Tripura’s Aritra Roy becomes first from state to scale Africa's Mt Kilimanjaro, Europe's Mt Elbrus

Aritra Roy, a 34-year-old IT professional hailing from Tripura, has achieved a remarkable feat, perhaps the first person from the state to conquer the highest mountains of both Africa and Europe.

In an interview with India Today NE, Aritra said as of today, Aritra has successfully climbed Mt Kilimanjaro, the highest mountain in Africa, and Mt Elbrus, the highest mountain in Europe.

He mentioned that to climb the remaining five mountains in the remaining five continents, he would need more technical training and enroll in mountaineering courses.

“As an IT professional in Bangalore, finding time out for training is difficult. I hope to complete this in good health to become a certified mountaineer ready for greater peaks,” said Aritra.

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“I am an IT professional working at Tata Consultancy Services in Bangalore, so finding time for training is difficult. My previous exercise routine before the Covid pandemic was in the evening, but when I saw that this was becoming hectic due to office timings, I had to amend plans. Luckily or unluckily, Corona struck the world, bringing it to a standstill. I got into depression staying inside closed walls since I was always an outdoor guy. When its rules were relaxed, I got an opportunity to shift to Agartala and plan and execute things. I started waking up early. I ran, cycled, strength trained, and used to finish my exercises by 8 am, leaving me ample time for the rest of the day and to work from home,” he said.

Recalling his journey to becoming a mountaineer, Aritra said that sports was always there in his family as his father, Lt. Sanjoy Kumar Roy, was the football coach of Tripura.

“Though I was never into football, apart from some occasional school matches, I wanted to do something different. After passing out of school and college, I always found myself vacationing in the mountains (riding with a bike then); call it an innate love for the mountains. Riding took me close to the mountains, but I always had this thought to be closer and up above. This is where I decided that a shift to trekking expeditions is what I need, and my life changed for good. The first few treks were easy but difficult for me personally as I was not fit enough, so the journey began to groom my lifestyle to attain an optimum level of fitness. My heart and mind never settle. Once I found treks becoming easy and them being restricted to certain altitudes, I wanted to reach beyond, and I slowly shifted my focus to higher grounds starting with Mt Everest Base Camp and Mt Kalapattar in Nepal in 2022. I was so overwhelmed with this journey of Nepal that my vision finally began to take shape,” he told this publication.

Speaking about the challenges he faced as a mountaineer, he said mountaineering needs both physical and mental fitness.

“The biggest challenge in mountaineering is that it is a very expensive sport, taking into account the permits, equipment, etc. The climb of the two highest mountains of African and European continents was managed entirely by myself and my wife. I am yet to figure out how to get sponsors for my next five climbs, which require great monetary funding,” said Aritra.

With this, Aritra is now making plans to climb Mt Vinson Massif, Antarctica, Mt Aconcagua, South America, Mt Denali, North America, and Mt Everest, Asia.