The Himalayan Club Talks
Silicon Valley to High Mountains – a presentation by Olya Lapina
In this talk, Olya will share about balancing her life as a Silicon Valley entrepreneur and a high altitude mountaineer. She will cover overcoming adversities, mental stamina, physical training and being prepared, as well as choosing the right team to climb a mountain with and the applying the lessons learned in the mountains to work and life.
“Passionate explorers are likely to become entrepreneurs.”
Olya Lapina is a San Francisco entrepreneur, and an early stage angel investor and advisor in technology start-ups. She is currently working on her own company that promises to be a great resource to adventurers as well as an inspiration for youth to get involved in outdoor sports. Olya is passionate about mountain climbing and pushing her own limits. In her free time she enjoys ice-climbing as well as rock climbing. Her ultimate joy comes from inspiring others to explore their limits and translating lessons learned in mountaineering into advising on team building, goal setting, leadership, and risk management. In 2014, Olya climbed a high peak each month, some of them being Mt. Manaslu, Mt. Ama Dablam, Mont Blanc, Mt. Elbrus etc. She is the first Russian female to summit Aconcagua via Polish Glacier Direct technical route. In the future, Olya thrives to climb for cause and bring awareness to what needs our attention.
Some of her musings are how to start climbing? How to research for expeditions? How to deal with mental preparation? How to train physically and mentally prior to a climb? What is the single best quality identified in both a mountaineer and an entrepreneur that is above all other important qualities?
Olya will talk about thinking even bigger, beyond her own path – with a focus on social entrepreneurship and climbing for cause.
Climbing Mt. Manaslu – a presentation by Kuntal Joisher
Mumbai resident, Kuntal Joisher became the 2nd Indian civilian to summit the world’s eighth highest mountain, Mt. Manaslu, located in Mansiri part of the Nepalese Himalayas. He achieved this feat on October 1st, 2014. The name Manaslu, means “Mountain of the Spirit”, comes from the Sanskrit word Manasa, meaning “intellect” or “soul”. Joisher will take the audience through a trek on the ancient salt–trading route along the steep sided Budhi Gandaki river to Manaslu Base Camp, then the climb to the summit and back.
Kuntal Joisher has a background of high end computer science and engineering as well as top end mountaineering in some of the toughest and tallest mountains of the world. After his MS degree from the US he has had rich experience of managing large teams and has served as a country head for a rapidly growing IT start-up in India. Currently Kuntal is spending time balancing his professional life, with mountaineering which is his true passion. Kuntal has been a member of 2012, and 2013 Himalayan Club sponsored exploratory expeditions in the Uttarakhand Himalayas (first ascent of Basisi Col, and Nakorche peak).
The talk takes place on the 6th of January at The Mysore Association Bombay 393,Bhau Daji Road, Matunga (E) Mumbai, Maharashtra 400019.
You can RSVP for each of the presentations via the links shared above. Mr. Divyesh Muni curates and represents The Himalayan Club, Mumbai. You can get in touch with him at divyesh.muni@gmail.com