‘With every step I carried Sri Lanka with me’
View(s):By Yomal Senerath-Yapa
For this boyish hairstylist and singer, there were colossal challenges to face as he endeavoured to be the first Sri Lankan to climb the seven highest mountains in all continents – and succeeded in reaching the highest points of five of these.
For Johann Peiris, it has been a long ascent, ever since he first climbed the Knuckles decades and decades ago with his father as a youth. He made his first Everest attempt in 2016 and then summited the highest mountain in the world in 2018.
His final climb was Denali this year, which towers at a height of 6190 metres – North America’s queen of peaks. Johann reached the mount’s high camp at 5243m, but could not go further as severe storms and avalanches had authorities barring access to the summit that same day. Of ascending Denali he said that each day “after an eight to ten hour journey you have to set up your own tent; put your things in and carry on with the rest of your journey. Next morning you are up for the next challenge.” The last six days were spent under heavy risks of avalanches.
Johann Peiris at the news conference. Pic by M.A. Pushpa Kumara
The other mountains he summited were Mount Vinson in Antarctica, Elbrus of Europe, Kilimanjaro of Africa and Kosciuszko of Australia. He went past the high camp of Mount Aconcagua of South America though he didn’t reach the summit.
Having planted the Sri Lankan flag in places no Sri Lankan has stood on, Johann addressing a press conference said, “Each summit challenged my strength, tested my spirit and reaffirmed my purpose, pushing me beyond my limits and teaching me the true meaning of resilience and determination… With every step, I carried Sri Lanka with me.”
Johann’s niece Kumarinie Rajakaruna brought alive family stories of how Johann with his father, with a passion for nature went trekking, hiking and fishing. “The anxiety of days without updates due to poor signals and adverse weather, the constant prayers for his safety (were) a roller coaster of emotions for all of us but through all that, his purpose never wavered,” said Kumarinie.
Sajeda Akbarally, Johann’s friend and the manager of the Seven Summits expedition, added “It was an epic journey fraught with enormous mental, physical barriers in miserable sub-freezing conditions.”
Johann reminisced about standing on Mt. Vinson in Antarctica (‘like standing on another planet’); and answering his own question ‘was it scary?’ said – “every minute of it was.” In a landscape fraught with avalanches and crevasses there was no telling whether each day could be safely ended.
Despite the travails and heartbreak, Johann hopes his journey will be a ‘baton to pass on’. “And I will be there to cheer on, and encourage – whoever takes it on from this point.”
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