H. P. S. Ahluwalia Biography 
H. P. S. Ahluwalia is an Indian mountaineer and the first Indian man to scale Mount Everest. He belonged to Indian army and has also made contributions to the field of adventure, sports, environment, disability and social work. He has also authored 13 books which includes his autobiography Higher than Everest. He climbed Mount Everest on 29 May 1965, and his group included a few more mountaineers. Prior to his epic journey, he has climbed mountains of Sikkim and Nepal. Government of India honoured him with Padma Bhushan in 2002, Padma Shri in 1966 soon after his adventurous journey to Everest and also Arjuna Award in 1965.
Major Hari Pal Singh Ahluwalia, shortly called H. P. S. Ahluwalia was born on 6 November 1936 in Sialkot, Punjab Province, British India. He was brought up in Shimla along with 5 siblings. His father was a civil engineer who worked in government department. He studied at Dehradun and Mussoorie and during his study at these hill stations, he got interested in photography and rock climbing. He started off with rock climbing, before doing it in large scale for expeditions like Mount Everest.
He joined Indian Army as an officer. Yet he never left behind his personal interests. He took advanced training at the Himalayan Mountaineering Institute, Darjeeling. Then he climbed places in Sikkim and Nepal. He climbed Mount Everest on 29 May 1965, along with 9 persons of Indian army to make this achievement. As a military officer, he took part in Indo-Pakistani War of 1965. He suffered a bullet injury which resulted in his confinement to a wheelchair.
He has authored many non-fictional books, mostly related to his career as a mountaineer and a few more. Higher than Everest, The Everest Within, Everest- Where the Snow never melts, Hermit Kingdom Ladakh, Ladakh Nubra The Forbidden Valley, Eternal Himalaya, Beyond the Himalayas and Tracing Marco Polo's Journey are his published books. He was also honoured with Tenzing Norgay National Adventure award for lifetime Achievement in 2009. He has served as an IOFS officer during his active years of professional life.
Published: September 29, 2018
Updated: September 29, 2018
