Nadeesha Dilum Dissanayake is a prominent name in the hiking and mountaineering community. To him, mountaineering evolved from a hobby to a profession to a lifestyle choice.
He is one of the very few Sri Lankan ‘A’ grade graduates in the mountaineering program of the Nehru Institute of Mountaineering (NIM), which is the most prestigious mountaineering institute in Asia.
He has now set his sights on conquering several peaks in the Himalayan Mountain Range as a part of his preparation to be the third Sri Lankan to conquer Mount Everest.
Dissanayake, is a passionate hiker known to live on the edge. He began his journey in hiking at the age of 14, and has since embraced it as his way of life for 21 years. He has hiked several of Sri Lanka’s best known peaks, trekked through very difficult terrains and even ventured on mountaineering expeditions to the Himalayas.
He is a team member of the Himalayan Foundation Sri Lanka and a founding member of Rock Climbing Sri Lanka. As a passionate adventurer and a lover of the outdoors, he is employed as the Operations Manager at Flying Ravana Adventure Park in Ella.
Climbing Mount Everest has been his life’s ambition and goal for a very long period of time. Everest, being the World’s highest peak, is not for the faint hearted. Only two Sri Lankans, Jayanthi Kuru-Uthumpala and Johann Peiris, have succeeded in conquering Everest. One of them, Johann Peiris failed in his first attempt.
Climbing to the peak of Everest is one of the most grueling quests in the World which requires several months of mental and physical preparation. It is also a very expensive quest.
In the course of his preparation, Dissanayake plans to do a series of hikes in the Himalayan mountain range in the month of October. He plans to climb Island Peak (6,189 m - 20,305 ft), Everest Base Camp (5,364 m - 17,598 ft), Kala Pathar (5,644.5 m - 18,519 ft), Renjo La (5360 m) or Cho La (5420 m) and Kongma La (5535 m) passes.
Although Dissanayake is physically fit and extremely capable of performing such a feat, physical fitness is not going to be the only asset he will need. Mental health is a serious concern and endurance is a necessity if he must achieve this dream.
As a family man with a day job, he understands the financial and other pressures that he must overcome before he can prepare for such a challenge. He concedes that he too, like many others, have had mental breakdowns.
Just as many others he too does not come from a position of affluence and privilege. He believes that men who have devoted their lives to their families ought to be heard and supported in their quest to attain the otherwise unattainable. “Mental health is very important, because if a man reaches his breaking point, the damage is already done and sometimes redemption is not an option,” he said.
“I want men to be heard. I want a society where problems can be shared, where they will not be laughed at. At present, men are given no choice, but to serve their families, and if they are unable to for any reason, they are ridiculed and laughed at. The mental health of men is a serious concern that deserves better attention for the well-being of society,” he said.
Dissanayake hopes he will be able to overcome these challenges with his mind set on his ultimate goal of reaching the pinnacle of Mount Everest.
He has worked hard to sustain his mental state, and hopes to continue working hard until he is able to become the third Sri Lankan to complete the feat of reaching the highest point in the World.