Presentation made to bankers by Jayanthi and Johann

Participants were treated to a first-hand account of an amazing adventure to the top of the world by the climbers Jayanthi Kuru Uthumpala and Johann Peries, at a lecture organised by the Association of Professional Bankers – Sri Lanka (APB) held at the Bank of Ceylon Auditorium on 8 August.

The speakers recreated their journey in the minds of the audience with their narration of the epic climb from the conception of the idea, the preparation and the journey itself.

The duo had met in 2011, they said. Both had an interest in summiting Everest, and so, over a period of five years, everything necessary to make this journey was put in place.

Teamwork was an important aspect of this journey, Jayanthi said, explaining that she was very happy that Johann and she undertook the expedition together, as a team. Preparing physically and mentally for the summit, Jayanthi said that she and Johann would engage in both aerobic and anaerobic fitness together: “During the past few years, if you had passed Independence Square are you would have definitely spotted us in training, at least one of us, every evening.”

She said this had included interval training, which entailed, for example, running up the Piduruthalagala, Kirigalpoththa and Thotupola Kanda peaks, swimming, doing yoga and cycling. Jayanthi said she had also researched mental strength strategies to prepare her for the extreme physical challenges of scaling Everest.

They gained mountaineering experience with several other peaks. In 2011 they scaled Island Peak in the Himalaya, while in 2014, Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, and went rock climbing at every opportunity including in the Spanish Pyranees, Argentian Andes, South Africa, UK, and Thailand. Locally, they trekked many mountains that included Kirigalpoththa in Horton Plains, Sinhagala in the Sinharaja Rainforest, Manigala in Knuckles mountain range and Bible Rock. 

The Everest expedition cost a whopping Rs. 10 million for each of them. They knew that in addition to preparing physically and mentally for the challenge, they had to find the money to make the trek. Together with a team of friends who volunteered support, the formal fundraising events were arranged.

At the beginning, most of the would-be sponsors were sceptic, and conquering the Everest was a distant dream due the sheer financial reasons. But ultimately they managed to convince few sponsors, who saw their determination and developed faith in their ability. There was one sponsor who said “even if you do turn back, it is all right”. But they knew that they needed very good reasons to turn back and they were not willing to turn back. 

They left for Nepal on 28 March to climb the Mount Everest. The trek to the Base Camp, the acclimatising treks of ever gruelling difficulty, and the final push to the summit was explained to the audience in greater detail making the entire audience a set of armchair climbers to the peak of Mount Everest.  The first hurdle is the treacherous Khumbu icefall. It can only be traversed at night, when it is protected from the Sun’s heat and is at its most stable condition. “It’s like clambering over giant ice cubes, as big as houses,” says Johann, explaining that the ice is constantly melting and moving; once Johann narrowly escaped a calamity due to ice fall. The sound was like thunder, he said. Johann saw people die on this mountain, watched as they plummeted to their deaths. Crossing crevasses on rickety ladders was a great peril. Finally, they started looking forward to the adventure of crossing ladders. They emphasised that it was not the physical strength but the mental strength that helped them to succeed. “It has made me stronger, mentally and spiritually I feel completely changed,” Johann said.

The region above 26,000 feet is called the Death Zone and there is only about 30% of oxygen as there is at sea level. This makes breathing difficult, let alone climbing to the top of the mountain. 

They departed from Camp 4 and Johann made it to beyond Camp 4 and Jayanthi along with her Sherpa continued to the summit. This was a strenuous overnight trek through the Death Zone. On 21 May, Jayanthi became the first Sri Lankan ever to climb to the top of Mount Everest (29,029ft).  

Just 300m from the summit, Johann was told he was running out of oxygen and would have to turn around, but Johann said that although he could not reach the summit, it was a great achievement for him to climb the mountain so far. “I do not see this as a defeat. I see this as victory. I was able to hoist the Sri Lankan Flag in a height of 8400m on the Everest. Also, we both achieved victory as a team,” said Johann, who still bears the injuries caused by frostbite. 

International Mountain Guides, the mountaineering company, supported Jayanthi and Johann. They were overseeing the training, logistical support, as well as providing meals for the duo. 

In retrospect, their first-hand account of the lessons learnt during the climb included the very lessons the corporate trainers are teaching in the classrooms.  Life skills such as the importance of having mental stamina, team work, celebrating the team victory over individual glory, making right choices and decisions, situational leadership, and how to work under pressure were the subtle take-home lessons given to the audience. Also the audience was reminded of the importance of keeping ones focus after the victory by narrating perils involved in the trip down.

Jayanthi quoted from Sir Edmund Hillary: “It is not the mountain that we conquer but ourselves”. Jayanthi further mentioned the need of the women to be empowered in the corporate sector, and requested women employees to work towards breaking the perceived glass ceiling.   Having listened to the presentation, the members of the audience were clearly uplifted as indicated by the lively question and answer session and the rush to get autographs from the celebrated mountaineering duo Jayanthi Kuru-Utumpala and Johann Pieris who made history for Sri Lanka.