Page 9 - AMA Summer 2024

further accountability for ourselves to complete the mission: more people we couldn’t let down.
As well as the physical preparation and financial means, sourcing the right kit was a challenge. Simply put, much of it didn’t exist. My existing prosthetics weighed 10kg combined but were too bulky and inefficient for the terrain. We were going to have to develop prototype prosthetics to use in some of the most extreme environments on Earth. In the end, my friends at an American company pulled through. It was a lesson in building close connections.
The attempt didn’t start well. At the mercy of the weather, we were delayed 19 days at Base Camp before a clear enough window gave us a shot. One of the biggest risk factors was the time the summit ascent would take. I’m three times slower over the ground than normal people because my gait is so short, and as any climber knows, the more time you spend on the mountain, the greater the risk. We devised a plan to set up two extra camps should we need them.
The route we chose was via the South Col from Nepal, weaving through the Khumbu Ice Fall to the Western Cwm, before heading up Lhotse Face, an imposing ice wall. On the way we passed mountaineers recovering two bodies from the mountain. A reminder of the fragility of life. We trekked across the Yellow Band and the Geneva Spur to the site of Camp IV, from where we made the final push for the summit via the Balcony, South Summit and the famous Hillary Step.
The round trip to the summit and back to Camp IV took over 25 hours, a third longer than it takes a typical climber. And everything froze, even the hot water in the Thermos. It was only made possible by a world class team of Nepalese climbers, who I have come to call my friends, including the expedition leader, Krish Thapa. Krish served as the SAS’s Mountain Troop Leader during a 24-year British Forces career. Of his many adventures, he was once leading an expedition of Special Forces and Gurkha’s up Everest in 2017 when a 7.8 magnitude earthquake hit Nepal.
Reaching the summit of Mount Everest at around 3.10pm on the 19th May 2023 was poignant because it was 70 years to the month since Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay became the first people to stand
The round trip to the summit and back to Camp IV took over 25 hours, a third longer than it takes a typical climber.
The build up to Everest (Credit: Abiral Rai)
atop the world’s highest peak. “We did it!” were the only few words I could muster given my exhaustion. I’d love to regale you with the views from the summit, but my face mask had all but frozen over.
That was not the end. It would have been dangerous to stay atop the mountain for long and upon starting the descent there was the realisation that our oxygen stores were low. I was bumping down on my bum from the South Summit all the way to the bottom wall of Balcony and we had 45 minutes of oxygen left, but still up to three hours to get down. Thankfully, a guy was able to bring up two bottles from Camp IV to sustain us.
The reality had been harder than I imagined. We just had to carry on and push for the top. It was the British Army doctrine of momentum. It is not about how fast or slow we are moving, but that we just keep going. The other guiding principle was adaptation. Our whole lives are about adapting, but we rarely give it much thought. Putting on a warm coat or a rain jacket to face the elements. We do it all the time, but don’t realise it, yet it’s a powerful tool. Adapt and anything is possible. And then we had to dream. If the Wright Brothers hadn’t dreamt of flying, would it have happened? Had Tenzing and Hillary not dreamt of climbing Everest, might we still be waiting?
The feat should shortly appear in the Guinness World Records after they accepted our application and we submitted the evidence. More importantly, it highlights the importance of pushing the boundaries and proof that there are no limits to human determination.
What’s next? The climbing will continue and the four remaining peaks of the Seven Summits, the highest mountains on every continent in the world, are our target. With three already achieved, I plan to head to Denali (Alaska) and Aconcagua (Argentina) this year to tick off North and South America and in 2025 it will be Puncak Jaya (Indonesia) for Oceania and then Mount Vinson, Antarctica.
The message will remain unchanged. There are about 1.3 billion people with a disability in this world and we shouldn’t be hidden away, we have a vital contribution to make. Attitudes won’t change overnight and it may take generations, but I will spend the rest of my life trying to drive awareness, through sport, charities, business and, yes, more climbing.
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