AHMEDABAD: As a student, Dr Somat Chetariya was fascinated by Mount Everest and often saw it as the pinnacle of human endurance. But little did he know that as a practising surgeon, he would climb the highest mountain in the world – and in a unique way. Dr Chetariya last week completed the coveted ‘Seven Summits‘ and became possibly the first doctor from India to achieve the feat.
Conquering ‘7 Summits’
The Seven Summits in mountaineering refers to summiting the highest point of all seven continents of the world. According to Dr Chetariya, about 15 Indian mountaineers have achieved the feat so far, none of whom was a medical professional.
“As a practising doctor, it is always a challenge to find time for mountaineering. Each high-altitude climb is a physical and mental challenge. I started mountaineering as an adventure sport in 2021 and was motivated to push myself to achieve the feat,” said Dr Chetariya, a practising surgeon in Khambhalia in Devbhoomi Dwarka district.
“It is endurance and love for nature rolled into one as each summit gives a different perspective.”
Talking about his most memorable climbs, Dr Somat Chetariya said that he was among the few who used the hypoxic system before climbing Mount Everest.
“I created a hypoxic chamber at home that would reduce the air pressure gradually and give the feel of the ascent at 6,000 metres and 7,000 metres. It was to reduce the time for preparing the ascent. The preparation helped and I could complete it in record time,” he said.
“At Mount Denali in North America, we almost lost a member due to the breaking of a climbing rope, whereas at Mount Aconcagua in Argentina we summited but upon the return, we faced heavy snowfall and lost our way momentarily.”
Dr Hemant Leuva, founder of Mountain Movers, which primarily consists of doctors from Gujarat who are interested in mountaineering and other adventure sports, on Sunday took to social media to share the news. Dr Leuva was a mentor to Dr Chetariya when he started mountaineering in 2021. Dr Chetariya completed the summit of Mount Kosciuszko in Australia last week.
“We took some days to verify whether he would be the first doctor or medical professional from India – our yardstick was to check the record of Mount Everest, and we could find several who had not summited some of the other mountains. Thus, to the best of our knowledge, he could be the first from the fraternity to do so,” said Dr Leuva, who has completed six of the seven summits. “In terms of mountaineers from Gujarat, he is the second – earlier Anuja Vaidya from Surat completed the feat.”
Dr Leuva said that about 1,000 doctors have taken up mountaineering at different levels – from trekking in Manali to Mount Everest base camp.
“At a time when doctors are also falling prey to lifestyle disorders and diseases, it is our attempt to motivate them for a more active lifestyle,” he said.