Arjun Vajpai: 'Need To Be At The Peak Of Mental And Physical Fitness When Competing Against Mother Nature'

Competing against Mother Nature is perhaps the most challenging task that professional athletes face. Whether it climbing hills or mountain biking or a triathlon, athletes face the toughest of obstacles and even surmount them with gay abandon. Indian professional mountaineer Arjun Vajpai, trained at the Nehru Institute of Mountaineering in Uttarkashi, reveals how he has managed to scale some of the highest mountains in the world in a special episode of the 'Fit India Champions' podcast series which was released on Saturday. The full episode can be seen here.

The 'Fit India Champions' podcast series is aimed at spreading the good words on wellness through conversations with athletes and health influencers who are acting as catalysts for change. The 10-episode series is in partnership with GOQii, a major stakeholder in the fitness sector that proactively manages health through its digital and multimedia technology. The episodes are streamed live on digital platforms.

Arjun Vajpai is third on the list of celebrity athletes who have taken part in the podcast hosted by Shrimati Ekta Vishnoi, the Deputy Director General of Sports Authority of India and the director of the Fit India Mission. The episodes started with para archer Sheetal Devi. World and Tokyo 2020 javelin champion Neeraj Chopra was second on the list.

Thirty-year-old Arjun is the world's youngest to scale six peaks over 8000 metres in 2018. It came as no surprise for a man who summited Mount Everest as a 16-year-old in 2010! The Delhi man now wants to become the first Indian man to climb all 14 peaks above 8000 m across the world.

"It is my dream to climb all 14 mountains above 8000 meters and keep India's flag flying high. This dream and the tunnel-vision or one-sighted aim keeps me going despite the harsh conditions mountaineering makes you go through," said Vajpai.

"As mountaineers, we are not competing against humans. We are competing against Mother Nature. Here, you will be tested against nature's standards. So, we need to focus both on physical and mental fitness. There have been deaths of our fellow climbers, amputations done but we keep going. It's our one-sighted aim to be at the top," Vajpai added.

The Fit India ambassador has been a pioneer in his field having scaled some of the most difficult Himalayan peaks like Lhotse, Makalu, Kanchenjunga, Manaslu and Annapurna.

Praising the Fit India initiative, the professional mountaineer said, "The vision of Fit India is something I can relate with as well. Fitness has been an integral part of my life and I've spent a lot of time in staying fit each day. I try to motivate younger generation by being outside and teach kids the same. I am very happy to be a part of the movement and thank Hon'ble Prime Minister of India for launching this initiative."