CHANDIGARH: Five-year-old Teghbir Singh from Ropar in Punjab, has achieved a remarkable feat. He has become the youngest ever from Asia to scale Mount Kilimanjaro, which is the highest peak of the African continent and located in Tanzania at a staggering height of more than 19,340 feet (5895 meters).
Teghbir started the trek to Mount Kilimanjaro on August 18 and walked all along to reach the Uhuru peak, the highest point of the mountain, on August 23.
It is worth mentioning here that it is a low Oxygen trek and one needs preparation to tackle problems associated with altitude sickness. However, conquering all these challenges, he finally reached the summit, the normal temperature of which is - 10 Celsius, and fulfilled his dream.
Delighted over the path-breaking achievement, Teghbir Singh, a first standard student of Shiwalik Public School at Ropar talked with TNIE over the phone after he received the Mountain Climbing Certificate issued by the Conservation Commissioner of Tanzania National Parks including Kilimanjaro National Park.
"I knew where I was to reach and finally I reached and had a picture with my father there. I was told to enchant Waheguru on being tired and I did that. It helped me scale the summit”, he added.
With this feat, he equals the world record of summiting Mt Kilimanjaro at age five by a Serbia boy Ognjen Živković on August 6 last year. As per the portals links of the world on trekking Mount Kilimanjaro, Teghbir Singh is the youngest in Asia and India to achieve this milestone.
Teghbir attributed his success to his coach Bikramjit Singh Ghuman, a retired handball coach and his family. His father Sukhinderdeep Singh, who accompanied him, said, "Teghbir started preparing for this feat almost a year back. He was trained by Ghuman who used to help him with the exercises related to increasing cardiovascular health and increasing lung capacity to deal with altitude sickness. He used to go on weekly treks with me and coach to different places."
"Every day he trekked around 8-10 kilometers and temperatures dropped with every ascent he made. He walked and stayed in a low oxygen altitude in a minus-grade temperature for almost a week”, said Singh who works as an administrator in a Hospital.
He added, "Our stays were in temporary tents and we took the Machame Route to reach the summit in six days. Due to bad weather and fierce snowstorm, the summit push was cancelled and they had to return mid-way. In the second attempt, they could push to the summit amid the fierce snow storm. It was a challenging moment for the entire crew which consisted of me, two guides and two supporting staff. We shall return on August 30.’’
Teghbir’s mother, a gynaecologist, Dr Manpreet Kaur said, "Diet played a very major role in his journey and he followed a strict diet schedule as laid by his coach.’’
Prior to this, Teghbir Singh had just completed his Mount Everest Base camp Trek in April this year.