This so-called superfit climber reaches the top of Everest, at the most “barely”, is super exhausted and has no strength to go down, gets rescued by six Sherpa guides, is severely frost-bitten, gets helicopter evacuated from Camp 2, and gets a heroes welcome back home. I look at this whole ordeal and I think – the climber should never have been there in first place, highly inexperienced and under-prepared for 8000, puts their own as well as Sherpa lives at risk, loses multiple fingers and toes, and then uses a helicopter. If it were the Tibet side – this person would have been long dead. One of my favorite quotes is by the legendary american climber – Ed Viesturs – “Reaching the top is optional, getting back down is mandatory”. 3 years ago I built my own version – “reaching the top is optional, getting back down alive in one piece without any frostbite or evacuations” i.e. climbing from basecamp to summit to basecamp on your own is what I define to be a safe and successful expedition. I hope every single Everest aspirant reading this post makes this concept their motto, and only then we can make Everest mountaineering safe, fun, challenging, and regain it’s lost glory.
Kuntal Joisher on the summit ridge of Mt Everest on May 23rd
And to be able to pull off a successful expedition you need a strong and reliable partner. And I have one in Save The Duck – one of the pioneers of animal-free insulation in the world. They not only built the first ever synthetic one piece suit of the world that I wore on Lhotse, and this time on Everest, but also built a custom base camp jacket for me that kept me warm and toasty till 22000 feet! An amazing company, backed by an incredibly talented team and led by one of the kindest and coolest guys around – I am happy to announce that I am officially their brand ambassador, but more so I am a “Save the Ducker” for life. They have my loyalty not because they sponsored my Everest expedition, they have my loyalty because their product is 100% animal-free, state-of-the-art, world class, kept me warm on one of the coldest summits as well as one of the toughest nights I have ever experienced, and above all – they said “Yes” to build the suit when practically every other gear company on the planet said No.
With Mingma Tenzi Sherpa leading me on the mountain, and Save The Duck supporting me with kick-ass animal free gear, I was able to finish the biggest dream of my life – the very first 100% successful #Vegan ascent of Everest!