“Walking among majestic mountains” – An interview with Amritha Krishnan

Before any high altitude trek, one is advised to do 2-3 months of intense cardiovascular workout, so 4-5 workouts of an hour each, per week. All the guides advise that you should be able to run 10km in under and hour. Let me be honest, I have never actually managed to do this!

Each trek I learn a little bit more about what is necessary and adjust my training accordingly for the next trek. The intention behind cardiovascular training is to improve the capacity of the heart and lungs, since oxygen levels reduce drastically as the altitude increases. It is also imperative to do some strength and endurance training since most of these treks involve days where you’re climbing steep mountains for 3-4 hours continuously.

Before KGL, my training included an hour of yoga 5 days a week along with a 10km walk. Since then, I’ve trained using a combination of running (5-10km), swimming (which is not only a great workout, but particularly fantastic for your lungs), yoga for stretching and stair climbing (50-60 floors with a 6kg backpack) for strength.

But physical training aside, mental preparation  is crucial. It can be incredibly challenging to take even 10 steps at above 14,000ft.

I spend a little time familiarising myself with the altitudes to be reached and the number of days at extreme altitude.

Q. As a woman, do you feel safe when you go on trekking? This might seem a bit old fashioned , but safety of women is always in question when travelling alone?

Actually this is a pretty common question, and one that I often get from my friends.

To be honest, I have never felt safer than when I’ve been on a trek. I’ve always trekked in a group and made great friends at each trek.

Everyone looks out for each other, and usually a buddy system develops within the first day or two which ensures that nobody falls behind and everyone is safe. More often, I’ve found that travelling alone in a city can be much more of a safety concern than getting to the remote villages that these treks start from. On the trek itself, one is highly unlikely to encounter unsavoury elements. The people in the mountains are among the nicest people you’d ever meet.

Q. Excluding the Everest base camp, what has been the favourite trek so far? And why?

Without a doubt, it has to be the Kashmir Great Lakes trek. This was my first trek, and it made me fall in love with trekking. It is an 8 day trek that takes you through the spectacular landscape that is Kashmir.

You walk from one pristine lake to another, through alpine forests and expansive meadows, surrounded by majestic snow-capped mountains. The trek even has three pass crossings. Kashmir really is the paradise that it has been claimed to be.

Once you start the trek, you completely lose track of the fact that you are in one of the most disputed lands in the country. There are no towns or villages here, and the only people you meet are the Bakarwals grazing their sheep for the summer.

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Q. I know that you also do yoga. Do you find any connection between the two? 

I was introduced to yoga in my teenage years, but I really started doing yoga and enjoying it a little over 2 years ago. I was working long hours and had a highly stressed work life. My mother encouraged me to enroll in a yoga class. Coincidentally, this was about the same that I was first introduced to trekking. Trekking and yoga together brought about a major change in lifestyle for me.

Q. Did your practice of Yoga – the asana and the pranayama  –  help you during the trekking?

 Before my first Himalayan trek, I had been a couch potato, but once I started Yoga, it helped me become sufficiently fit for the trek. After the trek, my yoga teacher enquired  if doing yoga had helped with my breathing.  I honestly didn’t know at that time if it had. I told him so, and he was surprised. On my latest trek , I realised what it was that he was talking about.

On the second day of the EBC trek, I felt the symptoms of altitude sickness coming on. I  caught a cold and my nose was blocked, making it further difficult for me to take in oxygen. My oxymeter readings were low. For the first time, on a trek, I did Nadishodhan pranayam and Kapalbhati for a few minutes each. The result surprised me. My oxygen levels improved significantly, and I could feel the difference almost within a few hours. I continued to do Nadishodhan twice a day for the next 3 days.

It was surprising that I got so much out of what I’d previously considered the “boring aspects of yoga”! I also attribute a lot of my muscle strength to my yoga training.

Q.What benefits have you derived from both?

The main benefit for me is definitely an overall improvement in fitness. I’ve always struggled with fitness as well as weight issues. My personal experience has been that yoga has helped me increase my fitness in the long term. Trekking keeps me motivated to stay fit and able.

From the hygiene point of view, if you can choose between regular toilets and bio-toilets that use earth and coco peat, always choose the latter- they are cleaner, much more hygenic and much more smell-free than regular toilets. Also, menstrual cups are a great life saver, saving a lot of hassle, being easier to clean, not requiring disposal when there is no place to dispose and of course, being eco-friendly.

And very important, carry a good backpack, and pack light- no more than 5kg- regardless of how long the trek is. Do not listen to your guy friends who may carry upwards of 10 kilos! A heavy backpack is not an indication of how strong you are. A lighter backpack will allow you to move easier and you’ll not have sore shoulders at the end of it.

Q. Any tips for people who are looking for trekking experiences?

I’d personally recommend trekking with a reputed group where the trek leaders have sound medical training (particularly important for high altitude treks), and those who ensure group sizes are limited to 10, as you get to know everyone better in a small group. And train well before going on a trek. Trekking may just be walking, but long hours and high altitudes necessitate a certain level of fitness and endurance that you need to be prepared for.

Q. Anything else you would like to add?

Just go out there and trek! It’s awesome!

Trekking is an amazingly enriching experience. Sure it feels great to be in the outdoors and commune with nature, but there’s more to it than that. Trekking puts you in what is for us city-dwellers an alien environment, and you learn so much about yourself because of that. When you are out there, it is just you and the mountains. You get to really know your capabilities, your endurance levels, strengths and limits. Your deepest fears come to the surface, and you automatically figure out how to battle it and come out on top. At the end of a trek, you feel so confident and renewed, and that much closer to Nirvana. Suddenly every problem you face has a crystal clear answer!

And that is why I’ve always come back from a trek wanting more, to go back immediately, regardless of how physically exhausted I may be! I’m sure once you get out there, you will too.

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