Grit Needed to Climb Mount Everest

Accomplished mountaineer Mark Milewski shared his 2016 experience climbing Mount Everest, the world’s highest mountain, in a presentation to the Westminster community Oct. 1. The Tunxis Community College associate professor of business administration and scoutmaster of Boy Scout Troop 25 in Manchester, Conn., where he resides, provided details and photos about the expedition he took with Adventure Consultants, a premiere guiding service. Elliott Kennard ’19, an Eagle Scout in Troop 25, introduced him to the audience.

 

Milewski talked about how he became interested in hiking and climbing, eventually participating in Outward Bound education programs and climbing increasingly higher mountains, the Appalachian Trail, and peaks in the Adirondacks and the White Mountains. He said scaling Mount Rainer was great for learning the rigorous skills needed for climbing other mountains.

 

Climbing Mount Everest was Milewski’s fifth of the Seven Summits, the highest peaks on each of the seven continents. He previously climbed to the summits of Mount Elbrus, Mount Kilimanjaro, Denali and Mount Aconcagua. He said that 160 people have climbed the Seven Summits.

 

Milewski’s expedition scaling the 29,029-foot Mount Everest took 50 days to accomplish. He had to submit a resume to get on the team. He said it was a major accomplishment just to get to Everest Base Camp and described the acclimatization process of climbing high and sleeping low and the preparation required to reach Camp 1, Camp 2, Camp 3, Camp 4 and, ultimately, the summit. Camp 4 is at 26,000 feet. “The trek is beautiful, and around the third day, you get your first view of Mount Everest with clouds around it,” he said. “You burn around 10,000 calories a day, and most people lose 10 to 20 pounds on the mountain.” Of his seven-member team, four made it to the summit.

 

Milewski, along with Nima Tsering Sherpa of Adventure Consultants, left Camp 4 at 10:15 p.m. the night before they reached the summit May 20, 2016, at 6:10 a.m. “There are lots of mementos on top,” said Milewski. “We spent 20 minutes on top since you don’t want to be long in the death zone. It took us eight hours to get up and three hours to get down. I swore I could see the curvature of the earth.” He said the windchill pushed the temperature below -30 F. They spent the return night in Camp 2.

        

Milewski outlined what it takes to achieve such a feat, including the hard work and grit. “You push through to do it with style,” he explained. “I wanted to do it with character and competence and paid my dues.” He concluded by asking the audience: “What is your Everest?”