My Adventure: by Paul Pottinger
I was so happy to meet Dale during our recent cruise in Antarctica. He’s asked me to share a bit about my journey to climb the highest peak on each continent –the “Seven Summits.” I started pursuing this quest in 2010, and completed it in 2017. What was that like, chasing such a big, difficult, expensive, hazardous, useless, goal? Well… please listen to our conversation on this podcast! But, in summary, it was… it was everything: All-consuming, wildly inconvenient, tough for my family, a problem for my work… a royal pain in so many ways.
And… it was raw, real, painful, indescribably beautiful, profane, hilarious… and vivid. So very vivid. Razor-sharp and bold and clear. Not always uplifting, not always positive, but always clear. I’ve made some of my closest friends in the mountains, shared challenging times, laughed so hard I almost passed out… and encountered the best in people. For example, during our 2015 Everest expedition, when we were halfway up the mountain at Camp 2, we were hit by an earthquake that triggered a series of avalanches—and killed 20 people at Base Camp. Losing our colleagues was horrifying and brutal, and everyone was shaken to the core. Why do we do this? We resolved to return, and summitted successfully the following year, but I’m still trying to answer that question. It’s been almost ten years since completion, and I’m still processing what this all means. In fact, my friend Kim Hess and I are writing about this in our memoir, Shadow of Our Dreams: Climbing Everest Two Steps at a Time.
Advice to Others:
If you’re reading this, then you may be a mountaineer, or perhaps just mountain-curious. Maybe you’re at the beginning of your journey… or wondering, “If he can do it, maybe I can too.” If you’re thinking about this, please consider three nuggets of wisdom from this grizzled veteran:
Pay Your Dues: Train, train, and then train some more. Learn the skills. Build your body, and your confidence. These are very tall mountains, and they demand preparation—more than you have devoted to any athletic quest.
Pay Your Way: Mountaineering is usually a dirtbag’s pursuit, and that is part of its beauty: Anyone can do it, and it does not matter what you look like or sound like or smell like… But, the Seven are different: Bigger, farther, taller, harder. You should hire the best expert guides you can—even if they are expensive. Please take no shortcuts with personal safety and guidance.
Pay Respect: Acknowledge that you are not doing this alone, and that guides are putting themselves at risk to support your dream. And, respect those who have come before you and remain forever on the mountain. Climbers far stronger than you will never go home, because of a lapse of judgement or simply bad luck. By learning from their experiences you are respecting them—do this for their memory, and most of all do it for yourself.
