The first Welsh, and youngest British, woman to climb Mt Everest, and one of the ambassadors of the Year Adventure, Tori James, speaks with Luke Owain Boult about the meaning of adventure.
What was the view like at the top of Everest?
Ahh it was just incredible. The earth was falling away at the edges, the sky was perfectly clear, perfect blue. It was just breathtaking, and you couldn’t really take it all it in. You’d have to spend hours up there to let your eyes take in all of the ridges. There was no feeling alone up there, and the views were why a lot of us in the expedition went there. I was on the summit for about forty minutes and up there I was very nervous about sitting down. It took about ten hours to get to that point and I thought ‘what if I sit down and can’t get back up? What if I used all my energy to get to the top?’ But I just sat on the summit, got out my camera and did a bit of my video blog. I tried to drink something but my water was practically frozen- it was like a slush puppy.
What is something about Everest that people may not understand unless they’ve been there?
The scale of the Himalayas is like nowhere else in the world, you just look at the peak and wonder how is it physically possible to climb that high. The pictures in the magazines cannot put into scale what you come across when you walking up the mountain. I think what’s very deceptive is with all the snow and the ice you see in photographs it makes the environment seem very cold, and it is on the summit, with the wind chill it could’ve been about -35 maybe even -40 degrees. But it’s absolutely baking. I had a lot of concerns about heat exhaustion.
How do you keep going?
It’s all in the mind. Even if the body is struggling the mind can make it go further than you ever thought it could. It’s just like anyone else, if it’s raining and cold it can be really easy to find an excuse to not putting on your trainers and avoid going for a run. The feeling you get coming back from that run is amazing, I’ve taught myself to almost disengage my brain from my body when I look out the window and the weather’s rubbish, but I still put on my trainers and get out the door because I’m thinking about what it’s going to feel like when I get back. In the 18 months when I was training for Everest, if I went for a run or did a weekend away training, I visualised my step closer to that summit. If missed a training session then I’d be a step further away from that summit.
What does adventure mean to you?
I’m pretty clear about what an adventure is. For me, it’s about the journey from A to B. That journey needs to be self-supported and self-sufficient. You need to take all your food, and it’s about doing it with the human power alone, and going to places, planning it on a map in advance and seeing where the trail takes you. It’s getting into the natural environment and really appreciating the natural beauty around you. That’s what adventure means to me. Preferably spending a night under canvas as well. That’s the ultimate adventure. Like I said before, it doesn’t have to be record breaking, it doesn’t have to be over massive distances or for days on end. It could just be a couple of hours, it could be one night out. I’ve got younger relatives and we’ll be camping in Pembrokeshire and doing lots of activities this summer. That’s an adventure too.
Tori James. Info: www.torijames.com / Wales Year of Adventure. Info: www.visitwales.com