Tejan Gurung scales all above 8,000-meter high mountains

By Arjun Kafle,Syangja, Oct. 18: Many youths in the country dream of being recruited into the British Army. However, one youth has broken the norm, left the most desirable job, and is relentless in ascending the country's mountains. 

Twenty-nine-year-old Tejan Gurung of Pelkachaur, Putalibazar Municipality-12, has successfully ascended all 14 mountains over 8,000 meters after leaving the lucrative job of the British Army. 

At 5 am on October 9, Gurung summited the 8027-meter-high Shisha Pangma mountain in China and achieved the feat of conquering all 14 eight-thousanders.  

He has become the first to climb the 8,000-meter-high mountain from Syangja. Gurung, who spent eight years of his life in the British Army, left the Army in the year 2022 and started his mountain climbing expedition.

He started his mountain climbing voyage by climbing 6,110 mertes Lobuche Peak in 2017. He then climbed Mount Everest on May 27, 2022, and ascended Mount Lhotse a day after on May 28, 2022. He summited 11 mountains in the year 2023 alone. 

He climbed Mount Annapurna on April 15, Mount Makalu on May 23, Mount Kangchenjunga on June 1, Mount Nanga Parbat on July 2, Mount Gasherbrum II on July 17, Mount Gasherbrum I on July 21, Mount Broad Peak on July 25, K2 on July 28, Mount Manaslu on September 17, Mount Dhaulagiri on September 29, Mount Cho Oyu on October 2, all in the year 2023. 

Stating that he has climbed all the mountains from the Elite Exped, Gurung said that his desire to climb grew from the time he got the opportunity to go to Everest Base Camp while he was in the British Army.

He said that he was inspired by his relative Nirmal Purja, who has climbed all 14 mountains above 8,000 meters. 

Gurung has ascended other dozens of mountains outside the country including Mount Elbrus of Russia and Aconcagua of Argentina. 

He said that he faced some difficulty in earlier days of ascend but got used to it later. 

Expressing sadness over youths leaving the country, he said that he would invest in finding ways to connect youth towards mountaineering.