At the age of 72, Raman Chander Sood, a retired banker from Dubai, came remarkably close to reaching the summit of Mount Everest when he reached Camp 3 at 7,300 meters — one night and one push from the top. Sood comes from Himachal Pradesh, and his journey with climbing began as a child. After a long career at the State Bank of India, he moved with his family to Dubai, and when his grandson asked him, “What is your purpose in life?” he was inspired to pursue his long-held dream of climbing.
Sood aimed to take this pursuit seriously; he trained hard by climbing Kilimanjaro, Labuche East and Kang Yatse II. He followed a strict regimen to prepare, and this difficult work led the way for him to show that age is only a number. In April 2024, with emotional support from family and sponsorship from the SBI, Sood was finally ready to join an expedition to climb Everest.
However, after four climbers died near the summit, the Willie Sherpas refused to continue – they felt the final leg was just too dangerous at that time. Sood still does not see this as a failure. “It’s seventy percent mental,” he told me. “Fitness is one thing, but mindset is everything.”
He currently lives in Dubai with his wife and grandson, who inspired the original undertaking. Will he try again, I ask?” Maybe,” he smiles. “Climbing Everest costs money, but dreams never die.”
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