I just wanted to see how my mental and physical strength are: Anurag on his second 8k summit without oxygen
Dream Wanderlust | May 4 , 2022
Anurag Nallavelli becomes the first Indian to climb two 8k peaks without oxygen, as he summited the 7th highest mountain, Mt. Dhaulagiri(8167m) without supplemental oxygen on 9th April 2022.
Being immensely inspired by Ed Viesturs and David Roberts's ''No Shortcuts to the Top", Anurag set on his journey of climbing 8k peaks without the usage of supplemental oxygen. In September 2021, he climbed the 8th highest mountain, Mt. Manaslu (8163m) without supplemental oxygen in a self-supported manner. He has spoken exclusively to Dream Wanderlust after his expedition. He says, "the reasons, for not using supplemental oxygen are to experience the death zone as it is and also just to see how my body performs at extreme altitude, in that zone and then see how far I can push my limits. Also carrying an oxygen bottle is heavy and every weight counts at a high altitude, also from some news I've read that there could be a malfunction of the oxygen mask and then you just have to descend, there is no other alternative because your body won't get used to that less oxygen in a short time. So, after considering all these things I decided not to use supplemental oxygen."
The journey to the summit of Mt. Dhaulagiri was quite challenging and dramatic for him. Anurag's right shoulder got dislocated and fractured during his Winter expedition on Mt. Rainier in US. He couldn't continue his regular training for its recovery. After reaching Pokhra, he fell sick also and became physically weak. These adverse situations made him wonder, "Can I do it, being so weak, especially without oxygen?". But in the end, he defied all odds and successfully scaled Mt. Dhaulagiri. Anurag says, "I just wanted to see how my mental and physical strength are, while I was going through such accident; so, that was one of the major objectives".
Anurag, a techie by profession, driven by his passion for Mountaineering finds his true purpose in greater causes. In his words, "...for any climbs I do, like expeditions and during my training too, I always have to have some kind of like purpose to keep going for myself. That's a huge motivation for me like you know doing something useful for others. So, previously while I was training for Manaslu, while climbing for Denali I raised funds for like summits and solidarity in the US for the racial indiscrimination. I've raised funds for Himalayan Trust, the foundation founded by Sir Edmond Hillary, for the kids in Nepal for their education and while climbing Manaslu, I raised funds for Nepal Youth Foundation in Kathmandu for the kids for their schooling, well-being, and health. But for Dhaulagiri, I couldn't raise funds for any other organization because of multiple reasons. One was as it was a last-minute decision for me to go climb Dhaulagiri, financially I was struggling, just by myself to fund. So, I was also raising funds for the expedition through crowdfunding, my colleagues and my friends, and everybody was supporting this expedition because I've been climbing back-to-back Manaslu and Dhaulagiri and I've been using all my personal money and I am like almost at the end of my savings".
Anurag got frostbite on hand. On his way down he removed his gloves to check his hands and his gloves flew off due to the strong wind.
Timeline:
March 19: Reached Kathmandu, Nepal
March 21: Reached Pokhra and then Jomsom
March 26: Reached Base Camp
March 29: Acclimatization rotation started
April 6: Climbing started for the summit and reached lower Camp 2
April 7: At higher Camp 2
April 8: Reached Camp 3
April 9: Summit push started at midnight and made it to the summit at around 11:20 am and returned to Base Camp at the midnight
April 10: Returned to Pokhra by helicopter
April 11: Reached Kathmandu
Comments from Mingma Gyalje Sherpa (Mingma G) 
View from the camp-2
