In 5 years, Kerala govt employee aims to scale highest peaks in over 190 countries

New Delhi: A Kerala government employee and a passionate mountaineer who has summited Mount Everest, 36-year-old Sheikh Hassan Khan is now aiming to scale all the highest peaks spread across more than 190 countries.

What started as a passion after climbing a wall at the Himalayan Mountaineering Institute in Darjeeling is now pushing him to climb more peaks, notwithstanding financial challenges.

Khan said he is planning to climb the highest peaks in more than 190 countries and hoist the Indian flag at all the peaks in the next five years.

"I am also climbing the peaks with the purpose of spreading awareness for climate change," he told PTI in a recent interview.

His dream is backed by his success in scaling Mount Everest and six other highest peaks in the last few years. In January, he climbed Ojos del Salado, the world's highest volcano and also the highest peak in Chile. Prior to that, he summited the highest peak of South America, Mount Aconcagua.

Apart from Mount Everest, he has also climbed Mount Vinson, the highest peak in Antarctica, Mount Denali (North America), Mount Kilimanjaro (Africa), and Mount Elbrus (Europe).

On what triggered his passion towards mountaineering, Khan said that it all started with a visit to the Himalayan Mountaineering Institute in Darjeeling.

A climbing wall is there where anyone can climb after paying a certain charge. "I was really surprised that I like climbing. So, I climbed the wall three to four times and I realised something is there inside me (for mountaineering)," he said.

Later, he did a basic mountaineering course at the Nehru Institute of Mountaineering in Uttarkashi in the 2017-18 period.

After scaling Mount Everest in 2022, Khan said he started getting some funds and sponsorships. Till then, raising funds was a challenge.

"I took a bank loan for Rs 30 lakh and my friends also helped me with Rs 10 lakh. That's how I raised Rs 40 lakh for the Mount Everest expedition and after the Mount Everest expedition I started getting sponsors," he said.

When asked if his parents were supportive in this journey he said, "Actually, when I was going to Mount Everest, my mother and father didn't know what Mount Everest was. What is its height. They thought it's in India".

"I told them it's in Nepal. I just told them that I am going to a place like Mount Everest and I will come back in 60 days and after coming back only they understood that I went to the highest mountain in the world," he said.

Now, his parents are aware and understand better about his mountaineering journey.