Going sky high, propelled by passion and sheer determination

IAS officer Arjun Pandian scales Mt. Kilimanjaro, the tallest mountain in Africa and the highest free-standing mountain in the world

Arjun Pandian has gone sky high to tick a goal off his bucket list.

The Civil Services officer has scaled Mount Kilimanjaro, the tallest mountain in Africa and the highest free-standing mountain in the world. Mr. Pandian is the Director of the Scheduled Tribes Development department; Secretary, Kerala State Land Board; and Joint Commissioner of Land Revenue.

It took a five-day climb for him to reach Uhuru Peak, Kilimanjaro’s summit 5,895 m above sea level, in Tanzania on February 23. He chose the picturesque trail from Machame Gate (1,800 m), one of the six routes leading to the peak.

“On the second day of the climb, I moved from the Machame to Shira Cave Camp at a height of 3,750 m within five hours. I could reach other milestones at Barranco Camp (3,900 m), Barafu Camp (4,673 m) and finally, the Uhuru Peak on the subsequent days,” he says.

As is every climber’s dream, he has set his sights on climbing Mount Everest amidst his busy schedule. Mr. Pandian had earlier scaled the 5,760-m Mount Draupadi Ka Danda (DKD 2) in Uttarakhand. The expedition undertaken was part of an advanced mountaineering course that he underwent at the Nehru Institute of Mountaineering in Uttarkashi last year.

More recently, he attempted to climb Mount Nun, a 7,135-m summit bordering Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh in September last. He, however, had to call off the attempt at 6,129 m after a gruelling 14 days’ climb following continuous blizzards.

The officer developed an interest in mountaineering during his Civil Services’ training during which his batch had undertaken a 10-day trek to Roopkund in Uttarakhand.