16-year-old Malaysian fulfills Everest dream

ISHAN Siva Ramanathan is not your average teenager. At the age of 16, he decided to climb the world's highest peak, Mount Everest — and managed to raise the Malaysian flag at an altitude of 5,364m, at the Everest Base Camp (EBC) last year.
Inspired by survival thriller Everest, the determined mountain climber wanted to experience the spectacular journey himself. The first difficulty he had to overcome was convincing his parents.
After realising that he planned to trek to the Everest Base Camp (EBC), which has an altitude of 5,364m and not the peak of the mountain which is 3,500m higher, his parents finally relented.
On Oct 10, 2016, Ishan left for Nepal and began his journey with a guide and three other climbers (from the United States, the Philippines and Brazil). He was the youngest of the lot.
According to Ishan, he was not worried about the physical strength required for the arduous trek as he is an avid sports player and had even climbed Mount Kinabalu when he was 14. The only issue that concerned him was the risk of developing altitude sickness.
On Oct 12, the climbers hopped on a small aircraft to arrive at the most dangerous airport in the world which is in the village of Lukla. Its 500m runway is carved onto a mountain ridge. One wrong move could send them flying down a 3km drop!
Throughout their nine-day adventure, the group visited charming villages, met fellow climbers and took in breathtaking scenery. On the fourth day, they got their first glimpse of Everest.
Soon, the journey became more challenging as the high altitude started to have an effect on the climbers, causing one of them to fall desperately ill and pull out at the final leg of the trek.
Ishan too fell sick. He developed a flu and fever but fortunately, managed to persevere after getting some medicine from a fellow climber who was a doctor.
Thankfully, he managed to reach the base camp on Oct 16 and proudly had a photo taken of himself with the Jalur Gemilang.
Ishan described a range of emotions from relief and contentment to sheer joy at having reached his goal, describing the adventure as the best time of his life.
He added that he was also inspired by his 79-year-old grandmother, who travelled the world and climbed Japan's Mount Fuji a year and a half ago.
Ishan's climb also managed to raise over RM17,000 for the Ideas Academy, a secondary learning centre for stateless and undocumented children.