We offer heartiest congratulations to all the athletes who have won gold at the Olympics. Well done. They made the absolute most of their once in a lifetime Blue Moon Opportunities. They took up the challenge and succeeded.
However, the recent tragedy on K2, the second highest mountain in the world, highlights the ultimate in extreme adventure sports. Climbing to the roof of the world, some say is a harder challenge even than winning gold at the Olympics.
Not only is mountaineering life-threatening, it is a very solo act. No leaping up onto a podium to receive a medal in front of millions of views. There are no accolades from adoring fans. No millions witnessing their success, or failure. Other climbers barely register when someone else has finally reached the summit. Mountain climbing is a totally self-reliant sport, with fellow climbers often unable to assist their companions. All their energy is spent on their own survival.
It is great to see the Olympic athletes standing on the podium enjoying their hard earned glory. Yet it is only a short step down, to rightly enjoy the after-games parties.
However, once the climber has summitted the mountain, the job is only half done. No helicopter ride out. No slippery slide to take you to the bottom, unless you want to end up in a body bag. They know that if they are hurt, or injured in the upper reaches, there is no rescue mission for the climber and little or no communication with the world below.
Every painful step that was made in the ascent, has to be slowly and treacherously repeated on the way back down again, after spending just a few minutes, on the extreme roof of the world. Climbers know to stay longer is to risk their life. Time is of the essence, yet at some of the bottle necks on the climb, precious moments are lost, waiting for other climbers to move past.
The youngest person to climb Everest was a 15 year old. The oldest climber being a Japanese 71 year-old last year, until he was followed by a Nepalese 76 year-old in 2008. The 76 year-old says he may even repeat the climb again. If he had climbed Mt Everest as a young man it would have been a shorter climb, as each year Everest rises a few millimeters, due to geological forces.
At the Olympics no competitor has to worry about the rubbish they create. Throw it in a bin and walk away, or if you are in an event, throw it on the ground and someone else will pick it up. Not on the mountain! Every expedition is responsible to remove its litter, particularly empty oxygen tanks.
Over the years the mountain has claimed 210 lives. At least 120 corpses still remain bound in the ice and snow. Some corpses are even visible to other climbers. These bodies are not left unburied from lace of care. In the most difficult areas, climbers can’t put their own life at risk to bury those already dead.
Mt Everest, named Sagarmatha (goddess of the sky) by the local Sherpa people, is considered a jealous goddess. She rigorously punishes illicit sex on the mountain and not always on the perpetrators.
Over 3500 Nepalese have climbed the mountain. Appa Sherpa has climbed Everest 11 times, while Ang Rita Sherpa amd Babi Chiri Sherpa have both climbed 10 times. These Sherpa guides climb without oxygen. Their home base is well over 12,000 feet above sea level.
Everest is not the only mountain to act ferociously towards her conquerors. She has a far more dangerous sister known as K2, nicknamed, ‘The mountain that invites death’. Recently 11 lives were lost on her treacherous slopes, in the worst climbing incident for K2 since 13 climbers died over a two-week span in 1986.
From Olympics to extreme adventure sports there will always be men and women for whom the unattainable has a special attraction. They are not experts. They just have higher ambitions than most people. They do however, have four things in common,
- Faith in themselves
- Driving ambition
- Great determination
- And endurance.
You may not aspire to climb mountains, but there are opportunities that come your way once in a lifetime - a Blue Moon Opportunity. Like these mountaineers all you can do is give it your best shot. There will always be people out there who will criticize you for it. In the end, it has to be the satisfaction of knowing you gave it our best. And you never know - you could be the one of the successful elite who control their own destiny.
Take time out to find out more about the author and a genuine Blue Moon Opportunity at http://winaresort.com
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Tags: blue moon, blue moon opportunity, deaths through mountain climbing, dreams, dreams and ambitions, extreme adventure sports, goddess in the sky, K2, mountain climbing, mountain deaths, Mt Everest, olympic gold, Olympics, Sagarmatha, sherpa guides, taking up the challenge, the mountain that invites death, Win A Resort.com, winaresort
One Response to “Harder than Winning Gold at the Olympics”
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August 24th, 2008 at 8:27 pm
This is a great blog. Vanuatu, from the time you step off the plane is a place of adventure and a great destination. The winaresort truly is a once in a blue moon opportunity to gain some beautiful real estate at a magical place while helping some gorgeous children. We had a great time staying with you.
Kenn and Lee Bacon