Climbing to the top of the world
We've seen it in movies, a staggered line of climbers pushing through a snow covered mountain with massive packs strapped tightly to their back as an ice tipped peak looms above them as they struggle upwards.
It's a breathtaking picture, one that screams of independence, struggle, pain and at the very end, absolute elation. And that elation is what Laura Mallory is hoping to feel this spring when she, along with her parents and two brothers, ascend Mount Everest as a family.
Mallory, a second-year student in Western-Fanshawe Collaborative Nursing program, has already scaled Mount Elbrus in Russia, Europe's tallest mountain; as well as Mount Kilimanjaro in Kenya, which is described as being one of, if not the most, technically difficult mountains to climb in the world.
“When you climb your first mountain, and get to the top, it's a feeling that's just an ultimate high,” Mallory explained, trying to paint a picture of what it feels like to earn one of the most incredible views in the world. “You can see all around you, take in the beauty, it's a peaceful place - you just listen, there aren't many people there with you, and there's just silence. It's an incredible feeling.”
Unassuming and outgoing, Mallory comes across as your run-of-the-mill 20-year-old student - you wouldn't know that this is the young woman who was featured on a recent television show following the “Raid the North Extreme” adventure race she took part in this past summer with her father and a family friend.
“The group (Frontier Adventure Racing Inc.) have seven or eight races a year,” explained Mallory, who was the youngest participant in the race. “This was the longest one of the series and lasted six days. A lot of people came up to me and said that it was awesome that I was doing it, that it was great to see the youth out. It does give you pressure though because you're the youngest and so many people know who you are.”
Their team, Team Adrenaline, finished seventh out of 23 teams competing in the 400km extreme race which included canoeing, hiking and mountain biking through some of the roughest terrain on BC's North Coast.
But competition, for Mallory, is nothing out of the ordinary as she jokes that growing up she felt like she was in constant competition with her siblings. But that competition has given her the drive that has helped her accomplish so much.
“I have two older brothers, and I think for my whole life I've been competing to keep up with them and my father,” Mallory said. “I know I can do a lot because I've tested my body, so I know pretty well what I can do and what I can't. I do put a lot of pressure on myself, I force myself to do a lot of things that most people probably wouldn't because I know I can.”
Her first experience climbing came when she and her father climbed Mount Elbrus together in June 2006, and it was that experience that has drawn her into continuing their climbing adventures. That first climb was also the one that started a ritual for Mallory, as climbers often leave a piece of memorabilia on each summit they've reached - almost as a personal stake on the mountain.
“I forgot something at home to leave at the top of the mountain,” Mallory explained somewhat sheepishly. “So I thought it would be unique, and funny, to leave a pair of my clean underwear. I wrote on it my fathers name, my name, our ages, that we are Canadian and the date that we summated. I also did this on Kilimanjaro, and will be doing it on Everest as well since it's a tradition.”
The Mount Everest climb will cost the team $50,000 per person to climb, which includes an estimated $25,000 climbing permit each climber is required to have from the Nepalese Government. The money is the main reason Mallory is making her adventure known in the hopes that the family will be able to acquire sponsorship for their expedition.
Everest, which measures 8,848m high and is located in Nepal, has claimed an estimated 200 lives since the first recorded ascent in 1953, and the conditions are so harsh on the mountain that most of the bodies have been left behind by the groups, some within clear sight of the climbing paths.
However, the dangers aren't something that Mallory worries about, rather her focus is on the preparation, both mental and physical, for the two-month long odyssey.
“For Everest you need to be in probably the best shape you can be but its not just physical shape, but good mental shape too because it takes two months to climb it,” Mallory explained.
“The way you climb a mountain is that you usually have two packs,” Mallory continued. “So you put one pack on the first day where your camp was and you climb to the second camp and leave that bag there. Then you climb back down to the first camp and spend the night there, before packing all that up and carrying it to the camp you left your stuff at the day before. The next day you climb to the next camp up [the third camp] and leave the bag there, and climb back down again to your second camp.
“So you literally climb the mountain twice, and that's why it takes so long to do.”
Despite her preparation Mallory knows that there is of course still a chance that something may go wrong during the climb, that someone in her party may not return.
“We had someone ask me if I'm afraid to die,” Mallory admitted. “It could very well happen. I've done a lot in my life that if I died tomorrow, yeah it would suck because I obviously have a lot of life left to live, but I've obviously done a lot of things that people haven't done, and won't do in their whole life - so I'm just happy with who I am.”
But Mallory isn't sure whether she could continue climbing if there was an accident to another member of her party during the climb. But one thing she does know is that if she were to lose her father she wouldn't give the sport up until she had completed his goal of climbing the seven summits.
“I think it all depends on what comes out of Everest,” Mallory said. “I think that if something happens on Everest, somebody dies, it will probably change my views on mountain climbing. But at the same time, it may encourage me to climb more and do the seven summits just because that is a goal of my fathers, and if something does happen to him and he doesn't make it back, I know I'll probably push myself to do it for him.
“He's a real big hero of mine actually, he's achieved so much in his life, and if I could be half of who he is that would be incredible.”
And if Mallory reaches Everest's summit, she will become Canada's youngest climber to ever reach the peak, and the second-youngest all-time. But records definitely are not what she'll be thinking about on her way back down.
“I'm not going to lie - two months in a tent, its not very luxurious,” Mallory joked. “Try going two months without a shower; it's probably not going to be the best either. I'm pretty sure that's one of the things I'll be looking forward to the most when I get to the bottom, that and real food - no more powdered meals and beef jerky!”
