Why I don't want to go to Mt Everest

Two days ago, I spoke with an editor about the recent unfortunate deaths on Mt Everest. She asked if I had scaled the peak and wondered why not when I said "No".

Climbing used to be more about personal experiences and not a spectator sport, which is one of the reasons why it's hard to get funding. But advanced technology has turned popular mountains into arenas. People can follow the progress of climbers, and discuss tales of triumph and tragedy over the dinner table.

Yet, I love the solitude of the mountains. It is my one compelling reason for expeditions to remote and unexplored regions of the Himalaya and the Karakoram. Curiosity and the challenge of exploring a route up a mountain, deciding on the location of camps and overcoming unexpected obstacles excites me.

In 2013, on an expedition to the remote East Karakoram, we made the first ascent of Chamshen peak (7017 m). We were so far out of reach of communication that our cook at Base Camp feared we had died when he did not hear from us for 14 days. I was in tears when I came back and saw a beautiful stone structure he had built in "our memory".

That is the adventure I seek.

Yes, Everest has an attraction… it is the highest peak, but if I have to climb by the traditional route, I will have to follow protocol. I will have to camp at designated spots; I will have to follow fixed lines of rope and I will have to co-ordinate my pace with hundreds of other climbers so that we don't get caught in a 'traffic jam'.

I really don't want to jostle my way to the summit with a few hundred other climbers. The risk levels posed are unacceptable to me. I may die, not because of my incapability, but because some other climber got stuck in the rope or ran out of oxygen, or was just not fit enough to climb.

I don't see myself fighting my conscience and leaving a stranded climber to die. I don't see myself trying to safeguard my stash of oxygen. And why would I get into a fight with the Sherpas who earn their livelihood guiding climbers?

While it is understandable that some climbers would want to scale the highest summit on Earth, what is baffling is why some climbers go multiple times on the same route, sometimes in the same season, exposing themselves to unacceptable levels of risks. Is it the "record" of having done it 'X' number of times?

I was invited to climb Everest and I could pay my way to an expedition, but I found my paradise among the hundreds of peaks that remain unexplored and unclimbed. I have found my thrill in the challenges of mountaineering such as technical difficulties of rock, snow and ice, physical challenges of endurance and uncertainties of elements of nature. It does not get me awards, but that is not why I go to the mountains.

I got great satisfaction from placing our Tricolour 32 times on various summits, 20 of them being first ascents or new routes. To me, a Chartered Accountant by profession, the ROI is much greater in what I do.

The author is the vice president of The Himalayan Club, and has been mountaineering for over 35 years.