Inside the Climber’s Minds
With teams mostly enjoying the comforts and electricity of low villages or base camps, the blogs are full of rich details about their recent acclimatization climbs. As I have said so many times, I deeply appreciate it when a climber takes the time, and sometimes risk, to describe what is happening on the mountain. Not so much for the mountaineering details but for the insight into the human experience of climbing Everest. Thanks to you all. But first some mountaineering status.
Climbers Climbing plus Avalanche Update
News travels quickly on Everest. Teams on both sides are sadden by the avalanche incident and have a heightened awareness of the dangers of high-altitude mountaineering. However, they push on knowing that danger comes with the sport. For teams on the north is has been a difficult few days with the avalanche on the North Col. The missing climber is László Várkonyi is a well known Hungarian climber. I contacted Ang Tshering Sherpa who is the Founder and Chairman of Asian Trekking who provided them with logistical support. He sent me this immediate reply for which we deeply thank him:
Climbers: Ready, Set, Wait
The ladders are in. The ropes are fixed. The Sherpas have already gone up. Now it is time for the climbers to ascend to camp 1. But, as is sometimes the case, they were all dressed up with nowhere to go. Some teams made their foray into the Icefall with a short trip to the first ladders – no gear, just a walk-through. But others wanted to go all the way.
And They’re Off!
Climbers continue to stream into Kathmandu from all around the world. I updated the expedition count and can already identify over 150 named climbers just on the south side and over 50 on the north. But the true number could easily exceed 350 on both sides. To put this in context, in 2009, we saw over 300 summits and sadly, 5 deaths and nearly 500 summits set a single season record in 2007.
Interview with Lei Wang: 7+2 is her Dream
Lei Wang may be about to accomplish something by her calculations only nine other people have done thus far: stand on top of the 7 Summits and ski the last degree to north and south poles – assuming she summits Everest about 3 months from now. Growing up in China, Lei spent her weekends catching fish and shrimp but not thinking of climbing mountains and adventure. Her dream was to be a doctor, a scientist or maybe a writer. Her parents never considered her hidden passion for exploration. But all that changed when she stood on top of Kilimanjaro. Something spoke to her and she went on to climb five more of the seven summits and ski to both poles. When she discovered that no Chinese woman had climbed the 7 Summits, her resolve was set. She attended Beijing’s Tsinghua University graduating with a degree in computer science and then moved to the US in 1995 to attend UNC-Chapel Hill. After a few years in the workplace, she returned to school and graduated from Wharton Business School with her MBA. But at this junction in life, she choose climbing and adventure over the traditional post-MBA route. Lei said of her decision: “Pursuing a dream, even if I may fail, is better than not trying at all. Life only becomes full of life when you live it with passion. How do you have passion without a dream?” Lei is a small woman, 5 ‘2″ 120lbs so carrying a 60lb pack proved to be a challenge. She trained hard and added marathons to her regime. This taught her mental toughness as well as improved her endurance. Her learning curve to Everest has not been easy. It took three climbs to reach the summit of Aconcagua. She was turned back by weather on Denali only to summit finally in the midst of a whiteout. She tore the MCL/LCL in her left knee while training on Mount Adams. And she learned valuable lessons on Carstensz Pyramid and in Antarctica On Carstensz: … keeping yourself focused and disciplined when you repeat the process so many times, that your mind tends to wander – risking a fall, especially when you’re tired and want to get down quickly. A good climber needs to keep their cool in all situations, be disciplined to follow the proper procedures and stay alert and focused all times, especially after a long day. In Antarctica: To adapt to life in Antarctica, you have to stay warm. You have to carefully manage the layers so you don’t sweat too much while moving, yet cover up every inch of your skin to avoid frost bite. In spite of all these lessons and courage, Lei Wang has yet to confront one of her biggest challenges – inform her parents she is climbing Mt. Everest a month from now. Lei took a moment to share her story and dreams with me. Q: As a child in China, were you ever exposed to mountaineering? No. Athletic activities belong to Olympic elites in normal people’s mind, and mountaineering is a completely foreign subject to a bookworm who grew up in city. Everest was as far as the moon. Q: You came to US and received your MBA from prestigious Wharton University. Why did you start climbing instead of working on your career? I saw a glacier mountain for the first time in my life when I signed up a trip to Cotopaxi (Ecuador) out of curiosity. It was part of school’s leadership and teamwork training program. Though I took it with a tourist’s mentality and didn’t give too much thought after the trip, it was the starting point of my future adventure. In later years, after watching some documentary movies and reading books about mountaineering, I found my heart totally captured by those adventures. Nothing has ever drawn me so strongly in my past life, so I just followed the call. Q: The movie, Touching The Void frightens most people away from mountaineering. Why did it inspire you? When I was watching that movie, I was feeling more admiration than fear. Such heroic behavior was superhuman to me and unknown, but I admire it. So I started to wonder if I, a normal person, can do something challenging. That’s how I decided on Everest. Not only do I want to see how far I can push myself, I also want to be able to show others that anyone can do this with proper training and vision. There was something more to life than just toiling away. Living a life of boredom is just as bad as living a life in fear. Q: Lei, please tell us what the Chinese saying “you zhi zhe shi jing cheng” means and why it is important to you. It translates to “one with determination will achieve his/her goal”. This is a very commonly used motto when we were growing up in China. Parents and teachers always encourage kids with this saying to set a higher goal for life and go for it. So it’s in my blood. Of course, later on, with more experience, I also learned about the balance between making smart decisions and being determined. Q: You had a low blood oxygen saturation on Aconcagua, does that concern you given Everest is another 6000’ higher? Yes, this is a concern for me. I think more time in acclimatization process would help. Q: Pulling tires seems to be popular training technique these days. Tell us why you pull tires in your training program. I adopted this training technique when I was training to ski to the poles, where you would be pulling a sled of 100+ lbs every day. It was the closest form one can simulate the motion in normal setting. It builds endurance in legs and in core muscles. My personal trainer, David Memont of MyStrengthDiscovery, highly recommends me mimicking the movements that I’m going use in my expeditions as much as possible. Focus on functional training as opposed to just