The view from the top of Mount Everest is breathtaking but to get there takes your breath in other ways. To get to the summit usually takes years of training, months of planning and 60 gruelling days of climbing up almost 9,000 metres in progressively decreasing oxygen levels.
The weather is often brutal and the terrain is unforgiving. The world's tallest peak has claimed many lives but that does nothing to deter hundreds of other dedicated mountaineers who try to take the trek of their lifetimes each year.
For world-renowned mountaineer Mark Inglis, the experience required more than willpower. It needed duct tape. A fixed line anchor failed while he was more than half way up in 2006 and he fell hard, breaking one of his carbon fibre prosthetic legs. The practical Band-Aid solution kept him going until a replacement was brought up from base camp, enabling him to become the world's first and only double amputee to reach the top of the world.
Inglis said that he didn't do it for either glory or acclaim. He didn't utter the same famous words, “Because it's there” like the ill-fated George Mallory who perished a few hundred metres from the point in 1924. He said it was just another mountain to scratch off of his list.
“It's not too hard a question for a Kiwi,” he began, referring to his fellow countryman Sir Edmund Hillary who was the first person to summit Everest. “For every New Zealand mountaineer, it's just to tick it off the box. It's not the hardest mountain in the world. It's a bit like a NASCAR driver — you gotta do the Indy 500, and then you go on from there.”
“I started climbing when I was 11 years old. The main reason was that I really sucked at rugby. If you can't play rugby in New Zealand, well…” he laughed.
He tours the world to give motivational speeches like this one in Edmonton. The central themes of his presentations are passion and attitude. Overcoming adversity is the great challenge of most, if not all, people's lives. His life experience lends him a pretty unique perspective.
“Everest is about focus; it's about determination. You're just feeling sick the whole time. Altitude is like having the world's worst hangover. You'll be feeling nauseous. You'll have nosebleeds. You'll have headaches. It's how you manage that and it's whether or not you're tough enough … to make sure you succeed. Being a double amputee, it's probably three times harder on the body to climb than a fully-abled person. You have to work three times harder because you can't climb any slower. If you expect someone to give you a hand up then you shouldn't be there.”
Of the people in his expedition, he had the second fastest time to reach the summit. His first thought when he finally had nowhere to go but down: “The last 50 metres are so incredibly hard then all of a sudden there's no step. The first thing that hits you is this wave of relief. ‘You made it! Fantastic!' And then straight after there's a bigger wave of fear because you realize that you're only halfway.”
He is in town this week to make an appearance and presentation in support of a local charity called Hands Across Africa. Co-founded in 2004 by Catherine Jones and Quentin Ranson, the organization strives to create humanitarian adventures involving joint travel expeditions and community involvement. Four years ago a group of 20 members raised approximately $100,000 to hike up Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania and give the money to two good causes: Amani Children's Home and the Orphanage for the Needy and Disadvantaged.
Firmly committed to continued support, the members are now gearing up for another campaign. This time, two Edmontonians will be riding their motorcycles all the way back to Kilimanjaro only to join an expedition group of about 18 people ready to climb up the world's highest freestanding mountain. The Ride for Africa project starts in the spring with the climb planned for July. A subsequent trip back to the site to take part in a community work project is being scheduled for fall 2011.
While that is still some time away, Jones is clearly thrilled about the upcoming speaking engagement. “(Mark's) appearance is huge. It means a lot to us. More than that, it's to have people have the opportunity to hear his inspiring story.”
She ended by stating that the group really appreciates the public helping to bring attention to their cause.
“Because we've been over there and worked in these places, we're not just in and out. We're committed.”
All of the funds raised go to the two projects with members paying for their own travel and other expenses.
Mark Inglis Presentation
7 p.m., Thurs., Feb. 25<br />Royal Alberta Museum<br />12845 102 Ave., Edmonton<br />Tickets are $25 each and can be purchased by calling Catherine at 780-340-7647.<br />Visit www.handsacrossafrica.org or www.rideforafrica.org for more information.
