Summit Push — Mont Blanc Part 2
Sleep was hard to come by in the evening as I breathed heavily to capture as much oxygen into my lungs. I was still adjusting to altitude. At 3am, the first batch of climbers began leaving the bunks to begin their summit push. I walked into the dining area, meditating, wondering what my push would be like in a few hours. At 7am, I had my breakfast with Giovanni and the other group from my climb —father-son pair, John and Joe. We strapped on our gear and walked out the hut gingerly ready for come what may. Weather conditions were good.
The first section was a gentle slope. We started nice and slow. On the way up, we could see the faster teams from the morning summit teams coming down. One of them shouted us to excuse the vomit up ahead, she felt sick on the way down. It was encouraging to know that people had completed it. I had my chance as well.
The tricky thing about this final 1000m ish push was on the mental part. There was always a tiny voice in my head asking — ‘Are we there yet? How much more?’ Each ‘peak’ I overcame led to another peak and another and another. It looked like there was no end.
The only thing I could do was to immerse myself totally in the climbing experience. I was in my own world so to say. World news became unimportant. The instaglamorous shots I could be taking did not matter. The scenery was meaningless. I was just focused singularly on pushing forward. Concentrating on getting the best footing in the loose snow.
By 9:27am, we had crossed the first rescue hut and the Mont Blanc summit came into view. This gave me renewed confidence and energy. Having a target to aim in brilliant weather was fantastic. I took off my Mont Blanc wrist watch and captured this moment. This was truly special to me as this watch had been a gift from my father when I was 15. Being able to bring this watch here, represented two things — the support of my family was enabling me to surpass the adventures had by my parents, and the beautiful realisation that time is alive and my time is now. The dream was soon becoming reality.
An automatic watch differs from an electronic timepiece in that, it can only continue to operate if and only if the wearer continues to wears it. Energy generated from movement is stored and used to power the watch. So in many ways, these watches represents a personal romance with time. If time stops, life stops. As city people, we often live in the confines of our rooms. We are rooted to our desks typing away. In some ways, we impose cages on ourselves. Being in nature and this vastness was about breaking free. To see Mont Blanc with my Mont Blanc was experiencing freedom.
Anyways, we took a short water break and we continued up the final push.
Things started to get harder and harder. The slope began to be steeper and steeper. Each step requiring more focus and strength than the last. The stress was mounting. At one point, I lost my footing and tumbled down pulling Giovanni along. He cautioned and said we should turn back. I had to defend myself and explain that I had the stamina to continue and that was a minor blip. He gave me the benefit of doubt and we recovered. I had to be even more careful with my step. I could not shake his confidence in me. This was an added weight on my shoulders as I forged forward.
The final bit of the Summit is a gentle slope after a steep 70 degree ish hike. As I stepped onto that gentle section, it felt as though everything was to culminate in this moment. We arrived at the summit at 11:57am. We put down our packs. Took a few photos. Admired the view quickly. And we hurriedly began our descent down.
Glory or whatever it is that one seeks does not exist when one is at the summit. The summit is merely a way point for the mountaineer. Instead of feeling great jubilation and lingering in that moment. The mountaineer continues to move forward. To discount glory for glory’s worth and recognise there is no value in that. It gives us momentum and that is all. We continue onto the next step.
Once again to a city boy. This is quite a foreign concept. Capitalist societies make it such that to get rich is to be glorious. We celebrate achievement based on what heroic feats we conquer. Social class and prestige are linked to titles and the schools we attend. And yet, to the mountain, all this does not matter. It is truly a sobering thought to be humbled by the mountain.
The Chinese have a saying — ‘上山容易下山难’ which translates to ‘it is easy to ascend mountain and difficult to descend’. This was true as I made my descent. Along the way down, I took many more breaks than ascending to catch my breath. Evidenced by these cheeky pictures by Giovanni, you can see me struggling in my rest. On a tougher mountain, I might have suffered some serious injury.
Many climbers give everything they have to make the summit and leave nothing in the tank for the return. Mont Blanc is a technically easy peak so I could get away with this. But on higher altitudes, this is not the case. A study conducted of deaths on Mt Everest between 1921–2006 recorded that most deaths (56%) occur during the descent from the summit.This is a dangerous part of mountaineering as I’ve learnt.
As an aspiring entrepreneur, I also recall the horrible odds for entrepreneurship — 90% of founders fail. There are many reasons for this statistic, but I think chief among them is how entrepreneurs make their companies their entire being and forget that their humanity. When they cannot detach from the entrepreneurship attempt, when they see their venture to be everything there is to their identity then there is no difference from them experiencing summit fever. They spend every resource they have until their venture fails, leaving nothing in the tank. Decimating themselves and those around them.
This summit push really gave me greater insight into myself. It helped me realise how important it is to be able to detach ourselves from important parts of our identity. The most important part of life is to live. Just as we want to live our best life, we also need to be able to live that best life. Just as we know what we want from life and take risks, we also need to be able to take calculated risks with a clear mind of the hazards. A dead or depleted person cannot enjoy the adventure.
And so, we need to be able to detach ourselves at times from our goals, from people and cherished objects when it is time, and self-preservation has to kick in. This tradeoff is painful, but, the wise adventurer is better off making it than losing everything.
We need to be able to see beyond the goal and realise its more important to preserve ourselves at times to ‘enable a second summit push’ and LIVE. It’s fine to fail once or twice or even thrice. It’s alright as long as we have strength to attempt our goal the next time. Eventually we’d get there. By overcoming our weaker self and finding new ways to be better, we’d be paid back.
So, as I continued down in my depleted tank, it felt as though my heart was squeezed by an invisible hand. It was exhausting. The father-son pair from the group were way ahead of me. Giovanni gave me more breaks. I needed it. I gradually began to experience nausea. I desperately felt like puking. Thankfully, I did not have to. Soon, Gouter hut came into view and I was allowed to finally take a long deserved break.
We got to the hut and after packing up the kit, I sat down at the cafe, grabbing drinks with Giovanni and the Father-Son team. It felt heroic. I could finally breathe a sigh of relief. I came I pushed I made it.
As the euphoria evaporated into the air, I looked outside and admired how amazing this mountain was. I wondered with eager anticipation that this is just the beginning of my mountaineering adventure. I have come to respect this venerable teacher in Mont Blanc much more, and as the seasons change, I shall take the lessons here and become tougher.
When the weather window opens. I must go!
Ahead! The mountains are calling!
