Ain't No Mountain High Enough

Mr. Dhiren Doshi, the first Singaporean to summit the notoriously challenging Dhaulagiri (the seventh highest mountain in the world), shares his thrilling alpine adventures

- Chongwan Tay

The crevasse narrowed down into bottomless darkness. With his harness dangling precariously off the strained rope, Mr. Dhiren Doshi saw he had plunged three meters from the precipice as the overhang collapsed during crevasse-crossing on the risky route between the first two camps on the snow-covered mountain of Manaslu, the eighth highest peak in the Himalayas. He felt a tug on his harness and immediately knew, from where he was dangling, that his chances of getting out of the spot was slim to none. And it had to be done in less than 5 minutes before the anchor points or his grip gave way. “In that moment, everything ebbed into slow motion,” says Mr. Doshi. “My mind and senses went into hyper drive. Every sound, every tiny flake of snow, every heartbeat registered loudly as though counting the seconds I had. I thought of my loved ones and I knew I had a very small window to do whatever I could to try and get out of the spot.” So he asked his Sherpa, who was standing on the edge in panic mode, to take a photo of him.

The Great Escape