The Top Is Only Halfway

Indian mountaineer Arjun Vajpai was disappointed when bad weather prevented his attempted summit of Mount Kanchenjunga during this spring’s climbing season in Nepal. But Vajpai, India’s only professional mountaineer, knows he’ll be back to take another crack at the third highest peak in the world. “It was disheartening, but not heartbreaking, because it was not for any technical reason [that the attempt failed], but because of the absence of a clear weather window. That factor is not in human hands,” says the 24-year-old, who returned to India recently after his month-long expedition.

- Anil Nair

India’s only consistent professional high-altitude mountaineer for nearly a decade now, since summiting Mount Everest at the tender age of 16, Vajpai is no stranger to adversity. On his first attempt at Mount Cho Oyu in Nepal, in 2012, he was snowed in for three days at 7,000 metres, and lost sensation on the left side of his body due to oxygen deprivation. Abandoned by his sherpas, he crawled down to base camp—a journey that took over 17 hours—using only his right arm and leg. But in 2016, he returned to Mount Cho Oyu and made the summit. “I was left to die, but something inside me kept me going then and still does,” he says.