"What's Your Everest?" How Two Indian Mountaineers Turned Setbacks into a Story of Grit, Purpose and Passion

Business Standard

15-07-2025

VMPL
New Delhi [India], July 15: After six years of failure, near-death experiences on Everest, and walking away just 900 metres from the summit, Samir Patham and Sauraj Jhingan return with a memoir on leadership, loss, and perseverance.
When most people think of Mount Everest, they think of triumph. But for Samir Patham and Sauraj Jhingan, co-founders of Adventure Pulse, the highest point on Earth came only after a long series of lows. Their newly released memoir, "What's Your Everest: A Path to Passion and Purpose", published by Bloomsbury India, is a searing, deeply personal account of what it means to keep showing up, in the mountains, in business, and in life.
The book traces their story across nearly a decade of failures and turning points: from narrowly surviving the 2015 Nepal earthquake and avalanche, to abandoning their Everest summit bid just 900 metres from the top, to returning one final time, against advice, doubt, and all odds.
But What's Your Everest is not about the climb. It's about everything that happens when you're forced to turn around.
Drawing parallels between mountaineering and modern-day resilience, Samir and Sauraj reflect on leadership, fear, ego, humility, and the discipline of trying again. With honesty and insight, they write not just as climbers, but as entrepreneurs, teachers, and friends who have spent the last 15 years building a homegrown adventure company that's taken five-year-olds and seventy-five-year-olds to their own personal summits.
"We've all had to walk away from something we wanted deeply," says Sauraj. "That moment of letting go, that's the real Everest. Climbing again after that? That's where the story begins."
"This book isn't just for mountaineers," adds Samir. "It's for anyone who's faced failure and still believes they can come back stronger."
Through moments of awe and exhaustion, self-doubt and quiet breakthroughs, the book takes readers from the unforgiving slopes of the Himalayas to the invisible mountains we face in our everyday lives: ambition, fear, burnout, loss, uncertainty, and the long wait between trying and arriving.
It captures the unglamorous but defining realities of extreme altitude, tents collapsing under wind at Camp 4, frostbitten hands, frozen oxygen tanks, and the unlikely comfort of hot tea and UNO cards at 8,000 meters. These scenes strip Everest of its heroism and reveal the quiet camaraderie and human resilience that lie beneath the surface.
The book also pays tribute to Mingma Tenzi Sherpa, who had submitted Lhotse just the day before, yet returned without pause to lead their final climb up Everest. Without oxygen, without fanfare, just sheer resolve.
Earlier in their journey, the 2015 avalanche that killed 17 at Base Camp could have sent them home. Instead, they turned their tent into a relief centre, offering food and first aid to survivors. That decision to stay and serve became a quiet, formative act of leadership long before the summit was in sight.
Early Endorsements for What's Your Everest?
The book has received praise from prominent voices across business, film, sport, and the mountaineering community:
"What's Your Everest challenges you to look beyond the daily grind and focus on what truly matters - uncovering your passion and pursuing it with unwavering determination."
-- Anand Mahindra
"An inspiring account of the importance of never giving up on your dreams. This is a tale of self-discovery and perseverance in the face of insurmountable odds."
-- Anupam Kher
"What's Your Everest? is: when you get knocked down, you get up again. Everest is tough. This is a great achievement."
-- Peter Hillary, mountaineer and son of Sir Edmund Hillary
"A moving and insightful exploration of grit and resilience. This book will inspire you to rise above adversity and chase your dreams."
-- Krishnamachari Srikkanth, former captain of the Indian cricket team
About the Authors
Samir Patham and Sauraj Jhingan are the co-founders of Adventure Pulse, a mountaineering and adventure consultancy that has guided hundreds of people across the Himalayas, Africa, and South America. Both certified climbers and educators, they've mentored first-time trekkers from diverse backgrounds, from corporate professionals to schoolchildren, senior citizens, and those recovering from illness or loss. Their work is rooted in the belief that the outdoors is for everyone and that the climb is always about more than the summit.
About Adventure Pulse
Founded by mountaineers Samir Patham and Sauraj Jhingan, Adventure Pulse is a boutique adventure and mountaineering company that has spent over 15 years guiding first-time trekkers, corporate teams, cancer survivors, and senior citizens across some of the world's most iconic terrains. Built on the values of safety, inclusion, and inner resilience, the company has taken people from all walks of life to their own personal summits, proving that the real climb is always about more than just the mountain.