Devika Majumder: Welcome to Global Influencers Hub, Narender. Here we talk about the life journeys of social media influencers. So, we’ll go right into yours. Tell us how it all started from the very beginning—right from childhood. We want to know everything about you.

Narender Singh Yadav: My mountaineering journey began when I was exactly 8 years, 7 months, and 11 days old.

Devika: That’s amazing!

Narender: My first course actually happened by chance. My sister, Santosh Yadav, climbed Mount Everest in 1992 and 1993. Every time she visited home, people around us would say, “Your sister climbed Everest,” and I would just sit there listening. One day, during a program, I heard that again, and that was the moment I thought, “Why shouldn’t I try mountaineering too?” I studied at an Air Force School—my father was in the Indian Army and just retired two years ago. He supported my interest and said, “Okay, I’ll get you into a course.”

I was part of the Scouts and Guides, and the first trek I ever went on was to Dhanaulti—this was through school when I was in 2nd or 3rd standard. That was my first experience of trekking. But the real turning point came when I did my first adventure course through the Army Welfare Wing at 8 years, 7 months, and 11 days.

It was a 15-day course, but I couldn’t sleep for the first 4 days. I was a kid, in the jungle for the first time. At night, when we heard animal sounds, we used to think they were ghosts.

Devika: That must’ve been so scary at that age!

Narender: Yes, but on the fourth night, I finally slept—out of sheer exhaustion. That moment marked the real beginning of my career. Something just clicked, and I knew I wanted to do this for the rest of my life. From there, I went on to complete all professional courses from the Nehru Institute of Mountaineering, Uttarkashi—basic, advance, merchant, rescue, and MOI.

In 2014, I was selected for Everest for the first time. But that year, there was an avalanche and the expedition got cancelled. I got another chance in 2015, but that’s when the devastating Nepal earthquake happened, and again, the expedition was cancelled.

Finally, in 2016, I got my opportunity and I successfully climbed Mount Everest on May 20.

Devika: Wow, what a journey already.

Narender: It didn’t stop there. In 2017, I climbed Mount Kilimanjaro (the highest peak in Africa) and Mount Elbrus (the highest in Europe). I did something unique—I climbed Kilimanjaro from the south and descended from the north. I called it the 2-2-2 Challenge: in 2 weeks, I climbed 2 highest peaks from 2 continents, setting a world record.

Devika: That’s just amazing!

Narender: In 2018, I climbed Mount Kosciuszko, the highest peak in Australia. During that expedition, I climbed 10 high peaks in 3 days, breaking the previous record by 7 days.That was another world record.

In 2019, I summited Aconcagua, the highest peak in South America. Then in 2020, I was nominated for the Tenzing Norgay National Adventure Award—the highest adventure award given by the Government of India. But that was when the biggest controversy of my life began.

Devika: Oh no. What happened?

Narender: When I climbed Everest in 2016, I suffered from severe frostbite in my leg. All ten toes were affected, and I had to be hospitalized. My expedition leader, Navakumar Phokan from Assam, came to visit me two days later and told me we needed to submit proof to get our Everest certificates. I couldn’t even walk or transfer any files, so I gave him my memory card and said, “Take whatever data you need, then return it to me.”

Months passed, and even after I recovered, I kept asking him to return my card. But he never did. Back then, in 2015-16, social media wasn’t what it is today, so I didn’t push too hard. But in 2020, when my award nomination was announced, he used the data on my memory card, photoshopped images, twisted the story, and posted on social media, making it look like I had faked my expedition.to Photoshop images and spread false information about me on social media.

Devika: That’s terrible.

Narender: It was devastating. I had no access to my own data, so I couldn’t prove my innocence. As a result, my award was put on hold, and I was banned from mountaineering for 10 years. I took the matter to court and fought for one and a half years. In 2022, the court lifted all bans against me and cleared my name.

Devika: That must’ve been such a relief.

Narender: It was. And then, without telling anyone in my family, I went to Nepal again in May 2022. I got a permit to climb Everest once more—this time after the climbing season had already ended. Most climbers had summited by 13th May. On 20th May, I took a helicopter to the base camp. The Director of Tourism in Nepal thought I was insane—“This guy is a psycho,” he said. “There’s no weather window left.” But I told myself, “I died in 2020, this is my rebirth. Let’s see what happens.”

I started climbing on the night of 21st May at 1:15 am and reached the summit on 27th May. When I returned to base camp, they told me I had climbed Everest in just 6 days. The world takes 70 days to do it—I did it in 7, without acclimatization. That itself became a world record.

Devika: That’s absolutely unbelievable.

Narender: Thank you, ma’am. But the climb came with consequences. My oxygen levels dropped drastically. I started bleeding from my nose and mouth, and I was hospitalized for 7–8 days. At Camp 3, I even stopped breathing for a few seconds. My Sherpa thought I had died and informed my family back home. But no one believed him because they didn’t know I had gone to climb Everest again—they thought it was a prank call. (Laughs)

But by God’s grace, I survived. And when I went to the ministry to collect my certificate, they held a press conference—initially to check if my claims were false again. But when I showed them the proof, they were blown away. My story was picked up by the New York Times and made the front page. Almost every newspaper covered it.

Devika: That’s such a powerful comeback.

Narender: It truly felt like a rebirth. When I was still in the hospital, a friend called and congratulated me. I didn’t understand why—because I had already climbed Everest before. But then he told me that Wikipedia had made a page about me. That moment felt surreal.

Devika: And all of this happened while you were still recovering?

Narender: Yes. That period of my life—when the controversy broke out—was the worst. I had rehearsed at Rashtrapati Bhavan for the award ceremony. My parents and elder brother were with me. But when the award was put on hold, the shock led to my father’s kidneys failing. He’s still on dialysis today. My mother went into trauma. It was devastating.

But I bounced back. In June 2024, I climbed Denali, the highest peak in North America, in just 76 hours—the fastest climb recorded to date. On 13th December, 2025, I’ll be heading to Antarctica to climb Mount Vinson. I’ve made 22 world records in mountaineering.

And during the time of the controversy, I also ran an ultra-marathon as part of the Nidhi Samarpan Abhiyan for the birthplace of Lord Rama. As a sportsperson, I thought—what can I give? I decided to dedicate my hard work by running across all four corners of that sacred land.

Devika: Wow, that’s amazing. How was that experience?

Narender: So I ran from Rameshwaram to Ayodhya—a distance of 2,911 kilometers—which I completed in just 47 days.

Devika: That’s incredible!

Narender: After that, I ran a 53-kilometer stretch toward Delhi, which also became a world record. Then I ran from Jammu & Kashmir, specifically from Punjab to Ayodhya—1,617 kilometers in 31 days. That too became a world record. Every day, I would complete one ultra-marathon nonstop.

And now, after my upcoming mountaineering expedition on the 13th, I plan to run from Somnath in Gujarat to Ayodhya and then from Parshuram Kund to Ayodhya. That’s just a small part of my journey, ma’am.

Devika: This is absolutely amazing. Now I have to ask—how do you even do all of this? What’s the secret? What does your daily routine look like when preparing for these ultra-marathons or for mountaineering?