Bhubaneswar: Furling Patitapabana Bana of Lord Jagannath on the highest peak of the earth was the dream come true moment in Siddarth Routray’s mountaineering journey.
On 15 May, he scaled Mt Everest and waved the national flag and Patitapabana Bana of Lord Jagannath at the top of the peak.
Sharing his experience of climbing Mt Everest and reaching the top, he said, “The experience is more spiritual and humble. The whole expedition taught me about how to remain mentally strong despite the condition.”
Halfway through the expedition, Sidharth became sick and had to return to Kathmandu and get treated. But he wanted to complete his expedition. “I wanted to get back to the expedition as it was a big mission for me and I can’t just leave it midway. Apart from my physical fitness, I concentrated on making myself mentally fit. I started reading lots of spiritual books on Buddha. Spiritual books helped me to not let any negative thoughts affect me. It helped me to remain mentally strong, spiritual, and humble,” he said.
The entire expedition was of 50 days but the final summit was of 6 days, one has to go through lots of training and climb other mountains nearby, he informed.
Speaking about his special preparation for the summit, he said “I didn’t go through special training for Mt Everest as I have been mountaineering regularly.”
“However, I was training to climb without an oxygen cylinder as I wanted to do it without using oxygen supplements,” he informed.
Sidharth, the first Ironman from Odisha in 2016, has already climbed the top 3 peaks in the continents of North America, South America, and Africa. While he climbed Mt Denali in North America this January, he had already scaled Mt Aconcagua in South America and Mt Kilimanjaro in Africa, Mount Aconcagua is the highest peak in the South American continent.
Sharing about how mountaineering happened, he said “When I moved to California 15 years back, I saw Americans were involved in lots of adventure activities. Since I was from the National Defence Academy and trained in mountaineering, I started doing it. Mount San Antonio, a 10000 feet mountain near my house in California, was the first that I climbed.”
In the past 15 years, I might have climbed over 1500 small and big peaks, he claimed.
Praising Sherpas for their contribution, he said, “The Sherpas are amazing people. Even before you start the expedition, they go and fix a tent for you at the campsites. They carry all the oxygen cylinders that you might need at different camps. During your training, they take you to show the actual route. If you have any technical problem they are there to support and keep you safe. They are like your headlight to show you the right path in darkness.”
Sidharth who lives in Folsom, California with his wife and two daughters, aims to climb all the highest peaks of the world situated on the seven continents. “I want to put Odisha’s name on top of every continent. There are seven continents with seven highest peaks, I aim to climb all the peaks, and fly the flag of Lord Jagannath and India,” he averred.
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