Young mountaineer responding to treatment

Arjun Vajpai, India's youngest mountaineer who fell ill during an expedition to Mount Cho Oyu and Mount Shishamangma, is responding to medication at a super speciality hospital in Kathmandu and is likely to return to New Delhi later in the day.

"Arjun is much better now but has been advised medication and rest. He is responding very positively to the medication. Arjun will be coming back to New Delhi on May 10. Thank you so much for all your prayers and well wishes," Priya Vajpai, mother of the 16-year-old who became the youngest Indian to conquer Mount Everest in May 2010, told rediff.com over telephone from Kathmandu.

"After hearing his account on the problems faced by him, I can only thank God and all his well wishers for being at his side," she said, adding, "Even though the expedition was unsuccessful, Arjun is not returning home disheartened but with a feeling of fulfilment and humbleness towards nature."

"Arjun has shown high degree of mental toughness and balance of mind in the whole process of saving his life and coming to terms with nature. He believes that a good mountaineer is one who is able to return back safely from the heights. As they say mountains are always there, as its not the mountains that one conquers but oneself," Vajpai said.

Due to the heavy snowfall on two consecutive days in the region, Arjun had lost sensation in the left part of his body.

Heavy snowfall in the upper reaches of the Himalayas has forced various mountaineering expeditions to be shelved temporarily. Many climbers have returned to their respective base camps and are waiting for the weather to improve.