Vidya Singh began trekking in 2013. During her very first trip to Ladakh, she trekked to Stok Kangri and found it life-changing, especially since she had never trekked before. ‘The mountains are in my soul,’ she says poetically. Recently, Vidya made history at 72, as the oldest Indian ever to summit Mount Kilimanjaro.
‘Kilimanjaro is the highest free-standing mountain in the world. It is a volcano that is not a part of a range and one of the seven summits in seven continents,’ she explains. ‘All climbers who summit Everest will complete climbing these seven. We are trekkers and Kilimanjaro is a trekkable summit. It is not technical climbing.’ Vidya has also successfully trekked to the Everest Base Camp.
Training For The Task
Most of her group members are seasoned trekkers. ‘We are in constant training in different forms of fitness,’ says Vidya. ‘But a few weeks before the trek, we add a hill climb a couple of times a week to get our legs and heart, and lungs into some training! Our hills in Chennai are not high at all - St Thomas Mount and Tirusulam – but we do train there for at least one and a half hours.’
Despite training, the journey to reach Tanzania was long and tedious. She traversed from Chennai to Bombay to Addis Ababa in Ethiopia and from there to Moshi in Tanzania. ‘Arjan Kripal Singh of ‘Get Up And Go’ plans our treks, and he worked with Bongo of Kili Worldborn Safaris in Moshe to curate this trek for us.’
They chose the Lemosho Route, which is the longest and also more scenic. ‘The extra days give us a chance to become acclimatised slowly,’ says Vidya. ‘From a beautiful resort called Ameg in Moshi, we were driven to the start point at Lemosho Gate of the Kilimanjaro Park. From there on we trekked with our guides to the campsites, passing through different regions, from rainforests to moorland, Alpine forests, and finally to the barren high altitude desert area to start the final climb. The campsites are super clean, and the tents are comfortable. The staff accompanying us included a large team of guides, tent boys, a chef, and his helpers. So we were really well looked after throughout!’
The campsite
Scaling Kilimanjaro
‘Climbing was gradual in the beginning and became tougher as we headed up the mountain,’ says Vidya. ‘There was a strict pattern and pace set by the guides. We had to climb the Barranco Wall on Day Five, which looked so intimidating from across the valley! This is a 950 ft steep cliffside that we had to cross over. But we actually enjoyed the challenge, and about 2 ½ hours later, we were up and over. The night of Day Six was the final summit climb. Starting at 10:30 pm with only our headlamps to light the path, we made our way through the narrow paths that zigzagged up the mountain, following our guides. There was snow in the upper reaches, cold winds blowing, and temperatures dropping down into the -15 degrees!’
She admits though, that the climb was worth it. ‘There was a stunning daybreak on the horizon, and we found ourselves at Stella Point, the first summit at 5756 m. After some photo ops, we went upwards to the main summit, the Uhuru Point at 5895m. More photo ops followed, and then we turned around to head down to the camp. After several hours of descent (that is sometimes far tougher than ascent!), we were back at the camp to freshen up and keep going another 12 Km down to the final camp. Needless to say, we were completely exhausted.’
At Stella Point
About summitting Kilimanjaro, Vidya says, ‘I felt a sense of quiet exhilaration that I made it to the top. It is never ever about conquering the mountain. We always climb with the utmost reverence and respect for the mountain, with a prayer to the Gods of the mountain and to the universe to allow us perfect conditions to summit and return safely.’ At the time, Vidya Singh didn’t really think about her age or what she had accomplished. ‘We heard later that I was the seniormost Indian person to have summited Kilimanjaro!’
Receiving her certificate
Journey With Fitness
Vidya’s tryst with fitness started very young. She has exercised all her life, and there has never been a time when she hasn’t exercised or played a sport. As a runner, she used to complete 10 km four times a week and has run a couple of half marathons. She has played tennis and been passionate about horse riding, but her fitness choices changed over the years.
‘I do everything with zero impact now, and it is all about endurance training,’ says Vidya. She bicycles every weekend a distance of 50 km to 60 km and also does weight training twice a week. She walks on the track with a weighted vest for about 7km and swims 2 km twice a week. In fact, she has been participating in national swim events and pan Indian swim meets, winning several gold and silver medals in her category. Her first international master's swim event is also coming up in Singapore.
To date, Vidya has completed five treks to Nepal EBC, Mardi Himal, Annapurna Circuit, Langtang Valley and Gokyo Lakes. Among her other summitting accomplishments are Mentok Kangri (6250m) in Eastern Ladakh and Yunam Peak (6110m) at Lahaul Spiti. She has trekked to Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, the Harmukh Glacier in Kashmir, the Dagala Lakes in Bhutan, Machu Pichu in Peru, Patagonia in Chile (where she completed the arduous W Trek in the Torres Del Paine National Park), and Mount Kinabalu in Eastern Malaysia.
‘I am a mindful eater and a vegetarian. Taking supplements helps in recovery and muscle building. There is absolutely no alternative to exercising every day and careful, sensible eating. There is no reason that you shouldn’t keep going at any age if you are a disciplined person.’
She’s looking forward to several treks that are coming up, including Mount Elbrus in Russia next year, which is also one of the seven summits.