Mt. Everest

By Abdul Nassar

Standing on top of the world at an elevation of 8,848 meters, Mr. Nasser said: "Yes, it again proved to me that anything is possible. It is all about continuous improvement." - The Hindu, May 20, 2019

" Abdul Nassar, a 42 - year-old expatriate from Kerala, has not only become an inspiration in his native area but also in Qatar

• Language: English
• Publisher: Telebrain
• Release date: Jul 10, 2021
• ISBN: 9789389995619

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Mt. Everest

The true story of an adventurous chartered accountant

Abdul Nassar

© Copyright Reserved

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, without prior written permission of the publisher.

Mt. EVEREST

English Language

Travelogue

By

Abdul Nassar

First Published in May 2021

ISBN: 978-93-89995-61-9

Cover Design: Amrutha PR

Printed By

Anaswara Offset Pvt ltd.

Published & Marketed By

Telbrain Books Pvt Ltd., Madom JN. Edappally, Kochi. 682 024

Email: [e-mail]

www.telbrainbooks.com

Disclaimer

The book is written purely on a self-help basis. The views expressed in the book are personal views of the author. Reader is advised to take professional help and advice before taking any action on any of the suggestions or recommendations mentioned in the book. Author, publisher or anyone associated with the book will not be liable or take responsibility for any consequences the reader might have by following any suggestions or recommendations mentioned in the book.

Contents

About the Author

Publisher’s Note

Dedication

Acknowledgements

Preface

Chapter 1

What Prompted Me To Set Out on Everest Expedition

Chapter 2

Training and Other Preparations for the Expedition

Chapter 3

Preparations

Chapter 4

Mental Preparations

Chapter 5

Short Stay at Home Land

Chapter 6

The Expedition Begins!

Chapter 7

Lukla to Phakding

Chapter 8

Two Days in Namchey

Chapter 9

Namchey to Tyamgbouche Monastry (3,860m)

Chapter 10

Dingboche. (4243m)

Chapter 11

Basic Mountaineering Training at EBC

Chapter 12

Acclimatization Round (EBC to Camp1, Camp2 and Back)

Chapter 13

Preparing for the Final Summit Push

Chapter 14

Summit Push

Chapter 15

Summit to Everest (8848m)

Chapter 16

Tragedies on Death Zone

Chapter 17

Medical Evacuation

Chapter 18

Lessons From Everest

Appendix 1

Itinerary of Kuwaripass Trek

Appendix 2

Itinerary of EBC Trek

Appendix 3

Itinerary of Everest Expedition

About the Author

ABDUL NASSAR – Senior Oil & Gas industry Finance Professional, Ironman, Ultra Trail Runner, Mountaineer, Author and Motivational Speaker.

Mr. Abdul Nassar, a Chartered Accountant by profession hailing from India, a long term resident of Qatar working as Senior Officer at national oil company Qatar Petroleum, on May 16, 2019 reached the summit of Mount Everest, becoming one of the few people on the planet to overcome great odds and achieve this amazing feat.

Senior Finance Professional (Oil and Gas Industry)

Abdul Nasser’s life story is all about overcoming obstacles and challenges through hard work and sheer determination. Born into a lower middle class family in Palakkad, Kerala, India, he realized that he would be able to break free from the economic challenges and reach financial stability and freedom only through excellence in education . Putting all his energy in his studies, Abdul Nassar obtained his Bachelor of Commerce degree with distinction in 1996, he was the college topper and 6th rank holder of the University. After which he went on to complete his Chartered Accountancy course in 2000. He subsequently worked with the Indian Oil Corporation and Cairns Energy UK PLC, SABIC in Saudi Arabia, and then Tasweeq in Qatar before eventually joining the state owned national oil company, Qatar Petroleum in the year 2016. He currently holds the position of Head of Finance, Qatar Petroleum.

Ironman, Ultra Marathon Runner

While hard working enabled him to provide for his family, this— unfortunately—also caused lifestyle diseases, such as high cholesterol. Besides taking medications, Abdul Nassar decided to do something about it by becoming more active and engaging in sports. From initially taking regular walks, he was into jogging and subsequently running in just a short span of time. After a few years, he challenged himself even further by taking part in marathons in Qatar as well as in Kuwait, France and Armenia. So far he has completed 18 Marathons with a Personal Best time of 3 Hours 27 minutes with two podium finishes. He also competed in half ironman (also known as IM 70.3 race) in Sri Lanka, Kazakhstan and particularly the full distance Ironman competition in Malaysia in November 2018. Ironman challenge consists of 3.8 KM open sea swimming, followed by 180 KM cycling and thereafter 42.2 KM running. All these together covering 226 KM needs to be completed in a cut off time of 17 hours. Nassar finished the race taking a total time of 14 hours 54 minutes and 07 seconds. In 2019 he took his running to the next level. He participated in the 51 storied Torch tower staircase run for the second time. On 29 November he did UTMB Oman Ultra Trail Running, covering a distance of 53 KM and elevation gain of 2250 Meters from Alhamra Oman through the grueling Al Hajar Mountain range. Within a week he also did an ultra run from the East end of Qatar , Doha Sheraton Hotel to the West end of the country, Dukhan beach, covering a distance of 90 KM in 12 hours 46 minutes.

Mountaineer

Then he became interested in mountain climbing, successfully scaling the 3,890-meter Kuwari Pass in the Indian Himalayas in 2015 and reaching the 5,380-meter Everest Base Camp in 2018. Abdul Nassar soon set his sights on climbing Mount Everest itself, the world’s highest mountain with a height of 8,848 meters. He started his climb on April 17, 2019 along with 26 others using the southern route, the same one taken by Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay during their historic climb in 1953. Finally, on the 16th of May 2019, Abdul Nassar successfully reached the summit of Mount Everest as first Indian Chartered Accountant, first civilian Keralite and first non-resident from Qatar.

International Author

Abdul Nassar hopes that his life story would serve as an inspiration to others. He has written about his life in his book entitled The Road Less Travelled (https://www.amazon.com/Road-Less-Travelled-Challenges-Opportunities/dp/0648340228) targeting the students. His second book narrating his sports journey titled IRONMAN IRON SPIRIT (https://www.amazon.in/Ironman-Iron-Spirit-Abdul-Nassar-ebook/dp/B089FNZPQX ) motivates the working executives for leading a healthy lifestyle, adding another feather on his journey as an international author. And Mt.Everest is his third book documenting his everest adventure.

Motivational Speaker

Abdul Nassar is also a motivational speaker, sharing his story to young students and encouraging them to finish their education as the first step to be successful in life. He has also been a keynote speaker in various seminars, conferences and public events. He also proves himself through his action that with courage, grit, determination, perseverance, dedication and hard work any big dream in life is achievable. In his own words, there are no obstacles in life, there are only opportunities in disguise, opportunities to adapt and improve. Everything is possible. It is all about continuous improvement. Abdul Nassar has been widely interviewed, and his stories have been featured and covered by national and international print media, News Papers, FM radio, TV, School Magazines, Sports and Travel Magazines. ( https://www.gulf-times.com/story/617187/I-want-to-leave-behind-a-legacy) He has been awarded various distinctions and felicitations from various community, political and educational institutions and organizations. He has been honoured with Sports Excellence Award by Indian Sports Centre, Qatar under the aegis of Embassy of India, Qatar. He has also received the Falcon Award and Distinguished Toastmaster (DTM) award by Toastmasters International, USA.

Contact Information:

Cell / WhatsApp no : [phone]

Email: [e-mail]

Publisher’s Note

For any mountaineer, conquering the highest peak on earth will be the heart’s desire. Yet when Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay summitted Mount Everest, the world was dumbfounded. It is not an easy job to summit Everest even today. Abdul Nassar, a Malayali from Pattambi made it possible in 2019. No doubt his experiences of the incredible journey towards the summit will motivate any aspiring mountaineer. The book Mount Everest takes you through his exciting, yet tiresome journey. It will definitely be a useful guide for mountaineer as to how to prepare themselves mentally and physically for the memorable exploration. Let me proudly present this book to the readers.

— Rafeek Perumukku

Dedication

I dedicate this book to the memory of the three beautiful souls and kind hearted human beings and down to earth personalities I was fortunate to meet and spend time with during my Everest expedition journey.

Mr. Ravi Thakar (28)- the Indian climber who died on May 17, 2019 inside his tent at camp 4 while descending after Everest Summit.

Mr. Seamus Lawless (39) – the Irish climber who has been reported as fell to his death on May 16, 2019 near camp 4 while descending after Everest Summit.

Mr. Muhammad Ali Sadpara (45) - the Pakistani climber who has been reported missing along with two others from the bottleneck area of Mount K2 since February 5, 2021.

Acknowledgements

I have loads of ace people to thank who helped, supported and inspired me in one way or other to bring this book to you, to achieve my dream of summiting Mount Everest, to be the person who I am today to be supported by formative education in the early years of my life. Let me list a few.

The brilliant Telbrain books publishing team, India, specially the duo Mr.Rafeek Perumuk and Mr.Manikandan who first requested me to write this book when they met me at my home in Kerala when I was taking rest after my Everest expedition.

Dr. Soumya P N who helped in editing the script in spite of her time constraints and many personal challenges during the Covid period.

The entire Seven Summit Trekking team, Nepal with special mentions of Mr. Tashi Lakpa Sherpa, Mr. Dawa Sherpa, the directors and my personal Sherpa Dukpa Bhai who saved my life at death zone and all the base camp support team who cooked us food and took good care of us.

I am most grateful to my team members who were part of SST 2019 Everest International Expedition Team for all your advices, emotional supports and the good time we all spend together during the expedition.

Redpoint Resolutions Company US for the Ripcord rescue insurance policy coverage and providing rescue service when requested without much hassles. CIWEC Hospital, Kathmandu team for taking care of me for a couple of days after summit for my speedy recovery.

The two Everest Summiteers I met interacted with and asked for advice before my expedition - Mr. Scott Maclvor, originally from UK and was here in Qatar before moving to South Africa and Ms. Shailee Basnet, originally from Nepal and currently residing in USA.

I would like to thank my current employer Qatar Petroleum for encouraging work life balance and more specifically for approving my leave application.

The State of Qatar for providing world class infrastructure and facilities for its citizens and residents for leading an active sports life style which is definitely instrumental for my Marathon, Ironman and sports journey.

And lastly, but most importantly, to my wonderful family, friends and those special people who stood with me when I needed them the most. I do love running, cycling, swimming and mountaineering. But I love you a lot more. Stay blessed always!

Preface

After my Everest expedition, I got many questions...like :

how you felt at the peak

what was the preparation

how much it costs

what are the lessons from Everest

how dangerous and risky it is

if I also want to go for it, what I should do, what I shouldn’t do, what advices would you give ?

As I lost two of my team members during the expedition while descending and myself itself faced death like situations, I thought it is my responsibility to share my experience and the untold truth about Everest, what really is happening at the death zone above 8000 meters to the innocent first timers and the world so that they can take more caution and informed decision if they or any of their loved ones are dreaming of climbing Everest .

So I wrote this book covering all my preparation, training and two months daily journal notes of the entire expedition. At the end I have also given my lessons learned and advices for first time climbers.

With love

Abdul

Chapter 1

What Prompted Me To Set Out on Everest Expedition

Introduction

12th March 2020

After my Everest expedition, in many of my public interviews, I am often asked about my future plans. I would say that my book on my ironman journey was a half finished business when I left for Everest. Now that I successfully completed the expedition, I have to finish the book and get it published. I would add that I plan to document my experiences of the Everest expedition in a separate book after that.

Yesterday, I got a message from my publisher that the printing work of my book (titled Ironman- Iron Spirit) was over. But we are met with some logistic difficulties in conducting a book release function as we had planned. Dueto the outbreak of Corona virus (COVID-19), which has been classified as pandemic by WHO, the book release function scheduled for 14 March 2020 has been postponed. Qatar, where I am residing, issued a directive imposing arrival restrictions from some countries and the list includes India too. So I decided not to travel out of Qatar and postponed the book release function. As there is not much activity and most of the time I have to stay at home, I decided to start writing to share my Everest Expedition experience with you through this book.

My childhood and background

6th Sept 1976 – The date I was born!

Many of you might be thinking what made this guy decide to go for Everest, isn’t it? In fact, it is very hard to nail out that one reason which prompted me to go for Everest. I think there are more than one factors involved which over a period of time prompted me in taking that decision. Let me explain them to you.

As a child, adventure had always been in my blood. During my childhood days, I used to cross the river Thootha by swim when the river was fearfully overflowing during rainy season. During college days, I was fascinated by Jackie Chan and Bruce Lee films and learned Shaolin Kung Fu and even worked as instructor/trainer of this sacred martial art. I was never afraid of climbing the tall coconut trees to pluck tender coconut. You can read more about my childhood adventures and the hurdles I had to tackle in my first book titled The Road Less Travelled. I hail from the small village Nedungottoor in Palakaad district of Kerala, often known as God’s own Country.

Kuari Pass Trekking

25th Dec 2015- SummitedKuariPass

It was winter vacation for children in Qatar and we decided to go to Kerala (India). My wife wished to spend some time with her parents and so they stayed there for some days. I thought this is the perfect opportunity to try some adventure, so decided for a trekking trip as I had never tried it before. I was not sure whether it was safe for the family and anyway, they were staying with my wife’s parents. So I decided to go on my own. The trip was not that expensive, it costs only 10,000 to 15000 Indian rupees. I decided to go for trekking in the Kuari Pass Trek. It is considered one of the best Himalayan treks for beginners. It takes you up to a height of 12,763 feet (3,890 Meters) above sea level. The whole trip took only seven days. The trek began by road from Haridwar,Uttaarakhand state of India, to Joshimath and there on by foot to Gulling top, Tali forest camp to KuariPass. We trekked through the ancient forest trails, camping at outstanding sites, taking in the spectacular mountain views of Mt. Nandadevi, Dronagiri and many more which reveal themselves as you go higher and higher. Kuari Pass trek virtually takes you through an out worldly experience. As we stood there puffing and panting I was overwhelmed by the sheer grandeur of Mother Nature. The unending mountain ranges seemed to be indicating that as we move on, there are greater heights to be conquered.

Our guide Nitin told me that there are two types of people who came to the mountain; the first group is casual tourists who do not come back after their first experience. After all mountaineering does not suit everyone’s character. Bur the other category keeps coming back as they fall in love with the mountain on their first experience. The mountain keeps calling them.

This Kuari Pass trekking was my first experience. It snowed heavily on the night we were staying in tents. I really enjoyed the beauty of nature, the calmness , the slow life , the simple life, the view of stars in middle of the night when you wake up and walk out of the tent, the sky in the moonlight- it’s magical, it’s beautiful. I decided to come back to the mountain often. I started looking for other trekking trips. I came to knowabout the Everest Base Camp Trekking from Kathmandu. Though it is relatively tougher than KuariPass and requires more physical strength, High Altitude adaptation and of course more budget, the seed hadalreadybeen planted in my mind for the journey.

Presentation by Everest Summiteer Mr. Scott McIvor

14th October 2016

I met Mr. Scott McIvor, an inspiring personality when I was running a 10 km. race at Aspire Zone, Qatar. I was a mere beginner in running at that time and was literally struggling to run even 10 km. However, I noticed this veteran running the race so comfortably and I thought if such an old person can run 10 km why can’t I ! It would be a shame if I can’t finish the race. I came to know later that Mr. Scott is a thorough finance professional and did several amazing marathon, ultra and trail running.