Mountaineer Kamal Kaur aims for Everest and more

Apart from believing in multi-tasking, Kaur gears up to summit Mount Everest this year as she hopes to complete all fourteen 8,000 metre peaks.
Kamal Kaur
Kamal Kaur

Some women completely believe in challenging the self and setting new, ever higher benchmarks for others to follow and mountaineer Kamal Kaur is one such inspiring individual. Affectionately known as ‘the Kam Lady’, her love for the mountains started with the modest Three Peaks 24 hour challenge which she undertook to raise funds for charity. The Three Peaks challenge involves summiting the three highest peaks in the UK within 24 hours; this including Mount Snowdon in Wales, Ben Nevis in Scotland and Scafell Pike in England. Soon after this adventure Kam undertook her first successful major summit, ascending to the top of Kilimanjaro with a group of fire-fighters. She has never looked back since!

A firm believer in multi-tasking and making the most of the time available to her, mountain spirit Kamal Kaur is now gearing up for her biggest and most challenging expedition to date, this being to summit Mount Everest this year.  Her current ambition is to complete all fourteen 8,000 metre peaks and her life for many years now has constantly been working in this direction.

“I started this journey of adventure and solace some eight years back.  Dedication is what will get you to your destination. You can achieve whatever you want in your life through dedication, sincerity and sacrifices.  I totally understand not everyone’s ultimate goal is to climb a mountain or to push oneself to the brink with extreme physical activities but there are lots of ways to attain what you desire,” says Kam, and this just happens to be one of hers.  She is full of praise for her guide and friend Rolfe Oostra and his expedition company 360 Expeditions for making each of her mountaineering journeys so memorable.
Kam has already conquered five out of the Seven Summits - these being the highest continental points in the world and including Mount Kilimanjaro in Africa, Aconcagua in South America, Mount Meru in Africa, Elbrus in Russia and Denali in North America. She has successfully tackled 10 high altitude mountains across the globe; Machu Pichu and Mount Misti in South America, Cho Oyo in Tibet and Ama Dablan in Nepal to name a few.

So does this mean she spends all of her time mountaineering?  Of course not!  When at leisure Kam has attended the Shivananda Yoga Teacher Training course at the Tamil Nadu Ashram in India to gain experience as a yoga teacher and to cultivate her inner peace during the brief periods in-between her hectic schedule of expeditions. She has been practicing yoga for almost a decade now and it is fundamental to her positive approach to life.

Kam is active in giving her time and energy to others and has worked with children and troubled teenagers as well as being an active volunteer in mental health awareness campaigns. A firm believer in equality for the sexes, Kam hopes in the future to do more work with programmes for female empowerment and self-determination.  She hopes maintain her inspirational mountaineering life.

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