NY doctor who climbed Everest raises money for Nepal

Dr. Manoj Vora, who climbed Mount Everest in 2013 on his second attempt, has started a campaign to rebuild the village of Kurima, near Mt. Everest in Nepal, which was flattened in the devastating earthquake. “They helped me to reach the summit and it is my turn to help them. Only 32 families live there,” Dr. Vora, a physician at the Lewis County Hospital in Lowville in upstate New York, said.

“My core Sherpa (guides) team hails from Kurima. Fortunately, the villagers are safe. Some of them were on the mountain, near the peak, where it was relatively safer compared to being at the Base camp at 17,000 feet, which faced nature’s fury with several deaths.”

“Dawa, my head Sirdar on the Everest climb is my boots on the ground in Nepal. He has been instructed to immediately make available 10,000 Nepali Rupees per household in Kurima. That is roughly 100 US Dollars, one sixth of the yearly per capita income of Nepal.”

So far he has raised $6,000 and he and his wife have pledged part of their income for the cause. His target is $100,000 to rebuild the village as well as set up a small hospital there.

Vora, and Seattle, Washington based Vikram Sahney are the only two Indians in the US, who have climbed Mt. Everest. They also share the rare honor of climbing all the seven summits on earth along with two other Indians.  

Last year Vora became the first person to have completed both the 7 Summits and a 3,700 mile bicycle ride across the width of US.

In 2013, he started the expedition with three other climbers from the US, who dropped out midway. All three of them returned to the mountain for another attempt this year but were turned around and had to return home due to the earthquake and avalanche. The mountain is closed for the spring season. Last year too it was closed after a major tragedy that killed many Sherpa guides in the Khumbhu Icefall.

In recent years more people are dying on the mountain, because more people are going there, he noted. Earlier, only mountaineers with expertise tried to reach the peak. In the mid-80s, it became a commercial enterprise to help any able bodied person to climb it. The money from the venture has contributed to the prosperity of the Sherpa people and the country boosting tourism.

“If you’re caught in some kind of natural calamity on the mountain, it really makes for a potentially life-threatening situation,” he said.

“Some of the world’s best climbers and best Sherpas, best guides, are close to the flanks at this time of year,” Dr. Vora said.

“My Sherpa team was present on the South side. No injuries/fatalities of anyone known to me. Still, the tragedy affects everyone remotely linked with mountain climbing in Nepal.”

By climbing Mount Everest, Vora, then 52, created a few records too. “I was the first Gujarati/first Jain/first vegetarian/first physician to complete the 7 summits. One Indian and one Indian American have completed this so far. Less than 400 people in a world of 7 billion have achieved this and roughly 110 from the US are among them.”

In May 2010, he tried to reach the summit of Everest and was within 2,700 feet of the peak, when hypothermia caused him to return. He had promised his family that he wouldn’t put reaching the summit ahead of his own life.

In 2013, he used the services of Mountain Trip, which charges about $65,000 for a two month stay and the climb to the summit. The other costs would include airfare, insurance, specialized mountaineering gear, training costs, etc.

“The most difficult part of the climb was the extreme cold at South Col, situated at a height of 26,300 feet. The lack of oxygen further compounded the problem.”

 â€œUnlike some other mountains, one does not climb Everest in one go. In a staged manner, you climb to successively higher camps on the mountain to allow your body to adjust to the altitude and then return to Base camp to recover. Once you have met these goals, then and only then you attempt to reach the summit.”

“There is no best age for such ventures. The youngest climber to reach the top was 14  and the oldest was almost 77. I started my high-altitude climbing career at the age of 43.”

He said he would love to go back to the peak again, as it was a spiritual experience for him. “What did I gain from it? Nothing tangible. I spent a lot of money and a lot of time away from my family. But the experiences have made me a better human being, a better doctor, a better husband and a better father.

“Perhaps everyone’s life has a purpose. High mountains are a spiritual place for me, very gracious. I think it is always the mountain that determines who reaches the top and who does not.”

“I feel I have plenty of climbing left in me. Climbing has kept me feeling young. Age is merely a number. What matters most is how 'old' you feel. I feel young.”

“There are several things one gains from such pursuits. One is good health. As a practicing Internist, I like to practice what I preach. It brings me immense joy to be able to set a good example for my patients. The next thing is the message such endeavors convey to the next generation.

“As a youth I had big dreams and with hard work, strong determination and courage, I have been able to make them come true for me. Now, my life story is being used to inspire the next generation to dream big. There is also the spiritual aspect of such journeys to remote corners of the world. The ability to commune with nature and spend quality time in meditation and introspection makes a better person out of me.”

The six other summits:

He had climbed Kilimanjaro, the highest point in Africa in 2004. Next year, it was Aconcagua, the highest point of South America. Elbrus: highest point of Europe in 2007;

Kosciuszko: highest point of Australia in 2008; Denali: highest point of North America in 2009; Vinson: highest point of Antarctica in December 2010.

His family was worried about his safety when he started high-altitude climbing. “Now they have understood its importance for me and fully support me. They are also reassured that I have put safety above everything else on previous climbs.”

“I have always felt attracted to mountains. Every emotion in the book is experienced by a climber — from elation, fear, accomplishment and emotions that don’t even have a description.”

With climbing of the summits one gains confidence, but losing the fear from the mind is dangerous, he cautions. “In the mountaineering community, it’s said that a ‘mountaineer with no fear of heights is a dead mountaineer,” he said. “I fear the mountain because it has the power to snuff out your life. For the mountain, we are like what an ant is to us.”

He now plans to swim the Gibraltar Strait from the tip of Europe to Africa, which will take five to six hours of open water swimming and a whole lot of training.

A native of Ahmedabad, Vora lives with his wife Sheree Vora, an RN. Between them, they have 3 daughters, Amber, Namrata (Nimi) and Shamaa.