Visually challenged Vadodara man scales 17,000-ft Himalayan peak

VADODARA: He is visually challenged. But support from his friend helped him travel the rugged terrain to scale Mount Friendship, popularly known as Friendship Peak, in Himachal Pradesh.
Undeterred by cold winds and freezing temperatures, two friends from Vadodara recently covered the summit at an altitude of 17,346 feet above sea level.
“I am into mountaineering. I have climbed mountains in Pavagadh, Jambughoda and Chhota Udepur among others. But the Himalayas is a completely different terrain because of its snowy ranges. I could do it because of my friend,” said Sanjeev Gohil, 43, who works as a postal assistant at the Department of Posts (India Post).
Gohil was diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa, a progressive vision disorder, in 2001. Even as he has lost 100 % vision now, he hasn’t lost passion for forest, wildlife conservation and mountaineering which he cherished before he started losing sight.
“It is my passion to be in the forest and mountains. But it is because of my friends that it becomes a reality,” said Gohil.
During the five-day expedition, Gohil constantly followed his civil engineer friend Pushpak Kotiya, 33, on his shoulder or with the sling attached to his bag.
“The up and down movements of his shoulders helped me judge the next step I had to take. Every step is unpredictable as there are loose rocks and firm rocks. If you mistakenly step into a loose rock, you can slip as well,” said Gohil, who developed a bond with Kotiya thanks to their association with Wildlife Trust.
“We had done some mountaineering but scaling Friendship Peak was a challenge because of the snowclad chilling mountains. During the climb, a traveller puts his or her foot into an existing snow step but it became all the more challenging for Sanjeev as he could not see the existing steps. For each step, he required three times more energy than others,” said Kotiya.
“My dream is to conquer Mount Everest someday,” added Gohil.