My trip to the top of Everest
Discussion
Went slightly off topic on another thread, but some interest was shown in me starting a thread about my 'journey' for want of a better word, that ended with me at the top of Everest.
As you can imagine, I've got a hell of a lot of photos and videos of the whole thing, happy to share as many or few of them for anyone interested.
To kick off, a very quick rundown on how this happened:
Friend tells me to watch "Everest Beyond the Limit" TV series on discovery channel, because it's very cool.
I get hooked, watch every season. One night, drunk at 2am, I email the company that documentary follows saying something along the lines of "I've never done climbing, I'm a keen skier, what would the many many steps be if someone like me actually wanted to climb Everest?"
Woke up with hangover, thought was a silly billy emailing them at all.
Few days later, the owner of the company (same guy on the TV show) emails back thanking me for the interest, and says he's in London in a few weeks if I wanted to meet to talk it through.
Went for a few pints with him, he said step one if I was actually keen is to go for a week's ice climbing skills course in Chamonix to see if I have any real interest in that sort of thing.
Did that, like it. Next step? Get training and sign up to climb Mont Blanc.
Did that, to my surprise. Next step? Keep training, and sign up to climb the Eiger and the Matterhorn in an intensive 2 day attempt.
Did that, again to my surprise!! Next step? Keep up the fitness training and sign up to climb Manaslu, 8th highest in the world out in Nepal and experience what high altitude climbing is like, working with Sherpas, camping high up etc.
To my surprise, did that as well! So, what's next? Well, you're ready for Everest!
Signed up to that, and fast forward a bit, March 2018 headed off......May 17th 2018 I was sitting on the summit of Everest in glorious sunshine, still not quite believing that in the space of about 2 years I'd gone from having only climbed stairs and ladders to climbing the highest mountain in the world.
So, in a very very short summary, that's the whirlwind that got me to the top.
Now, no idea if anyone has any interest in more details etc, so I'll see how this thread goes.
In terms of photos, I documented everything from sitting in the airport heading to Chamonix for that first week all the way to sitting on top of Everest, so I'll see what if anything anyone would be interested in seeing.
Of course, the thread is probably very uninteresting without the money shot:
As you can imagine, I've got a hell of a lot of photos and videos of the whole thing, happy to share as many or few of them for anyone interested.
To kick off, a very quick rundown on how this happened:
Friend tells me to watch "Everest Beyond the Limit" TV series on discovery channel, because it's very cool.
I get hooked, watch every season. One night, drunk at 2am, I email the company that documentary follows saying something along the lines of "I've never done climbing, I'm a keen skier, what would the many many steps be if someone like me actually wanted to climb Everest?"
Woke up with hangover, thought was a silly billy emailing them at all.
Few days later, the owner of the company (same guy on the TV show) emails back thanking me for the interest, and says he's in London in a few weeks if I wanted to meet to talk it through.
Went for a few pints with him, he said step one if I was actually keen is to go for a week's ice climbing skills course in Chamonix to see if I have any real interest in that sort of thing.
Did that, like it. Next step? Get training and sign up to climb Mont Blanc.
Did that, to my surprise. Next step? Keep training, and sign up to climb the Eiger and the Matterhorn in an intensive 2 day attempt.
Did that, again to my surprise!! Next step? Keep up the fitness training and sign up to climb Manaslu, 8th highest in the world out in Nepal and experience what high altitude climbing is like, working with Sherpas, camping high up etc.
To my surprise, did that as well! So, what's next? Well, you're ready for Everest!
Signed up to that, and fast forward a bit, March 2018 headed off......May 17th 2018 I was sitting on the summit of Everest in glorious sunshine, still not quite believing that in the space of about 2 years I'd gone from having only climbed stairs and ladders to climbing the highest mountain in the world.
So, in a very very short summary, that's the whirlwind that got me to the top.
Now, no idea if anyone has any interest in more details etc, so I'll see how this thread goes.
In terms of photos, I documented everything from sitting in the airport heading to Chamonix for that first week all the way to sitting on top of Everest, so I'll see what if anything anyone would be interested in seeing.
Of course, the thread is probably very uninteresting without the money shot:
Amazing picture and I would definitely like to see more, great idea for a thread.
Whilst climbing Everest did you have any moments where you thought this is a bad idea? And how was it/did you feel when you seen the various people who succumbed to the mountain and were left there forever, like did that spur you on to complete the mission?
Whilst climbing Everest did you have any moments where you thought this is a bad idea? And how was it/did you feel when you seen the various people who succumbed to the mountain and were left there forever, like did that spur you on to complete the mission?
and... bookmarked!
where is the 'this thread is worthless without pics' emoji?!
Seriously though, this sounds awesome and would love to see any and all photos. Also;
How long did the climb take?
How did you find climbing in high altitudes?
How was the weather?
Did you get on with the rest of the group?
How did you find climbing past those who didnt make it or have most the bodies on the main trail been removed now?
where is the 'this thread is worthless without pics' emoji?!
Seriously though, this sounds awesome and would love to see any and all photos. Also;
How long did the climb take?
How did you find climbing in high altitudes?
How was the weather?
Did you get on with the rest of the group?
How did you find climbing past those who didnt make it or have most the bodies on the main trail been removed now?
NicheMonkey said:
Amazing picture and I would definitely like to see more, great idea for a thread.
Whilst climbing Everest did you have any moments where you thought this is a bad idea? And how was it/did you feel when you seen the various people who succumbed to the mountain and were left there forever, like did that spur you on to complete the mission?
It sounds so weird, but because we were so lucky with the weather, we had a small team, and generally in such good shape, I was almost disappointed not to have moments where I was wondering if we should keep going. Whilst climbing Everest did you have any moments where you thought this is a bad idea? And how was it/did you feel when you seen the various people who succumbed to the mountain and were left there forever, like did that spur you on to complete the mission?
That said, the one other climbing 'client' who was with me, did the whole trip, no problems, until the last day (summit day) - we left camp 4 on the 10 hour or so trip to the top.....his head lamp got further away from us from the moment we left camp. Radio back to him and he decided to head back to the tents and stop. He just knew he was shattered from our camp 3 to camp 4 journey with only a few hours rest, and he knew he'd be in mega trouble further up. All that effort time and money to turn yourself around at the last moment.
At that point I looked at my guide and just thought "of COURSE people like me/us don't get to the top of Everest, and THIS is where it all falls apart, right?"
He just gave me a fist pump, told me to get my head in the game and let's go.....and on we went, successfully.
(I promise more photos coming when I get a bit of time to sort them into some sort of 'story timeline')
That's amazing. I'd have thought it would have been a lifelong training thing - 2 years seems like a fantastic achievement. I can't imagine anyone has ever done it in less than that? Surprised to see no oxygen mask - I always thought it was almost like having surgery going up there, with life support and all sorts.
Was it scary? Did you have any moments where you thought "I shouldn't have done this"? ETA I see you've answered this already...
Was it scary? Did you have any moments where you thought "I shouldn't have done this"? ETA I see you've answered this already...
AWRacing said:
and... bookmarked!
where is the 'this thread is worthless without pics' emoji?!
Seriously though, this sounds awesome and would love to see any and all photos. Also;
How long did the climb take?
How did you find climbing in high altitudes?
How was the weather?
Did you get on with the rest of the group?
How did you find climbing past those who didnt make it or have most the bodies on the main trail been removed now?
The whole trip was late March to early June. Basecamp trek maybe 8-10 days, can't quite remember. where is the 'this thread is worthless without pics' emoji?!
Seriously though, this sounds awesome and would love to see any and all photos. Also;
How long did the climb take?
How did you find climbing in high altitudes?
How was the weather?
Did you get on with the rest of the group?
How did you find climbing past those who didnt make it or have most the bodies on the main trail been removed now?
Once we'd done a lot of up and down to various heights to let our bodies get ready, it was about 7 days from basecamp to top then back to basecamp.
High altitude climbing is slow, and at first it takes some times for your brain to accept that it's going to take you 10 mins to walk 30 metres when all of your life that takes seconds.
Weather was best it had been in many many years that year, luckily.
Rest of the group was me, one other climber and our American guide for the most part. We got on amazingly which was very fortunate. When you turn up, it could be anyone!
Only saw one dead body on the way down from the summit.....by that time couldn't care less, very tired but elated. Quick glance, sad for them, but that isn't going to be me!
SteveStrange said:
That's amazing. I'd have thought it would have been a lifelong training thing - 2 years seems like a fantastic achievement. I can't imagine anyone has ever done it in less than that? Surprised to see no oxygen mask - I always thought it was almost like having surgery going up there, with life support and all sorts.
Was it scary? Did you have any moments where you thought "I shouldn't have done this"? ETA I see you've answered this already...
Yeah it does surprise most people and myself that I went from zero to what I achieved in such a short period of time. Was it scary? Did you have any moments where you thought "I shouldn't have done this"? ETA I see you've answered this already...
We were on oxygen most of the time from camp 2 on the summit push, but you could last some time at the top without it on, it wasn't like being in space.
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