Family High

Last year, Payal and Advait Bhartia trekked to the Everest base camp in the middle of winter.

- Nikita Sawant 

It’s the kind of adventure that will feature in this family’s bedtime stories for years to come. Last year, Payal Bhartia and her six-year-old son Advait began a 12-day trek from Lukla, Nepal, to the Everest base camp, l ocated beside the tricky Khumbu Icefall, a staggering 17,593 ft above sea level. Payal, a fitness enthusiast and mother of two, used to run a gym before she had kids, and treks had always been a part of her life. Advait didn’t lag far behind. He skis and surfs, plays the piano and violin, and is the youngest Indian to have a language certification in Mandarin. Smart, curious and unusually worldly, the young boy stomped through the snow alongside his mother through sub-zero conditions. We spoke with the pair at their home in Pune.

How did this Everest expedition happen?

Payal: Initially, only I was going to go for this trek, but one day, while I was on call with the expedition leader, Advait came into the room and overheard me talking about it. He has always been an inquisitive child and he instantly asked me if he could accompany me. He promised he would train really hard for it, so I said yes.