Stephen Venables became the first British mountaineer to climb Mount Everest without the use of supplementary oxygen in 1988, establishing a new route on the Kangshung Face with Ed Webster, Robert Anderson and Paul Teare.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Thom Pollard (00:00):
Welcome to the happiness quotient. This is Thom
(00:02):
Pollard today I have with us alegendary mountaineer of epic
proportions. His name is StephenVenables. He's a British climber
whose career I've been followingfor decades. He climbed Mount
Everest, with a very closefriend of mine who passed
recently, Ed Webster, who livedin Maine passed away
(00:22):
unexpectedly over Thanksgiving.
And coincidentally, I had justinterviewed Stephen Venables
with the intent to interview Edabout their epic ascent of the
kangshung face the east face ofMount Everest, during which time
they became the smallest teamever to put up a major new route
on the mountain. This interviewis also in video form on my
(00:45):
YouTube channel called Everestmystery. The link to this
interview will be in the notesto this episode. Thank you for
being here. I appreciate you.
And now for my episode withSteven Venables.
One of the most audacioussuccessful ascent ever of Mount
(01:07):
Everest came at the cost ofeight fingertips of the trip
leader it put the first Britonever to summit Everest without
bottled oxygen on the summit.
The year was 1988. The team wasonly four men, the unclimbed
Kang Shang, or east face ofEverest was their formidable
choice of routes, a 12,000 footwall of ice and snow with some
(01:28):
steel and the conviction toembark on an expedition that
very well could cost them theirlives. The men set out to
attempt the impossible. I caughtup with Steven Venables recently
to talk with him about what hecalls an intense and
occasionally terrifyingexperience on Everest, which he
remembers as one of the mostfulfilling and happy experiences
(01:50):
of his life. I'll bring you myconvo with Stephen shortly. But
I want to ask that if youhaven't done so already, please
hit that subscribe button and atthe end of this video, I'm going
to share with you a video that Iknow you will want to watch so
stick around to the end andbefore we go any farther I want
to tell you about my sponsor,Musa masala. They are an
(02:10):
incredible organization. I'veprovided a link in the notes of
this video and want to sharewith you so you can learn a
little bit about this incredibleorganization. Thank you to Musa
masala for your sponsorship, itmeans the world to me and now
back to the regularly scheduledprogramming. George Lee Mallory
from the British Everestexpedition of 1921 filed the
first report ever from thecangshan face during the
(02:34):
reconnaissance, deeming it fartoo involved for consideration
was a nice way to say No way inhell. We're getting up that
thing. It was almost 60 yearsbefore the next team even
approached the kangshung faceand then in 1983 and a siege
style expedition by theAmericans three stood on top in
October of that year. CarlosBueller Kim mom and Lou
(02:58):
Reichardt on the very next day,George Lowe, Dan Reid and J.
caselle. summited and in 1988, afour man alpine style team, two
Americans at Webster and RobertAnderson, a Canadian Paul tear
and a Briton whom they had nevermet from Edinburg, Steven
Venables made an attempt withoutoxygen. They were self reliant
(03:20):
with no Sherpa support, noradios and no chance of rescue.
If one should be hurt or killed.
friends back home wondered howmany of the expedition would
actually return. And it's beencalled one of mountaineering
finest a sense, the 1988International Everest
(03:40):
expedition. It's to this day,the smallest team ever to
pioneer one of Mount Everestmajor routes, Stevens said, We
did all the leading rope fixingand load carrying ourselves with
no porters working for us on themountain. And at that stage,
only 18 People had ever reachedthe summit without oxygen, and
(04:00):
four of those had not returnedalive. As it turned out. Stephen
was the only person to reach thesummit on that expedition, and
became the first Britain to doso without bottled oxygen.
Getting there late in the day,he was forced to spend the night
alone in the open at 8600 metersin elevation. Stephen said in an
(04:20):
article not too many years ago,I was forced to spend the night
alone in the open at 8600 metersabove sea level before I could
continue down in daylight torejoin my companions on that
bitter cold morning at Websterwho himself had endured a bivy
at about 28,000 feet, removedhis gloves to photograph the
(04:41):
alpenglow of morning sunrise ina series of photos he forever
called frostbite sunrise. In thelegendary story, Edie lost eight
fingertips to frostbite, SirChris Bonington hailed this
expedition as one of thegreatest survival stories in
history of Himalayanmountaineering. And and today
(05:01):
with us here on Everest mysteryis mountaineer author, speaker
guide extraordinaire StevenVenables from his home in the
UK. Here's my conversation withSteven Venables about the 1988
kangshung face expedition. Iwant to say that the image is
being used in this story arefrom Ed Webster's book snow in
(05:22):
the kingdom, my storm years onEverest, as well as Stephens
book called Everest kangshungface, both of which are books
that you should read and have inyour collection, a thing I
wanted to talk to Steven mostabout was the incredible bivouac
he did at over 8600 meters inaltitude surviving the night,
I'd read accounts of Doug Scottbivouacking out very close to
(05:45):
the summit of Mount Everest, andwondered what was going through
his mind trying to survive thenight alone out there without
oxygen. Here's my conversationwith Stephen enjoy.
Stephen Venables (05:56):
I was although it was terrifying to get to
catch your face. I was delightedthat we we were getting there
because I knew as you go to thisbeautiful valley, the karma
Valley, and hardly anyone evergoes, we'd have the mountain to
ourselves. It was I knew it wasgoing to be a great adventure.
And then I met I didn't meetPaul and Ed until I got to
Katmandu. And you know, theywere incredibly welcoming this
(06:19):
weird Brit suddenly dumped intheir midst. And I just thought
this is this is going to be areally good expedition,
Thom Pollard (06:27):
just ascending the Kangshung face and getting to
the south. Col. It seemed to mealmost beyond that, that
exceeded anybody's expectations.
Stephen Venables (06:39):
Well, I thought we might pull it off.
But I think we were all I thinkwe all thought we could actually
get there. And think this iscrazy or impossible. This is too
dangerous. So we can't do thisand turn around and go home. So
it was very thrilling when wewhen we did get there after many
delays, begin to sort of piecetogether a route which was
(07:02):
really Ed's idea that the ideaof climbing that batteries and
begin to think well actually,you know, that looks climb
aboard that galley looksclickable. And if we can link
that up, and you know, this,this could actually work. And
and one thing I did think wasthat if we could get up the
lower buttress the slopes, butthere wasn't any anything very
(07:23):
difficult there. It was justscary, because big snow slopes
are inherently dangerous. About6000 meters above six and a half
1000 meters. There's not any,you know, really very hard
climbing is, as Robert keptsaying, it's just high altitude
wallowing.
Thom Pollard (07:40):
And so when you pulled up over the cangshan face
into the southco, didn't youjust get slammed by bit?
Stephen Venables (07:49):
The wind, the wind? It was horrendous. Yes,
yes. Because you get lulled intoa false sense of security in
these faces. Generally, we werethere in the spring. So it was
generally quite benign and verylittle wind. And suddenly you
need just get hit by this blast.
Which as we all know, whenthere's nothing wind is just so
sapping of not just the energy,but of your sort of optimism. It
(08:13):
just, it's so daunting, the windit just, it makes you you
nervous, uncomfortable,
Thom Pollard (08:22):
Stephen. So, you know, this is the thing that
always really fascinates mebecause you're there and it. And
it seemed, you know, lookingback it was you did all the
right things and you went up,but it's just, it's incredible.
So you dug deep and went for it.
And that, to me is like one ofthe gutsiest moves when you're,
(08:42):
you know, pretty tapped. You'vebeen working your, you know,
your, your keisters off for daysand days just to get to the
South Col on site. Well, let'sgo. And up you get, like, what
how do you dig deep like that?
What was
Stephen Venables (09:01):
it? I don't think it's gutsy. Tom. I mean,
it's, it's, it's, it's selfishreally. It's it's self
gratification, you know,something you want very much so
you you try very hard. And Ithink I did feel that it had
been a really good expedition,we'd had a lot of fun. We've
done some great climbing, we'dall led some great pitches, and
(09:25):
we made such an effort to get tothe South Col but while we
haven't come this far, it'd bereally nice if we could go the
the whole way. And the the thethe received wisdom is that you
can't recuperate or, or recover.
Well, it's 7900 meters, theSouth Pole, but actually after a
day we were delayed a day at theSouth Pole because it was too
(09:46):
windy. And actually after dayjust sitting around lying around
the cycle I did feel actually abit better a bit. Bit Bit rested
a bit stronger and Feeling Yes,I think I think we can give this
a go.
Thom Pollard (10:03):
And so up you go and oxygen less all three of you
at this point in time. And Iwould imagine the conditions
weren't optimum but not enoughto signal to you to go down. And
Stephen Venables (10:19):
we set off in perfect conditions, it was still
might, it was completely calm,no wind, no moon, so very hard
to see where we were going. Butit was the kind of good day that
people generally choosing me togo to the summit.
Thom Pollard (10:34):
So without trying being so simplistic, you are on
this summit bid without oxygen,only a few people had
successfully done the mountainwithout bows. It's only been 10
years since Aberlour and Messnerdid it. The digging deep the
emotional wrestling it how long?
Were you at war with this? Orwas it just one of those things
(10:56):
like that, as you said, thatselfish desire, I'm gonna
frickin pull this thing off. AndI'm not stopping until I either
die or fall off. What's going onin your brain?
Stephen Venables (11:08):
Oh, well, what's going on the brain all
sorts of things. When we set offfrom the South Col I, I was very
optimistic. I think I'd thoughtabout it a lot. You know, I felt
quite well prepared mentally.
And I had been, I'd been onquite a lot of Himalayan peaks.
Not that high, but they've beenquite high. So I sort of knew
(11:29):
roughly what to expect. And Ifelt quite strong. And I felt
Yeah, I'm managing to move.
Yeah, I'm actually to take 20steps at a time. That's not too
bad as managing to breathe. Andso I felt Yes, but I think I
think maybe we can do this. Sothat was how I felt we set off.
(11:52):
And then as the hours passed, Igot more and more tired. It was
very daunting being in the darkand not sure exactly which route
to take. Because it's not likenow they have ropes all the way.
I kept leading the others in thewrong direction and then coming
back and not being sure exactlywhere to go. And, and there's
there's something about being inthe dark. It's so
(12:13):
discombobulating and you can'tjudge distances and you feel so
lonely and sort of forlorn. Butthen then we had sunrise because
that lifts the spirits. And thatwas thrilling. That gave gives
us a new lease of life. But Butthen as the morning wore on, I
was just getting slower andslower and weaker and weaker.
(12:36):
And were late during the daylater in the morning. Ed's
caught up with me and I realizedhe was even weaker than I was
even slower than me and clearlystruggling. Certainly, as much
as me, if not more, I think atthat point, I thought, well, no
one's going to do this for me.
It's not going to come and breaktrail for me. So I've got to
(12:57):
make one more effort. Because Ihave a terrible fear of
disappointment. I think youknow, I didn't I didn't want to
come back and think, Oh, ifanyone tried a bit harder, I
think it's quite a motivatorbecause because you get given
these opportunities. And Ithought I'm really got to take
this opportunity.
Thom Pollard (13:19):
But you the photos taken of you back down near the
South Col
Stephen Venables (13:25):
our next morning. Yes.
Thom Pollard (13:27):
It looks like seriously like you can't even
conjure a vision like that up inyour mind. Old Man Winter just
appeared nowhere your cake inrhyme ice or breath frozen on
your face. And you must havebeen wiped out.
Stephen Venables (13:50):
Yes, I have to say it and Robert didn't look
much better.
Thom Pollard (13:54):
Yeah, I certainly didn't mean to pick on you.
Stephen Venables (14:00):
I was slightly Yeah, obviously was slightly
worse condition. Because there'syou know, they'd spent the night
in a tent. So they had a sort ofmodicum of shelter. Yeah, so I
am well, you know, you spoke youmentioned Doug Scott. And when I
when I decided to move away whenit became sort of obvious that
that sort of I had to do I wasvery encouraged by the thought
(14:22):
that well Doug and Dougal'sSpencer Knight even higher than
this, and they were okay. Dougdidn't even have a down jacket
off for God's sake. And then Ithen well of course, you know,
Tom O'Brien and, and the otherthree you know, in 63 they spent
the night out the I think therewas there a little bit lower
down nearly that high, and thatthey were all Okay, so, you
(14:45):
know, I knew intellectually it'spossible to survive a night out
here provided it's not toowindy. Which it wasn't. It was a
it was a calm night. I wasn'treally. I didn't think I'm gonna
die. I didn't feel frightened. Ijust felt very cold, very
lonely, rather pathetic. Thissort of lost so thinking this is
(15:09):
miserable. I was back at home.
Just gotta get on with it andyou know, survive it.
Thom Pollard (15:16):
Yeah, that's what Everest is like, I want to go
home I suppose. Stephen, it'ssuch a good story of to me the
perseverance and the desire togo as far as you possibly can
and not fail. But the teamworkin the in the friendships and
relationships. i You are veryclose with everybody to this day
(15:40):
on that. Yeah,
Stephen Venables (15:41):
yeah, it is.
It is some Yeah, I think I thinktales of people surviving in
extreme situations are alwaysmoving. I rather wish I'd hoped
that we would do this great newroute, and get to the summit,
and get down again, withoutenforced bivouacs. Without
frostbite without nearly dying,hoping we do the whole thing a
(16:06):
bit more swiftly andefficiently. And as it was, we
didn't you know, we overextendedourselves. So I was slightly
sort of annoyed that, you know,the thing turned into such an
epic when it, I felt itshouldn't have done you. And if,
if we've been a bit faster, abit more efficient, bit
stronger, we could have got upand down more quickly. You know,
(16:28):
the plan was to get up and downin five days, and it took us
nine days. So I felt slightlyembarrassed by the fact that we
only just sort of crawled downhalf dead. Rather than just
casually strolling back down.
From the summit.
Thom Pollard (16:47):
I see you've never lost even a one iota of that
love that thrill of wild, vastplaces. You know, mate, what is
it that you've loved the most?
Like? What really was like theessence of this is why I come to
the mountains, was it being mostalone? Or the togetherness with
people, the cultures? What'sWhat was that kernel that kept
(17:10):
you going back?
Stephen Venables (17:13):
Well, often I'm thinking, What the hell am I
doing here? This is horrible. Iwish I was. But I think usually
when you when you are in thosesort of moods, you have to
remind yourself that was gonnaget better. And actually, there
will be moments that I feel thecomplete opposite. And I do
remember a particular moment ofwhat the lots of moments like
(17:36):
19 1980 we were attempting amountain called kanyang Kesh in
the Karakoram. I think it's the22nd highest mountain in the
world. It's a big, it's a bigpeak. Anyway, we didn't get up,
we're attempting this new route.
And towards the end of theexpedition, we were going back
up, I think, for our finalattempt, I was walking up the
glass here, and I just sat on arock to have a rest the way you
(17:58):
do. And I was just sitting therein the middle of this vast glass
here, looking up at thesurrounding peaks, evening,
often in sunlight slanting downthrough the peaks. And I just
sat there and just thought,actually, there's nowhere else
I'd rather be right now. Andthat that is a wonderful
(18:19):
feeling. And you get thosemoments and, and that was just
one example. And certainly onthat Everest trip. I mean, there
were many moments like that. AndI thought, Gosh, how lucky I am
to be here. That's beautiful.
But I don't I don't I'm not likeI mean, there's so many people
who do back to back expeditionsand, and constantly traveling,
(18:45):
constantly doing more and moreambitious, harder. Wilder
climbs, and I'm afraid I justdon't have that drive. You know,
I like going on trips. And Iknow that when I get there. I
have a wonderful time. It'll bereally captivating. And moving.
But I don't want to be doing itall the time.
Thom Pollard (19:03):
Yeah, yeah. This is much of an appreciation of
home and stuff. Yeah. No,
Stephen Venables (19:10):
I think it's very much about contrast, isn't
it? And it's, I mean, mostmountain people actually live in
the mountains who often live,you know, on the borderline of
what's possible and live quiteeconomically poor lives. They
don't go climbing for fun. It'sit is very much not entirely but
(19:31):
it's very much a sort of aluxury of people from well off,
urban stroke, suburban lives,lovingly the different pneus of
going and doing something veryphysical, very demanding in a in
a very wild place amongstbeautiful mountains. And that
(19:56):
then the contrast between thatand everyday life is I think a
big part Springfield, certainlyfor me,
Thom Pollard (20:02):
Reinhold Messner has said that the best moment of
an expedition is the moment youstepped down from a climb. We
are so glad that Steven made thesummit successfully and even
more happy that he made it downto share his story with the rest
of the world. It is a greathonor that he was here on this
channel to talk about hisexperience. Steven, thank you. I
(20:24):
appreciate you and when you arein New England next time you
make sure you let me knowbecause there's a place to stay
for you here in New Hampshire.
My friends hit that subscribebutton. I will see you real soon
be well stay safe and peace out
Welcome to the happiness quotient. This is Thom
(00:02):
Pollard today I have with us alegendary mountaineer of epic
proportions. His name is StephenVenables. He's a British climber
whose career I've been followingfor decades. He climbed Mount
Everest, with a very closefriend of mine who passed
recently, Ed Webster, who livedin Maine passed away
(00:22):
unexpectedly over Thanksgiving.
And coincidentally, I had justinterviewed Stephen Venables
with the intent to interview Edabout their epic ascent of the
kangshung face the east face ofMount Everest, during which time
they became the smallest teamever to put up a major new route
on the mountain. This interviewis also in video form on my
(00:45):
YouTube channel called Everestmystery. The link to this
interview will be in the notesto this episode. Thank you for
being here. I appreciate you.
And now for my episode withSteven Venables.
One of the most audacioussuccessful ascent ever of Mount
(01:07):
Everest came at the cost ofeight fingertips of the trip
leader it put the first Britonever to summit Everest without
bottled oxygen on the summit.
The year was 1988. The team wasonly four men, the unclimbed
Kang Shang, or east face ofEverest was their formidable
choice of routes, a 12,000 footwall of ice and snow with some
(01:28):
steel and the conviction toembark on an expedition that
very well could cost them theirlives. The men set out to
attempt the impossible. I caughtup with Steven Venables recently
to talk with him about what hecalls an intense and
occasionally terrifyingexperience on Everest, which he
remembers as one of the mostfulfilling and happy experiences
(01:50):
of his life. I'll bring you myconvo with Stephen shortly. But
I want to ask that if youhaven't done so already, please
hit that subscribe button and atthe end of this video, I'm going
to share with you a video that Iknow you will want to watch so
stick around to the end andbefore we go any farther I want
to tell you about my sponsor,Musa masala. They are an
(02:10):
incredible organization. I'veprovided a link in the notes of
this video and want to sharewith you so you can learn a
little bit about this incredibleorganization. Thank you to Musa
masala for your sponsorship, itmeans the world to me and now
back to the regularly scheduledprogramming. George Lee Mallory
from the British Everestexpedition of 1921 filed the
first report ever from thecangshan face during the
(02:34):
reconnaissance, deeming it fartoo involved for consideration
was a nice way to say No way inhell. We're getting up that
thing. It was almost 60 yearsbefore the next team even
approached the kangshung faceand then in 1983 and a siege
style expedition by theAmericans three stood on top in
October of that year. CarlosBueller Kim mom and Lou
(02:58):
Reichardt on the very next day,George Lowe, Dan Reid and J.
caselle. summited and in 1988, afour man alpine style team, two
Americans at Webster and RobertAnderson, a Canadian Paul tear
and a Briton whom they had nevermet from Edinburg, Steven
Venables made an attempt withoutoxygen. They were self reliant
(03:20):
with no Sherpa support, noradios and no chance of rescue.
If one should be hurt or killed.
friends back home wondered howmany of the expedition would
actually return. And it's beencalled one of mountaineering
finest a sense, the 1988International Everest
(03:40):
expedition. It's to this day,the smallest team ever to
pioneer one of Mount Everestmajor routes, Stevens said, We
did all the leading rope fixingand load carrying ourselves with
no porters working for us on themountain. And at that stage,
only 18 People had ever reachedthe summit without oxygen, and
(04:00):
four of those had not returnedalive. As it turned out. Stephen
was the only person to reach thesummit on that expedition, and
became the first Britain to doso without bottled oxygen.
Getting there late in the day,he was forced to spend the night
alone in the open at 8600 metersin elevation. Stephen said in an
(04:20):
article not too many years ago,I was forced to spend the night
alone in the open at 8600 metersabove sea level before I could
continue down in daylight torejoin my companions on that
bitter cold morning at Websterwho himself had endured a bivy
at about 28,000 feet, removedhis gloves to photograph the
(04:41):
alpenglow of morning sunrise ina series of photos he forever
called frostbite sunrise. In thelegendary story, Edie lost eight
fingertips to frostbite, SirChris Bonington hailed this
expedition as one of thegreatest survival stories in
history of Himalayanmountaineering. And and today
(05:01):
with us here on Everest mysteryis mountaineer author, speaker
guide extraordinaire StevenVenables from his home in the
UK. Here's my conversation withSteven Venables about the 1988
kangshung face expedition. Iwant to say that the image is
being used in this story arefrom Ed Webster's book snow in
(05:22):
the kingdom, my storm years onEverest, as well as Stephens
book called Everest kangshungface, both of which are books
that you should read and have inyour collection, a thing I
wanted to talk to Steven mostabout was the incredible bivouac
he did at over 8600 meters inaltitude surviving the night,
I'd read accounts of Doug Scottbivouacking out very close to
(05:45):
the summit of Mount Everest, andwondered what was going through
his mind trying to survive thenight alone out there without
oxygen. Here's my conversationwith Stephen enjoy.
Stephen Venables (05:56):
I was although it was terrifying to get to
catch your face. I was delightedthat we we were getting there
because I knew as you go to thisbeautiful valley, the karma
Valley, and hardly anyone evergoes, we'd have the mountain to
ourselves. It was I knew it wasgoing to be a great adventure.
And then I met I didn't meetPaul and Ed until I got to
Katmandu. And you know, theywere incredibly welcoming this
(06:19):
weird Brit suddenly dumped intheir midst. And I just thought
this is this is going to be areally good expedition,
Thom Pollard (06:27):
just ascending the Kangshung face and getting to
the south. Col. It seemed to mealmost beyond that, that
exceeded anybody's expectations.
Stephen Venables (06:39):
Well, I thought we might pull it off.
But I think we were all I thinkwe all thought we could actually
get there. And think this iscrazy or impossible. This is too
dangerous. So we can't do thisand turn around and go home. So
it was very thrilling when wewhen we did get there after many
delays, begin to sort of piecetogether a route which was
(07:02):
really Ed's idea that the ideaof climbing that batteries and
begin to think well actually,you know, that looks climb
aboard that galley looksclickable. And if we can link
that up, and you know, this,this could actually work. And
and one thing I did think wasthat if we could get up the
lower buttress the slopes, butthere wasn't any anything very
(07:23):
difficult there. It was justscary, because big snow slopes
are inherently dangerous. About6000 meters above six and a half
1000 meters. There's not any,you know, really very hard
climbing is, as Robert keptsaying, it's just high altitude
wallowing.
Thom Pollard (07:40):
And so when you pulled up over the cangshan face
into the southco, didn't youjust get slammed by bit?
Stephen Venables (07:49):
The wind, the wind? It was horrendous. Yes,
yes. Because you get lulled intoa false sense of security in
these faces. Generally, we werethere in the spring. So it was
generally quite benign and verylittle wind. And suddenly you
need just get hit by this blast.
Which as we all know, whenthere's nothing wind is just so
sapping of not just the energy,but of your sort of optimism. It
(08:13):
just, it's so daunting, the windit just, it makes you you
nervous, uncomfortable,
Thom Pollard (08:22):
Stephen. So, you know, this is the thing that
always really fascinates mebecause you're there and it. And
it seemed, you know, lookingback it was you did all the
right things and you went up,but it's just, it's incredible.
So you dug deep and went for it.
And that, to me is like one ofthe gutsiest moves when you're,
(08:42):
you know, pretty tapped. You'vebeen working your, you know,
your, your keisters off for daysand days just to get to the
South Col on site. Well, let'sgo. And up you get, like, what
how do you dig deep like that?
What was
Stephen Venables (09:01):
it? I don't think it's gutsy. Tom. I mean,
it's, it's, it's, it's selfishreally. It's it's self
gratification, you know,something you want very much so
you you try very hard. And Ithink I did feel that it had
been a really good expedition,we'd had a lot of fun. We've
done some great climbing, we'dall led some great pitches, and
(09:25):
we made such an effort to get tothe South Col but while we
haven't come this far, it'd bereally nice if we could go the
the whole way. And the the thethe received wisdom is that you
can't recuperate or, or recover.
Well, it's 7900 meters, theSouth Pole, but actually after a
day we were delayed a day at theSouth Pole because it was too
(09:46):
windy. And actually after dayjust sitting around lying around
the cycle I did feel actually abit better a bit. Bit Bit rested
a bit stronger and Feeling Yes,I think I think we can give this
a go.
Thom Pollard (10:03):
And so up you go and oxygen less all three of you
at this point in time. And Iwould imagine the conditions
weren't optimum but not enoughto signal to you to go down. And
Stephen Venables (10:19):
we set off in perfect conditions, it was still
might, it was completely calm,no wind, no moon, so very hard
to see where we were going. Butit was the kind of good day that
people generally choosing me togo to the summit.
Thom Pollard (10:34):
So without trying being so simplistic, you are on
this summit bid without oxygen,only a few people had
successfully done the mountainwithout bows. It's only been 10
years since Aberlour and Messnerdid it. The digging deep the
emotional wrestling it how long?
Were you at war with this? Orwas it just one of those things
(10:56):
like that, as you said, thatselfish desire, I'm gonna
frickin pull this thing off. AndI'm not stopping until I either
die or fall off. What's going onin your brain?
Stephen Venables (11:08):
Oh, well, what's going on the brain all
sorts of things. When we set offfrom the South Col I, I was very
optimistic. I think I'd thoughtabout it a lot. You know, I felt
quite well prepared mentally.
And I had been, I'd been onquite a lot of Himalayan peaks.
Not that high, but they've beenquite high. So I sort of knew
(11:29):
roughly what to expect. And Ifelt quite strong. And I felt
Yeah, I'm managing to move.
Yeah, I'm actually to take 20steps at a time. That's not too
bad as managing to breathe. Andso I felt Yes, but I think I
think maybe we can do this. Sothat was how I felt we set off.
(11:52):
And then as the hours passed, Igot more and more tired. It was
very daunting being in the darkand not sure exactly which route
to take. Because it's not likenow they have ropes all the way.
I kept leading the others in thewrong direction and then coming
back and not being sure exactlywhere to go. And, and there's
there's something about being inthe dark. It's so
(12:13):
discombobulating and you can'tjudge distances and you feel so
lonely and sort of forlorn. Butthen then we had sunrise because
that lifts the spirits. And thatwas thrilling. That gave gives
us a new lease of life. But Butthen as the morning wore on, I
was just getting slower andslower and weaker and weaker.
(12:36):
And were late during the daylater in the morning. Ed's
caught up with me and I realizedhe was even weaker than I was
even slower than me and clearlystruggling. Certainly, as much
as me, if not more, I think atthat point, I thought, well, no
one's going to do this for me.
It's not going to come and breaktrail for me. So I've got to
(12:57):
make one more effort. Because Ihave a terrible fear of
disappointment. I think youknow, I didn't I didn't want to
come back and think, Oh, ifanyone tried a bit harder, I
think it's quite a motivatorbecause because you get given
these opportunities. And Ithought I'm really got to take
this opportunity.
Thom Pollard (13:19):
But you the photos taken of you back down near the
South Col
Stephen Venables (13:25):
our next morning. Yes.
Thom Pollard (13:27):
It looks like seriously like you can't even
conjure a vision like that up inyour mind. Old Man Winter just
appeared nowhere your cake inrhyme ice or breath frozen on
your face. And you must havebeen wiped out.
Stephen Venables (13:50):
Yes, I have to say it and Robert didn't look
much better.
Thom Pollard (13:54):
Yeah, I certainly didn't mean to pick on you.
Stephen Venables (14:00):
I was slightly Yeah, obviously was slightly
worse condition. Because there'syou know, they'd spent the night
in a tent. So they had a sort ofmodicum of shelter. Yeah, so I
am well, you know, you spoke youmentioned Doug Scott. And when I
when I decided to move away whenit became sort of obvious that
that sort of I had to do I wasvery encouraged by the thought
(14:22):
that well Doug and Dougal'sSpencer Knight even higher than
this, and they were okay. Dougdidn't even have a down jacket
off for God's sake. And then Ithen well of course, you know,
Tom O'Brien and, and the otherthree you know, in 63 they spent
the night out the I think therewas there a little bit lower
down nearly that high, and thatthey were all Okay, so, you
(14:45):
know, I knew intellectually it'spossible to survive a night out
here provided it's not toowindy. Which it wasn't. It was a
it was a calm night. I wasn'treally. I didn't think I'm gonna
die. I didn't feel frightened. Ijust felt very cold, very
lonely, rather pathetic. Thissort of lost so thinking this is
(15:09):
miserable. I was back at home.
Just gotta get on with it andyou know, survive it.
Thom Pollard (15:16):
Yeah, that's what Everest is like, I want to go
home I suppose. Stephen, it'ssuch a good story of to me the
perseverance and the desire togo as far as you possibly can
and not fail. But the teamworkin the in the friendships and
relationships. i You are veryclose with everybody to this day
(15:40):
on that. Yeah,
Stephen Venables (15:41):
yeah, it is.
It is some Yeah, I think I thinktales of people surviving in
extreme situations are alwaysmoving. I rather wish I'd hoped
that we would do this great newroute, and get to the summit,
and get down again, withoutenforced bivouacs. Without
frostbite without nearly dying,hoping we do the whole thing a
(16:06):
bit more swiftly andefficiently. And as it was, we
didn't you know, we overextendedourselves. So I was slightly
sort of annoyed that, you know,the thing turned into such an
epic when it, I felt itshouldn't have done you. And if,
if we've been a bit faster, abit more efficient, bit
stronger, we could have got upand down more quickly. You know,
(16:28):
the plan was to get up and downin five days, and it took us
nine days. So I felt slightlyembarrassed by the fact that we
only just sort of crawled downhalf dead. Rather than just
casually strolling back down.
From the summit.
Thom Pollard (16:47):
I see you've never lost even a one iota of that
love that thrill of wild, vastplaces. You know, mate, what is
it that you've loved the most?
Like? What really was like theessence of this is why I come to
the mountains, was it being mostalone? Or the togetherness with
people, the cultures? What'sWhat was that kernel that kept
(17:10):
you going back?
Stephen Venables (17:13):
Well, often I'm thinking, What the hell am I
doing here? This is horrible. Iwish I was. But I think usually
when you when you are in thosesort of moods, you have to
remind yourself that was gonnaget better. And actually, there
will be moments that I feel thecomplete opposite. And I do
remember a particular moment ofwhat the lots of moments like
(17:36):
19 1980 we were attempting amountain called kanyang Kesh in
the Karakoram. I think it's the22nd highest mountain in the
world. It's a big, it's a bigpeak. Anyway, we didn't get up,
we're attempting this new route.
And towards the end of theexpedition, we were going back
up, I think, for our finalattempt, I was walking up the
glass here, and I just sat on arock to have a rest the way you
(17:58):
do. And I was just sitting therein the middle of this vast glass
here, looking up at thesurrounding peaks, evening,
often in sunlight slanting downthrough the peaks. And I just
sat there and just thought,actually, there's nowhere else
I'd rather be right now. Andthat that is a wonderful
(18:19):
feeling. And you get thosemoments and, and that was just
one example. And certainly onthat Everest trip. I mean, there
were many moments like that. AndI thought, Gosh, how lucky I am
to be here. That's beautiful.
But I don't I don't I'm not likeI mean, there's so many people
who do back to back expeditionsand, and constantly traveling,
(18:45):
constantly doing more and moreambitious, harder. Wilder
climbs, and I'm afraid I justdon't have that drive. You know,
I like going on trips. And Iknow that when I get there. I
have a wonderful time. It'll bereally captivating. And moving.
But I don't want to be doing itall the time.
Thom Pollard (19:03):
Yeah, yeah. This is much of an appreciation of
home and stuff. Yeah. No,
Stephen Venables (19:10):
I think it's very much about contrast, isn't
it? And it's, I mean, mostmountain people actually live in
the mountains who often live,you know, on the borderline of
what's possible and live quiteeconomically poor lives. They
don't go climbing for fun. It'sit is very much not entirely but
(19:31):
it's very much a sort of aluxury of people from well off,
urban stroke, suburban lives,lovingly the different pneus of
going and doing something veryphysical, very demanding in a in
a very wild place amongstbeautiful mountains. And that
(19:56):
then the contrast between thatand everyday life is I think a
big part Springfield, certainlyfor me,
Thom Pollard (20:02):
Reinhold Messner has said that the best moment of
an expedition is the moment youstepped down from a climb. We
are so glad that Steven made thesummit successfully and even
more happy that he made it downto share his story with the rest
of the world. It is a greathonor that he was here on this
channel to talk about hisexperience. Steven, thank you. I
(20:24):
appreciate you and when you arein New England next time you
make sure you let me knowbecause there's a place to stay
for you here in New Hampshire.
My friends hit that subscribebutton. I will see you real soon
be well stay safe and peace out
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