Scaling the world’s highest mountains may seem daunting to many but for experienced mountaineer Ravichandran Tharumalingam, known to many Malaysians as Ravi Everest, nothing is impossible. Having scaled Mount Everest thrice, Ravi dreams to conquer the 14 highest mountain peaks in the world, all with an altitude of over 8,000 meters, in four years.

The challenge begins this year with the ‘Himalaya Sports Everest-Lhotse Expedition 2023’ which will see the 58-year-old Ravi scaling the world’s first and fourth highest mountains standing at an altitude of 8,848m and 8,516m respectively.

The expedition is scheduled to begin in April at the Mount Everest basecamp with a month-long preparation before the actual 5-day trek which will see his back-to-back ascent of Everest and Lhotse sometime in May.

“Many mountaineers dream to complete this ambitious double-summit feat and I have set this new challenge for myself as part of my goal to climb fourteen highest peaks in less than four years. This back-to-back ascent will make my fourth expedition to Mount Everest more difficult than my previous climbs but it reflects my life’s motto – challenge your summit – which calls on us to constantly raise our bar so that we can achieve our very best,” said Ravi who also lost eight fingers as a result of frostbites from his first solo expedition to Mount Everest but did not let that disability get in the way of continuing his passion for mountaineering.

Ravi holds two Malaysia Book of Records as the nation’s first solo climber to conquer Mount Everest in 2006 and again in 2022 when he conquered K2, the second highest peak in the world. Both times, the proud Malaysian displayed the Jalur Gemilang at the top of the world and he hopes to be able to bring glory to the nation by planting the Malaysian flag on all 14 peaks and being the first South East Asian to do so.

The ‘Himalaya Sports Everest-Lhotse Expedition 2023’ was officiated by the Deputy Minister of Youth and Sports, YB Adam Adli, during which main sponsor Himalaya Sports also presented Ravi with RM100,000 in support of the expedition.

Datuk Kenny Low, the founder and managing director of Nicko Jeep Manufacture Sdn. Bhd. which owns Himalaya Sports said, “Himalaya Sports encourages more Malaysians to adopt active lifestyles for their physical and mental well-being. We are blessed with good weather and beautiful nature so even if we are not climbing mountains we can always hike, cycle or swim. We hope that by sponsoring Ravi and helping him achieve his dreams, it will inspire more Malaysians to embrace a positive can-do attitude and persevere in their passions.”

The world’s fourteen highest peaks are located along the Himalaya and Karakoram mountain ranges in China, Nepal, Pakistan and India. In descending order, they are Mount Everest, Godwin Austen (K2), Kangchenjunga, Lhotse, Makalu, Cho Oyu, Dhaulagiri I, Manaslu, Nanga Parbat, Annapurna I, Gasherbrum I (K5), Broad Peak (K3), Casherbrum II (K4) and Shishapangma.