The tallest peak I have ever conquered is Mt.Kinabalu at 4,095 metres above sea level. Mount Kinabalu would be considered simple and easy for most of us, because there’s no rock climbing skills needed, no mountaineering skills needed, and no special equipment needed. But I still have fond memories of the long suffering, well, not exactly suffering, more like the weary and tired feeling, other than that was the altitude sickness that had my head pounding!
However, the long suffering and altitude sickness will not hold me back to climb the tallest mountain in the world- Mount Everest. Mount Everest, as we all know, is the tallest mountain in the world. It is 8850 meters tall (which is 4916.6 times taller than me and more than twice the height of Mount Kinabalu). Mount Everest is formed about 60 million years ago (its 3,529,411.76 older than me). In 1998, 15 out of 98 climbers died having a ration of 6.5:1 and records shows that the highest cause of deaths is avalanches.
All these death records and fatal injuries are somehow the ones that drives me to climb the 71-day hike to the peak of Mt. Everest because it shows how tough it is and how great the achievement would be in my life and the lives of my close ones. To conquer the tallest peak in the world would definitely be the biggest motivation to achieve the best in life. It’s like challenging the hardest challenge. For it to be called the goddess of the sky in Nepal and the mother goddess of the universe in Tibet, it must be something.
Prior to the climb up the tallest mountain in the world, intensive training would definitely be required, first starting with foundation, then aerobic/strength and finally peaking. After all those, then comes mental training, climbing the tallest mountain in the world is not only all about physical fitness but about mental strength as well. Other than that would be learning to rock climb, and then ice climb and finally mountaineering. Some say that climbing mountains in the best way to train to climb Mt. Everest. Well, I might go on Mt. Cook, Mt. Kilimanjaro and such before scaling the tallest mountain.
I never tried snowboarding, but it certainly looks like fun. Anyways, in spring of 2001, two climbers snowboarded Everest! Stefan Gatt was the first on May 22,2001 without the help of oxygen and Sherpa support followed by Marco Siffredi on May 23, 2001. Marco Siffredi was the first to snowboard down from the Summit of Everest to ABC. However, Marco attempted it again in Autumn 2002 to snowboard down the Hornbein Couloirs of Everest. He was last seen descending from the top on his snowboard, but was never seen again. Anyways, I was just thinking, maybe I should give it a go. :)
“One could argue that most die because they push too far these days, but certainly not all die for that reason. Mountaineering, especially at altitude, is a very high risk sport. This is a very high risk sport where people die every year” www.everestnews.com
Yes, it’s a very dangerous thing to do, and its not that I don’t value my life, I just want to challenge the greatest challenge- the £30,000, 71-day and life threatening hike up the tallest mountain in the world, Mount Everest.
PS: Stay tuned, I’ll set up a blog/website when I begin my training for Everest
