While the summit marked a major personal milestone for Dhaliwal after years of preparation, the descent turned into a life-threatening ordeal in the ‘Death Zone’ above 8,000 metres
27 May, 2026 – Chandigarh : Ajaypal Singh Dhaliwal, a Canadian of Punjabi origin based in Brampton, Ontario, has become the first Canadian Punjabi to summit Mount Everest, surviving a near-fatal descent from the world’s highest peak.
Dhaliwal reached the 8,848.86-metre summit on May 20 as part of a record-breaking day when 274 climbers scaled Everest from the Nepal side. He was one of three Indians who summited that day, along with Tulasi Reddi Palpunoori and Sandeep Are.
The Expedition Operators’ Association of Nepal confirmed the single-day record of 274 summits, aided by favourable weather conditions.
While the summit marked a major personal milestone for Dhaliwal after years of preparation, the descent turned into a life-threatening ordeal in the ‘Death Zone’ above 8,000 metres.
According to a widely shared Facebook post by his friend Mohan Pal Randhawa, Dhaliwal was left stranded during the descent with critically low oxygen supplies after being abandoned by his Sherpa guide. Two climbers from the same expedition group — Sandeep Are and Arun Kumar Tiwari — died while descending.
Randhawa wrote: “This accomplishment belongs entirely to him… Not because he summited Everest. Many climbers dream of doing that. But because he came back alive from a place where some never do.”
In the extreme conditions of freezing winds, exhaustion and depleting oxygen, Dhaliwal reportedly improvised his descent by sliding down dangerous icy slopes using his safety belt. During one such manoeuvre, he crashed and lost consciousness.
Upon regaining awareness in darkness and brutal cold, he signalled for help by flicking his headlamp. A team of four climbers, including Mingma Tenzi Sherpa, spotted the signal, shared oxygen and assisted him continue the descend to safety.
Randhawa highlighted Dhaliwal’s resilience, saying, “Everest was not just testing his body. It was testing his courage to keep taking risks when fear had every reason to win.”
Dhaliwal’s journey from a known risk-taker to a focused mountaineer has been widely shared in the Punjabi and Canadian diaspora as an inspiring story of determination and survival.
The Tribune