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as in the carol, the snow lay deep and crisp and even.
the sun shone brightly.
and the sky was the brightest blue.
nepal blue.
and i was in my happy place, climbing up a hill.
the altitude was making it hard to breathe.
we approached the summit at 6119 metres, which made mount lobuche taller than any peak in europe or africa, but here it rubbed shoulders with its taller brothers and sisters, providing us with stunning mountain views, and great training for the main event.
everest 2014.
carly portalupi, as she was then had been on the rope behind me every step of the way, patiently waiting for me to make the summit, i knew she had more gas and was probably only in second gear.
she was a part of the film crew that were climbing with my himex team, following army veteran, and amputee, charlie linville.
i breathed deeply, both hands on my knees after i had unclipped from the safety rope.
made it, i thought.
carly portalupi unclipped and gambolled off like a spring lamb, full of vim and energy.
i knew.
the collapse of a two storey tall ice cerac that killed sixteen sherpa whilst we slept in our tents on the summit that night, was the most terrifying news to wake up to the next morning, and the expedition was called off, out of respect for our fallen brothers.
we trekked back to lukla, disappointed to have our dreams taken away, but grateful to still have our lives, and we talked a lot about the lives of the sherpa.
the himex team bonded a lot through this adversity, and we had a couple of nights of revelry along the trek where memories were made, and friendships grew.
as i have mentioned in a previous blog, carly, who lived in l.a. lent me her yellow jeep when i did a three day visit to recce tim medvetz’s heroes project, the inspo for our recent bigmoose spin bike event.
carly is a goodun.
we have stayed friends, and followed each others lives.
last year she messaged me saying was going to climb mount denali in alaska.
i knew.
the tallest mountain in north america, and the coldest mountain on earth, i climbed it in 2012, not summiting it, but falling in love with alaska, and carly and i chatted about her imminent climb.
she summited.
i knew.
this week she messaged asking if i had climbed carstensz pyramid, another of the highest peaks on it’s continent.
i knew.
she was aiming to climb the seven summits, the highest mountains on the seven continents, a very popular activity in the climbing world, and i loved the idea.
we scheduled a zoom call, and discussed the how and the why, and i am so excited to follow her journey.
carly sorensen as she is now, is going to become a rockstar, and you heard it here first, her why is incredible, and i’m here for it.
watch this space.
in other news, this week i did two things.
i bought a fridge magnet.
and the other needs some context.
last year i did a talk online for a group of ceo’s and the meeting was chaired by general sir peter wall, who was the professional head of the british army, a revered strategist, who now operates https://www.amicuslimited.com/ a business focused on getting the best out of people, and i love their core values.
last night i attended a networking event, and met sir peter face to face, and asked him if he would mentor me.
i took the risk.
he said yes.
have a great week, take a risk.
blue skies,
jeff
c
