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Topics: Health, Horror, Mental Health, Travel, World News, Community
Poppy Bilderbeck
Topics: Health, Horror, Mental Health, Travel, World News, Community
A man who climbed Everest has revealed how he was proven completely wrong in thinking reaching the top would feel 'tranquil'.
Matthew Dieumegard-Thornton climbed Mount Everest in May 2012. At the age of just 22-years-old, he became one of the youngest climbers in history to reach the summit.
While the feat is certainly a great achievement, I think we're all aware climbing Earth's highest mountain above sea level - measuring 8,849 meters - is far from an easy challenge.
However, what many of us may've not considered is how when you get to the top, it's not exactly all sunshine and views for miles or simply a glorious sense of achievement.
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And Dieugmegard-Thornton revealed some eye-opening realities about his climb - including exactly why reaching the top didn't come to a 'tranquil end', but made him feel like he had landed himself inside a horror movie.
The explorer told RedBull the climb typically takes five to six weeks to complete on average, designed to 'help your body acclimatise'.
However, 'nothing prepares you' for an area known as 'The Death Zone,' where there's simply 'not enough' oxygen and the air is so 'thin' it 'makes you delirious'.
You'd think after tackling'The Death Zone,' alongside the crevices - which you have to 'traverse across on ladders' *gulp* - and trying to keep up with the cutting-corner Sherpas as well as seeing 'littered dead bodies' that reaching the top would be a welcomed relief.
Alas, it was not.
Dieugmegard-Thornton revealed: "I went into the climb imagining dying at the top of Everest would be quite a tranquil end - should the worst happen - because the oxygen is so low that you’d just fade out. But no, the summit is so windy and hostile - it’s simply not a nice place to be. It is extreme."
The explorer revealed upon reaching the top he was simply reminded just how 'long' a way he was 'from help' and how 'nobody is going to rescue you' if something happens.
"The wind adds so much suspense I can only liken it to the sound of a horror movie," he continued.
By the time Dieugmegard-Thornton reached the top, he was 'hypoxic' - which means 'low on oxygen' - so much so, he 'completely forgot about taking photos for all [his] sponsors'.
He resolved: "I only cared about myself in that moment as I felt so punch drunk. But when you’re pitting yourself against nature in a very raw way, thinking about yourself is no bad thing."
Well, there goes climbing Everest off my bucket list - not that realistically it was ever actually going to end up on it in the first place.