Harder than Winning Gold at the Olympics?

While we congratulate all the well deserving athletes for their win at the Olympics, there is an extreme sport that some believe is even harder. The challenge of the conquest of the highest mountain peaks in the world.

Now don’t race away in disgust, just stay for a few minutes longer. You may learn something interesting. 

I weep tears of empathy when I see athletes commit to their utmost. After years of hard self-imposed discipline and self-denial, pain and perseverance, the athletes and viewers alike, find it nothing short of a tragedy to be pipped-at-the-post by a thousandth of a second. These hard working athletes deserve all the accolades they get.

However, some say to try and conquer one of the world’s highest mountains is an even more demanding extreme sport. Once an athlete is standing on the podium, it is just a short jump down, to the post-Olympics parties with other athletes and friends.

Not so for the mountain climber. Once the climber has reached the summit the job is only half done?

Once the level of oxygen drops, the body system compensates. All climbers must go through this process if they want survive the long struggle to get to the top. It is known as altitude acclimatization. The heart rate increases, extra red blood cells are produced and non-essential body functions temporarily shut down. Breathing becomes deeper and more often. Food digestion efficiency decreases.

Altitude acclimatization can take up to a period of days or even weeks. Climbers by the dozen are forced to gather together for a period of up to two months, at the base camp on Mt. Everest, 16,000 feet above sea level. Anxiously they wait for their turn to begin their ascent. The results of not stopping to acclimatize are disastrous and deadly.

In the Death Zone, which is anything above 22,950 feet, the human body can no longer acclimatize. Above 24,600 feet sleeping becomes difficult and digesting food nearly impossible. An extended stay results in deterioration of body functions, loss of consciousness and ultimately death. The longest ever recorded stay on the top of Mt Everest was just over 21 hours. However, most climbers only stay for around twenty minutes. There are no millions watching and applauding them. It is a very solo achievement and experience. Even other climbers pay little attention. Their entire focus on simply surviving.

Once the long awaited and hard-worked-for goal has been achieved, there is no simple ‘step off the mountain and get out of here’. No helicopter slips by and picks up the worn out athlete.  No easy slide to the bottom if the climber wants to stay alive. Every extreme step to the ascent must now be painfully repeated on the long descent home.

Even if someone is injured or hurt, there can be no rescue mission. Other climbers are often unable to help their fellow climbers. Mountaineering has to be the ultimate experience in self-reliance, as icy mountain and determined man meet in a head on collision of wills.

Sir Edmond Hillary and Peter Tenzing  were the first to conquer Mt. Everest in May 1952.   Many had tried before them. To the British Empire, it was the crowning glory, as Queen Elizabeth II ascended the throne.

In 1966, 84 climbers reached the summit, but 12 people died. This was the worst year-to-date in the mountain’s history. Sadly, since then all records continue to be broken.

A 76 year old Nepalese has topped the record for the oldest climber, after 71 year old Japanese climbed in 2007. The Nepalese man says he may just do it once more. More than 3500 Nepalese have ascended the mountain, as guides to the climbers who pay a sum of up to $US50 thousand, for the opportunity of trying to conquer the world’s highest mountain. The government of Nepal is charging $US25 thousand to each climber who would reach out and accept the icy challenge.

Sherpa guides climb without support from the oxygen. Appa Sherpa has climbed Everest 11 times, while Ang Rita Sherpa and Babi Chiri Sherpa have both climbed 10 times. 

At the Olympics no competitor has to worry about the rubbish they create. Throw it in a bin and walk away. Not on the mountain. Every expedition is responsible to have its litter removed, particularly empty oxygen tanks.

The local Sherpa people consider Mt Everest a jealous goddess, strictly punishing illicit sex performed on her icy slopes. She is, however, not the only mountain to act cruelly towards its conquerors. She has a far more dangerous sister known as K2.

Recently 11 lives were lost on K2’s deceptive slopes, in the worst incident since 13 climbers died over a two-week span in 1986. K2 has been nicknamed, ‘The mountain that invites death’.

Blame is once more being cited as lack of preparation, wrong choices and lack of experience.  The same things were said of the 1986 expedition that also ended in disaster.

From extreme adventure sports to Olympic platform, there will always be those for whom the impossible has a particular attraction. They are not experts, but they have higher ambitions than most other people. These men and women have four things in common:

1.   driving ambition

2.   faith in themselves

3.   great determination

4.   and endurance.

They are not afraid to dream big dreams. These people are driven to the top through planning, patience and perseverance and an undying determination to never give up. Like these elite athletes and mountaineers you too can dream big dreams through a blue moon opportunity.