Arjun Vajpai and his conquest of the fifth highest mountain, Makalu

Indian mountaineer Arjun Vajpai is currently making his fourth attempt to climb Makalu, the fifth highest mountain in the world, located on the Nepal-China border.

“Makalu is a technically tougher mountain to climb compared to Everest and claims more lives than most peaks across the world. That is why despite having three back-to-back failures to summit, it is important for me to climb this mountain,” Arjun said before his departure to Kathmandu on April 10.

The Makalu 2016 expedition comprising seven other international mountaineers and their team of sherpas trekked for 16 days to reach the Advance Base Camp (ABC) of Makalu for a few days of rest before they proceeded up.

“This place will be in my memory forever because last year, this time, the avalanche struck in the Everest region and we felt the shockwaves at 21,000 feet. I saw some fearful avalanches that day,” he said.

Notably, the expedition in 2015 was called off following the natural disaster in which sherpas – the ethnic mountain community – and international climbers died. The trek in 2016 was undertaken with caution and curiosity because mountaineers were not aware of any damages to the traditional route.

“Though there weren’t major changes in the route, what was alarming was the complete disappearance of two glacial lakes that were en route. They had completely dried up this year and I see no other reason but climate change as the cause,” says the Indian mountaineer in his blog post.

Arjun’s observations have been video logged as part of his personal programme ‘Climb for Climate Change’ where he takes note of environmental changes during his climbs and will share them with leading climate change groups in India and abroad upon his return.

But en route the expedition two Sherpa of the ethnic community passed away at Camp 2 on Thursday (May 12), while setting rope for the route ahead for the climbing team.

“In a very unfortunate incident, we lost two very brave Sherpa souls on Camp 2 of Makalu. As these two souls depart, they also leave us with a lot to learn from. Sherpas are the real backbone of any expedition and the true heroes behind our success in the mountains,” he notes.

The impact of climate change is a hot topic of discussion in cities and villages. But while the echoes of these concerns are yet to reach the mountains, the impact of global warming is evident even deep into the Himalayas.

22-year-old mountaineer Arjun Vajpai, however, has been highlighting these changes in his flagship campaign ‘Climb For Climate Change’ during his ongoing international expedition to climb Makalu, the world’s fifth highest mountain, located on the Nepal-China border.

“It is alarming to report the damaging effects of climate change even in this region, which is deep into the Himalayas. It takes a 14-day trek to reach Makalu Base Camp and though there are no automobiles or factories to pollute the air, water or soil, the irreversible impact of global warming is evident,” Arjun says.

During the trek the Noida-based professional mountaineer has noticed that at least two glacial lakes have dried up and become dust bowls, the glacial pillars that surrounded the bergschrund [area between start of mountain and glacier at the Advanced Base Camp (5,800 m)] has receded and rocks are exposed.

“I have been coming to this area since 2013 and it’s frightening to see the disappearance of glacial lakes, which are, at times, water sources for some distant villages. Also, big portions of ice pillars have receded and have exposed rocks now,” he says from nearly 20,000 feet in the Makalu region.

Following worldwide criticism on the garbage dumped by exiting mountaineers in the Mount Everest region and environmental issues caused by human waste lying around (which has been cleaned up in the past three years), the Makalu 2016 team has been careful to not leave behind any kind of dirt or carbon footprint.

“As funny as it may sound, we carry our own waste along with us and do not dump it behind rocks as most people imagine. We carry a silver coloured bag (rest top bag) that has bio-organic powder in it, which turns human waste into gel. We bring it back after the expedition and dispose of it scientifically,” says the record- setting Indian mountaineer.

Arjun is expected to make a summit push on May 20 if the weather is clear. Till then mountaineers reserve their energy and strength and acclimatise to the conditions by going a little up and coming back down to the Advance Base Camp (technically known as rotation).

22-year-old Arjun Vajpai is the third youngest Indian to summit Mount Everest and holds the world record as the youngest summiteer on Mount Lhotse and Mount Manaslu, the fourth and eighth highest peaks.