BENGALURU: When Naveen Mallesh (35) stood atop Mount Fansipan in Vietnam in February this year, he was thankful for an uneventful trek. At that moment, the mountaineer didn’t imagine he would eventually set a record of becoming the fastest individual to scale two mountains in South-East Asia.
Having undergone a month-long recovery process following a near-death experience while attempting to scale Mount Manaslu in Nepal in September ’22, Mallesh returned to mountaineering, scaling two among the highest peaks in South East Asia and Indo-China, Mount Kinabalu (Malaysia: 4,095m) and Mount Fansipan (Vietnam: 3,147m), respectively, within a span of just 3 days 10 hours and 49 minutes. “When I was talking to local guides in Fansipan, some didn’t believe I had come there having trekked Kinabalu just days before. They thought I had set a new record. It’s then that I applied for the Indian Book of Records and the Asian Book of Records,” he says.
Mallesh’s only desire was to get back to doing what he loves and that drove him to undertake the challenge. “I explored trekking routes in the South-East and flew to Singapore. I then completed the trek to Mount Kinabalu in a day and flew back to Singapore. I had an 18-hour layover, flew to Vietnam, and completed the trek to Mount Fansipan,” he says, adding his experience helped him tackle the varied topography of both peaks.
Like most mountaineers, Mallesh has always wanted to climb the highest peaks in all of the seven continents. In 2019, he scaled the first of the seven - Mount Kilimanjaro, Tanzania. But the pandemic disrupted plans. So when he climbed the second of the seven peaks - Mount Elbrus, Russia, he dedicated that to Covid warriors. His next target was Mount Aconcagua, Argentina.
Yet again, the third wave and the ensuing restrictions forced the Banashankari resident to look elsewhere. He decided to scale Mount Manaslu – the world’s eighth-highest peak at 8,163m. When he was within touching distance of the peak, an avalanche buried him under snow. “It’s known as the ‘dead zone’. I had blockages in my lungs and frostbites on my toes. Thankfully, I was rescued,” shares Mallesh, who is now eyeing Mount Everest.