Tyler Redway
AFTER ten long years of planning and conditioning, two Limestone Coast locals decided this year was time to tackle the base camp of Mount Everest.
Jamie Stephenson and Mark Case will journey for 14 days through Everest’s frigid peaks in April, setting a lofty goal of the mountain’s base camp located more than 6000 metres above sea level.
Mr Stephenson said he and Mr Case had previously travelled to complete trails such as Tasmania’s Overland Track and Papua New Guinea’s Kokoda Track.
He said while the pair had travelled extensively overseas, Mount Everest was always on their bucket list.
“We have been to a lot of places in the world but this has always been something on the bucket list which is an absolute must for us,” Mr Stephenson said.
“We tried to do it 10 or so years ago but something happened where we both had to pull out at the last minute.
“We are both getting older now so we decided it was now or never to do it or we wouldn’t get the chance at all.”
Mr Stephenson said his family was against his original idea of hiking to the summit of Everest due to the mountain’s infamously high risk of fatality.
After negotiating extensively with his wife, Mr Stephenson was able to set the goal of Everest’s base camp as a safer alternative.
“My wife didn’t like it at all , I was actually pretty keen to go for the summit but my wife and daughter said I could die up there like a lot of other people have,” he said.
“It has to be perfect weather and no avalanches or earthquakes because there is a fair bit of that going on regularly in the Himalayas.
“It’s something I definitely didn’t want to miss out on so base camp was the perfect thing to say I could do it without my wife getting too freaked out.
“A lot of our friends and families know who we really are so they usually just say this is a typical kind of Jamie and Mark thing to do.”
Mr Case said the journey was about doing something which challenged them and the fun of preparing for such a harsh environment.
“It’s about doing something which is going to challenge us, so lots of hiking and walking at high altitudes, ice baths and saunas to build that mental strength,” Mr Case said.
“We needed to do it soon because we didn’t want to be up there when we were in our 60s, even though a lot of people do it at that age.
“I just want a picture of me sitting with a beer with Mount Everest in the background so I can hang it up on my wall.”
Mr Stephenson said his and Mr Case’s training consisted of ascents and descents of Mount Gambier/Berrin’s Valley Lakes/Ketla Malpi, ice baths to mimic Mount Everest’s frigid conditions and wearing an altitude mask to condition themselves to simulate the lack of oxygen at higher altitudes.
“Things like the ice baths take a real mental strength, it doesn’t matter if you jump in one every day for a whole year, you’ll still end up saying to yourself ‘what are you doing that for’,” he said.
“It’s a fight or flight response and it’s your brain telling you that you can’t do it, which is when you have to push through.
“Ice baths help with the inflammation, while the altitude mask helps with the breathing and also helps you to slow it down a bit.”
Mr Stephenson said the journey would not be rushed as it was important to keep a consistent breathing pattern in high altitudes to avoid losing consciousness.
“Mark and I tend to get excited and walk faster but when you are on top of the world, you just need to take your time, see the sights and get your breathing under control,” he said.
Mr Stephenson said the pair would fly to Nepal’s capital of Kathmandu to familiarise themselves to the different climate before moving onto Lukla Airport, which he said has been known as the world’s most dangerous airport.
From Lukla Airport, Mr Stephenson said the 14 day journey would consist of 10 to 15 kilometre days with some double distances if they approached a village to stay in.
“It takes six or seven days to get to Everest and then another four or five days to get back down.”
“There will be days up in the Himalayas 6000 metres up where if you’re not fit and you don’t have those correct breathing techniques, then you could be escorted by helicopter out and your trip would be over.”
Mr Stephenson said if one person needed to be airlifted from the mountain, the other would continue the journey as part of a promise the pair made to each other.
“If one does have to be escorted out with high altitude sickness, we have promised each other the other person has to continue on,” he said.
“It is something we want to do together but if it’s not possible then this is our plan, which is the mental challenge we have given ourselves to make sure we get to that point.”
Mr Stephenson said it was important for people to follow their dreams and passions, especially when it came to a life-changing journey such as Mount Everest.
“Life is so short and I think a lot of people learned with Covid stuck in their houses that maybe you might want to change your job or your lifestyle because it could happen again,” he said.
In my eyes, you just have to go out and do something like this because it’s only up to you.
“If you have a dream then do it because there should be nothing stopping you from doing what you truly want to do.
“The more things like this you go out and do, then I think the more alive and happy you’ll feel which will also make you look to the future with a smile on your face.”
