VIEW FROM THE TOP
‘UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL, EVEREST WAS UTTERLY MAJESTIC, MAGICAL AND SMOKING HOT, WITH A CROWN OF CLOUDS CIRCLING HER PEAK’
IT’S the pinnacle of human achievement. For all committed adventurers, climbing Mount Everest is one of those ultimate bucket-list goals but what is it like to actually reach the top of the world’s highest mountain? How much does it cost to embark on the expedition and how fit do you have to be?
Saray Khumalo can tell you. In 2019, after three failed attempts, including one which resulted in her losing the tips of three fingers to frostbite, the Zambia-born adventure junkie, who lives in South Africa, became the first black African woman to reach the summit of the Everest.
In this extract from her new memoir, Saray explains exactly what it takes to get to the top.
TEAMWORK
When you climb, you are dependent on the people who are in your team, so when you all meet for the first time, you really check each other out. What seems like social interaction and polite chitchat is much more than that.
On my first attempt in 2014 [which she mounted with South Africa’s Sibusiso Vilane, the first black man to summit Everest, in 2003], our expedition was made up of people of all ages and nationalities.
At our first meeting in Nepal I was aware my teammates were all interviewing me as much as I was interviewing them. The questions on everyone’s lips were: “Where are you from?” “Have you been to Nepal before?” “What have you climbed?”
