I have one year to go until I set foot on Mount Everest once more. I remember in 2013 heading down below the death zone at 7,500 metres and thinking – never again! The journey was so tough, physically and mentally with twists and turns at any given time. I was completely exhausted on my return and was more than happy to plan polar expeditions rather than focus on heading into altitude at that level again.
What ever journey I set out to do I need a reason to explore – if I am going to put myself into situations of stress then the reason needs to be solid. Mount Everest hasn’t really got any technical climbing routes on it so it allows for people like myself, who are not professional mountaineers to attempt it.
Polar exploration is my passion and where I feel comfortable – which means that I like skiing at sea level where the oxygen is pure – I feel uneasy on high mountains like I’m not really in control.
In 1953 the Everest summit route had been established by people such as Tenzing Norway and Sir Edmund Hillary. At that time high altitude climbing appealed only to a certain breed of person. However, due to the pioneers of the late seventies, early eighties a system was developed to allow people like myself to attempt mountains such as Everest. Continue reading “A reason to climb”
