountaineers that the K2 base camp is without the luxuries of the Everest base camp, but Ravichandran’s advice to climbers who had set their sights on K2 was: “Be prepared to feel the real adventure.”

The solo climber was accompanied by other international mountaineers from China, Ukraine, Iran, and Poland, who helped make the journey bearable.

“We are so happy together.

“We had fun along the trek to base camp and during our stay there,” he described.

Resting in Islamabad before returning to Malaysia, Ravichandran’s said he would be leading clients to the peaks of Annapurna and Dhaulagiri in Nepal next Spring.

A unique world of high-altitude climbers

Trekking trails that have ended in tragedy for many, Ravichandran was nonchalant about his fingers when asked and shifted slightly in his chair, adopting an air of ease before saying that many other mountaineers have lost other extremities.

As if belonging to a unique world of high-altitude climbers, he said earnestly: “Losing is artificial.”

Pointing at other extremities, he said: “All these are artificial, which you don’t need. We need only the thumb and our bodies will sacrifice the parts furthest from the heart.”

“As climbers, we mix around with people with no ears, no nose, no toes and all these are artificial which you don’t need.

“My thumbs are working and that’s important but every injury is a lesson learned and I hope there are no more mistakes,” said the mountaineer known among local enthusiasts as “Everest Ravi”.

With the support of his wife, Leela, his 15-year-old daughter Sangeetha, too, was charting her own successes in the mountaineering world and has made her mark as the youngest Malaysian to climb Mount Elbrus (5,642m) in Russia.

Many inspirational climbers in the world

Among the many inspiring mountaineers in their world, it was the late Junko Tabei, whose technique of taking small steps and keeping moving form key instructions he shares with all those training under him.

“In 2005, before my first hike up Mount Everest, I did a joint training climb with her in the Philippines.

“Japanese climbers have a different pace. Small steps, deep breathing, and no stops. They are resolute in their practice.

“Today, my mantra is - every small step will lead me to the summit,” he shared.

Other international mountaineers who have inspired Ravichandran include Italian Reinhold Andreas Messner, whom he met once, Nepali Apa Sherpa, who has made up Mount Everest 21 times and the late Korean climber Park Young-seok.

Park was reportedly the first person in the world to complete a True Explorers Grand Slam, which involved ascending the world’s 14 “eight-thousanders”, the Seven Summits, and trek to both poles.

Seeing Everest up close for the first time

Ravichandran skips to a time when he was first exposed to the unique camaraderie among the community of climbers from all over the world on his first trip to Nepal in 1998.

“I went to Nepal by myself in search of something new and had no thoughts of taking up mountaineering seriously,” said the licensed company secretary.

“I saw the real climbing community. They were people of all backgrounds. People of all ages. And they were at their happiest. (I was) Really happy and I was hooked,” he added.

Ravichandran was there to hike up Mount Kala Patthar, the nearest mountain peak to the Everest Base Camp, which also offers the closest view of Everest.

It was at the summit of Mount Kala Patthar, standing at 5,540m, that he decided he was going to climb the highest peak in the world.

“That’s how it started. I was inspired during that hike.

“Suddenly, it dawned on me. If others could do it, why not us?

“Furthermore, it was a feat already achieved by fellow Malaysians,” he remembered.

By this time, Ravichandran had already climbed Turkiye’s Mount Ararat at 5,137m and other mountains in Indonesia, the Philippines and Malaysia.

“I was 19-year-old when I climbed Mount Kinabalu.

“During my university days, Mount Trusmadi, the second-highest peak in Malaysia also located in Sabah, was also very popular.

“I was not a climber but liked the outdoor adventure,” remembered the former Negeri Sembilan semi-pro football player.

He said it was his athleticism that eventually led him to mountaineering as he was always seeking out outdoor activities.

No rock climbing on Everest

Listing all the highest peaks in Malaysia he had climbed – Trusmadi, Ledang, Tahan and Kinabalu, Ravichandran said his first Mount Kinabalu climb taught him many lessons that made sense when he took up mountaineering later in life.

However, Ravichandran shares that it was a common misconception among Malaysians that rock climbing experience was necessary for these hikes.

“Everest is all alpine and, more importantly, you need to know how to ascend a rope using a mechanical device called the jumar, and you need to know how to abseil down.

“No rock-climbing experience is necessary,” he said.

Although Mount K2 yields to Mount Everest in height, its walls are steep while Everest’s three-sided pyramid shape is generally flat.

“Everest is all alpine,” said Ravichandran, who became a global mountaineering guide seven years ago, adding that training for Everest was a global endeavour.

“We have a programme that started from scaling up Mount Kilimanjaro (5,900m) in Tanzania, then Nepal’s Lobuche Peak (6,119m) and Island Peak (6,160m).

“Then they progressed to Mount Elbrus (5,642m) in Russia and Mount Aconcagua (6,900m) in Argentina,” he explained, adding that China’s Mount Muztagh Ata was optional.

However, he admits that Mount Kinabalu always played an important role in training beginners as it was the only mountain in the world where a climber could reach a height of 4000m in less than 24 hours.

This, he said, could not happen anywhere else in the world, which earned it a reputation for being among the most difficult mountains in the world to climb.

“It’s ideal to evaluate a candidate and their reactions to the thin air and to teach acute mountain sickness,” said Ravichandran who has had more than 200 clients despite his handicap.

About the same time he started leading expeditions as a guide, Ravichandran had also started a club in Malaysia to teach mountaineering to locals.

Ravichandran said hiking teaches humility and he also found it relaxing to hold motivational talks through his Global Expedition Club and to inspire fellow Malaysians in their personal pursuits.

Malaysianskini is a series on Malaysians you should know.

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