A peak that many dream of scaling, few try and only a handful conquer; Mount Everest, the highest peak of the entire planet is a grueling luxury only a brave few manage.
Since the first ascent to the summit in 1953 by Sir Edmund Hillary of New Zealand and his Sherpa Tenzing Norgay of Nepal, several mountaineering enthusiast have attempted this arduous task and many have paid with their lives in their attempt to overcome the most extreme conditions on this giant.
An event was organized at the Hilton Colombo to celebrate and thank the stake holders and media for their support of this historic achievement by Jayanthi Kuru-Utumpala and Johann Peiris.
Jayanthi on 21st May – Vesak Full Moon Poya day became the 1st Sri Lankan to take the Lion flag to the summit of the tallest mountain of the world. Her mountaineering partner Johann too reached 27,500 ft climbing beyond a landmark called ‘The Balcony ‘’ had to turn back with the summit meters away due to getting caught at the back of a queue of climbers and using too much of his oxygen on this delay. If Johann had continued his climb he was in danger of running out of oxygen during his descent.
Photo Album – Expedition to Summit Mount Everest
The duo, fondly referred to as J & J were all smiles as they walked into the hall with everyone gathered affording them a standing ovation, the congregation included close friends/ family , sponsors and media persons who were for the next hour enthralled by enumerable tales that the conquering duo had to narrate.
They were both profuse and genuine in their thanks of the sponsors and all others who assisted them during the expedition and mentioned that during the real difficult times in their journey it was the support from their fellow countrymen/women from all corners of the world that kept them going. They were also grateful for the publicity the media gave them taking their story to the world.
Letting in on the brave adventure they’ve just completed, Jayanthi mentioned that it was physically and mentally challenging as they had arrived in Katmandu early April and by the time they reached the base camp it was 14th of April. First day at the base camp, which was their home for almost two months has been the most difficult and the fact that they were a team, they said was the main factor that kept them going through the tough times.
J & J had to complete five rotations around the 04 camps at Everest in order to acclimatize to the tough conditions so they may increase the red cells in their blood for more oxygen circulation before they push for their attempt at the summit.
“The rotations were difficult as we had to cross the treacherous Khumbu Icefall every time besides having to hike 6-8 hours between camps and it was a terrifying experience at first, through it all we managed to encourage each other. Washrooms at the camps merely consisted of an ice block covered by a tent which said ‘LET’S DO IT’ and we had to look at the humor side of the things to keep our spirits up, there were times we would complain to each other about the bottles that we had to urinate in and had the comfort shouting out loud in Sinhala knowing that it was just us who understood the language.” Jayanthi articulated with a grin.
Scaling a mountain which has claimed over 280 lives in the last century is a dangerous task and Johann experienced the dangers of this mountain giant first hand. He detailed his experience of 
how, while him and his Sherpa was hanging on a line, he saw a bag falling closer to him and eventually realized that it was a Sherpa on the higher ground who had missed a lynch that had fallen. Johann said “I was completely devastated as I saw a person die in front of my own eyes and the fact that it could be us with the margin of error so very slim was terrifying”
Answering a question raised by the media as to what thoughts ran in his head when he had to turn back meters away from the summit, Johann added “As you may expect I was devastated, I left an hour after Jayanthi left for the summit as I was in another team of climbers, there was a huge queue and I was stationery hanging on a line at 
90 degrees for over 40 minutes , once we got to the Hillary steps my Sherpa checked my Oxygen tank and observed that I will have to turn back as there wasn’t enough air left to make the journey back should I continue to the top. My first reaction was to dart to the summit and was adamant that there needed to be a way around, but I had to decide whether to reach for the top and not live to tell the tale or to turn back which was the right decision in the end. The feat of 27500 ft was a victory itself and my first words to Jayanthi were PLEASE TELL ME YOU SUMMITED and I was overjoyed that we as a team managed to achieve this phenomenal feat”.
In reply to a question on what the most difficult moments of her expedition were, Jayanthi claimed that the descent was the most dangerous and that’s where many lose their lives. After a treacherous climb to the top your body starts giving up on the 
way down. “half way down I had to change my oxygen tank and after my Sherpa had replaced the new tank the regulator of the new tank had frozen due to the extreme cold, those 5 to 6 minutes were terrifying to say the least ”
To another question of the media, Johann explained how they trained, a preparation that was on for 3 years. He stated that they mostly trained separately under different trainers but only worked together at the last stages. He explained how they ran up and down Sri Pada and Pidurutalaga and thanked Mathew Abeysinghe Sri Lanka’s swim champion for training him to expand his lungs under water which helped him to breathe better in the high altitudes.
The celebratory function then turned to some picture taking as all those including sponsors stood with the pair for some posing.
The inspiration passed on to those present was that ‘nothing is impossible’ and the gathering dispersed with a sense of pride and stimulus having encountered something very special.
