NRI couple become 1st Sikh pair to summit Mt Everest

When US citizens and NRI couple Harpreet Singh Cheema, 47, and Navneet Kaur Cheema, 40, reached the peak of Mount Everest, the world's highest mountain, at 7:50 a.m. on May 23, they recited "Gagan main thaal," an aarti that was first performed by the first Sikh guru, Guru Nanak Dev. With this accomplishment, they became the first Sikh couple to climb the 8,848.86-meter mountain in history and added their name to the esteemed list of couples who have done so.

“It was a surreal feeling for both of us. While there is less oxygen and not much time to stay at the summit, the first thought that came to our mind was to recite the aarti ‘Gagan main thaal’ in which Guru Nanak Dev ji imagined the entire universe as a prayer platter of the Almighty. We were standing on the highest point of the planet and remembered the Almighty. Of course, it makes us proud to become the first Sikh couple in the world to scale Mt Everest but then it’s due to the Almighty,” said Harpreet Singh while speaking to The Indian Express from Kathmandu.

While Navneet Kaur hails from Jian village in the Hoshiarpur district, Harpreet Singh was born in Kamo Majra Khud, close to Sangrur in Punjab. Harpreet Singh, a graduate of Guru Nanak Dev Engineering College in Ludhiana, began his career in the medical equipment industry in Mumbai with Abbott Labs before moving to the UK. He married Navneet Kaur in 2007 after meeting her; her family had relocated to the US in 1988. The couple's interest in trekking began when they participated in marathons and bicycle rides in the cities of Seattle and later Michigan.

“When we moved to Seattle, we took part in the Seattle Marathon every year from 2008 to 2014. We also participated in bike rides around Mount Rainier and between Seattle and Portland. It made our interest grow in trekking also when we shifted to Michigan. We have been taking part in the Detroit Free Press Marathon (every year) since 2015,” said Navneet Kaur, who works as a software engineer with Expedia, a travel company in Michigan.

In 2018, following a journey to Machu Picchu, an ancient Inca city located in Peru at a height of 2,430 metres, the couple's interest in mountaineering increased. The couple decided to attempt climbing the seven highest peaks on each continent after climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro, Africa's highest mountain at 5,895 metres, in 2019.

“We had gone to Mt Kilimanjaro with friends and it was an easy trek for us. After the climb, we thought of making an attempt to scale seven summits of the world. In 2022, we climbed Mt Elbrus, Europe’s highest peak, and it offered us a chance to learn the basics of alpine mountaineering and summit climbing. Once we got a hang of the basics, we planned to scale the seven summits,” said Harpreet Singh, who works as vice president, of strategy, at Trinity Health, a leading US healthcare company in Michigan.

The pair ascended Mt. Aconcagua in Argentina on January 14 of last year, and on June 12, 2023, they ascended Mt. Denali, which is 6,194 metres high in Alaska.

“We scaled the summit of Mt Denali all alone, that is, for 21 days we stayed alone and climbed on our own with fixed ropes. I fell in a crevasse during the summit push and Navneet pulled me out using a rope. So I owe my life to her (laughs). We were sure to attempt Mt Everest after that,” said Harpreet Singh.

Aside from high-altitude training, the pair would spend hours in a hypoxic (lower oxygen) tent at their Ann Arbour, Michigan, home before deciding to climb Mount Everest. “We would spend hours sleeping and doing activities in the hypoxic tent to simulate conditions at Mt Everest, apart from running with weighted backpacks,” said Navneet Kaur.

The pair paid $35,000 apiece for the Mt. Everest trek with "14 Peaks," a Nepali climbing firm, after arriving in the country in April. The pair began their last ascent to the peak of Mount Everest on May 22 from the 7,470-meter-high camp 3, even though they had previously acclimatised themselves by climbing to camps 1, 2, and 3 on the mountain. On May 23, the pair made it to the summit early, but not before a tragedy.

“A few metres from the summit, we saw Kenyan mountaineer Joshua Cheruiyot Kirui sitting down. By the time we reached him, he had collapsed and died. I performed ‘Kirtan Sohila’ for his soul at that point and we progressed further. Such is life on the mountain,” said Harpreet Kaur.

The pair now intends to attempt the 4,884-meter-high Carstensz Pyramid in Indonesia next year in an attempt to complete the seven summits, after climbing the 4,892-meter-high Mt. Vinson in Antarctica later this year.