In conjunction with International Day of Hope, the 60-year-old shares his gripping story of survival on the world’s highest mountain.
Thillaimuthu Nagarajan aka RJ – seen here at the summit of Denali, Alaska – has scaled formidable mountains across seven continents. (RJ Nagarajan pic)
KUALA LUMPUR: On Dec 18, 2023, Thillaimuthu Nagarajan was recognised by the Malaysia Book of Records as the first person to have climbed nine known summits on seven continents.
From 2010 to 2023, the 60-year-old, who is better known as RJ, climbed Mount Kilimanjaro (Africa), Mount Aconcagua (Argentina), Mount Kosciuszko (Australia), Mount Elbrus (Russia), Carstensz Pyramid (province of Papua), Denali (Alaska), Mount Vinson (Antarctica), Mont Blanc (the Alps) and Mount Everest (the Himalayas).
RJ not only completed the Seven Summits challenge – scaling the highest mountain on each of the seven continents – but also conquered two additional peaks to finish three variations of the challenge: the Bass list, Messner list, and Hackett list.
It’s an incredible feat, but what makes his journey extraordinary is that he barely survived his final climb to complete the three aforementioned lists – that of Everest in 2023.
On International Day of Hope today, RJ shares his story of survival. “That was a very unpredictable year. We usually climb during the spring season. But during the preceding winter, it did not snow – it was a dry winter,” he recalled.
RJ left Kuala Lumpur for Kathmandu in mid-April. The weather on Everest remained unpredictable, with unusually heavy snowfall lasting days throughout the spring season.
After arriving at the Everest Base Camp, RJ learnt that three sherpas had lost their lives owing to extreme weather conditions at the nearby Khumbu Icefall.
After carefully assessing the weather, RJ and his sherpa, Ang Pasang, decided to proceed with their summit attempt.
RJ at the summit of Everest and later, back at Base Camp. (RJ Nagarajan / Khafiz Al Kicok Facebook pics)
They pressed on through Camps 1, 2, 3 and, finally, 4 – located just under 100m from the “death zone”, the perilous altitude above 8,000m, where oxygen levels are too low to sustain life for long.
RJ and Ang left Camp 4 for the summit around 10pm. But along the way, blowing snow particles from a snowstorm injured RJ’s right eye, leaving him barely able to see with it.
They finally reached the summit just after 10am – a moment RJ described as “surreal”.
“It was glorious,” he said of the view from the top of the world.
The perilous descent
It was on their way down that RJ began having difficulties catching his breath. “I asked Ang to check my oxygen tank, and he said there was less than 5% left. His was running low, too.”
With much of their oxygen supply having been used up during the snowstorm, Ang immediately radioed base camp to request for oxygen tanks.
By the time they reached 8,749m above sea level, RJ had run out of oxygen. But given that they were still in the death zone, they had no choice but to keep going.
As RJ grew weaker, Ang descended alone to get oxygen supplies. On his own, RJ kept moving but frequently stumbled, sometimes finding himself flat in the snow.
Ang eventually returned – but without oxygen tanks, as none had been sent to the “balcony”, a platform located at approximately 8,430m.
While he lost his fingers, RJ says he gained a newfound appreciation of and perspective on life. (Sheela Vijayan @ FMT Lifestyle)
Mustering all his strength, RJ kept going and eventually, he and Ang reached the balcony. It would take another hour before sherpa Ashok Lama arrived with three oxygen tanks.
By then, RJ was too weak to descend on his own: Ashok had to tie a rope to RJ’s harness, and both sherpas had to help him down.
This, of course, proved exhausting, and Ashok and Ang eventually made the difficult decision to descend to Camp 4 to recover, once again leaving RJ alone.
He recalled: “I kept drifting in and out. I went into darkness, but I kept telling myself, ‘Come on, come on. I’m going back home. I’m going back home.'”
Ashok later arrived with another individual to check on him, and thankfully found him alive. “I was wrapped in a sleeping bag. They opened it and I said, ‘Let’s go’,” RJ added.
Broken but not beaten
Conquering the world’s highest mountain came at a huge cost – RJ suffered frostbites on both hands, leading to the amputation of his right fingers.
He also had frostbites on his left foot, right cheek and both ears, with his right ear more severely affected. In addition, he experienced temporary blindness in his right eye.
For RJ, the sky’s the limit: he next aims to scale 11 mountains over 8,000m. (RJ Nagarajan pic)
RJ admits to feeling depressed at first, but he soon bounced back. “I lost my fingers, but I gained perspective – never take anything for granted and live a purposeful life.”
Indeed, undeterred, the intrepid adventurer now plans to climb 11 mountains over 8,000m, and journey to Bhutan, Kyrgyzstan, and the North and South poles.
“I’ve come to understand that hope is not the absence of hardship, but the presence of belief amidst it,” he shared.
“For me, belief is everything. When I was on Everest – battling the cold, the lack of oxygen and the fear – it wasn’t strength that kept me going. It was a belief – belief that I’d make it home. Belief that this struggle had a purpose. Belief that I wasn’t done yet.
“Even in the darkest moments, that quiet belief inside kept whispering: ‘Keep going.’”
Follow RJ’s adventures on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok.
