Sunday, Jun 26, 2016

Abu Dhabi: Climbing the tallest mountain on earth was no easy task, and Tariq Al Zarouni’s injuries testify to that. But if he could do it all over again, he says he would do so readily.

“Reaching the top of Mount Everest felt exhilarating,” Al Zarouni told Gulf News. “You’re standing at the highest point on planet earth - over the clouds, and just looking at all the peaks below you. All the hard work and training that you have been put through culminates at this moment.”

Al Zarouni’s journey to the top of Mount Everest began several years ago, after being asked to join the climbing expedition team, a challenge he readily accepted, he said.

He was part of a team of 16 climbers, including 13 Emiratis from the armed forces and three experts in mountaineering expeditions. The team embarked on their mission around two months ago, and successfully scaled the summit of Mount Everest at 8,858 metres on May 19, planting the UAE flag to mark the 40th anniversary of the unification of UAE’s military forces.

“At first I was shocked because I would never imagine climbing a mountain like this - the tallest mountain on earth. I accepted the challenge and met up with the rest of the team - of which I was the newest member at the time I joined.

“The training was very intensive - it included climbing other mountains to prepare and give us experience in mountain climbing. There was also a lot of long distance cycling and running. We could cycle for around 90km and run for 21km. The training basically eats your life and, for two and a half years I trained to prepare myself for the climb at Mount Everest,” he added.

Once it was time to begin the Everest climb, the challenges arose almost immediately, said Al Zarouni.

“As soon as we started climbing the mountain, there is a place between the base camp and camp one, and this area is the second most dangerous place on the mountain because avalanches are happening every day in this area.

“Our route would change daily because of the avalanches. We would sometimes lose our ropes and ladders that we had placed because of these avalanches. So we really had to improvise a lot during the initial climb to deal with these circumstances.

“When you hear the sounds the avalanches make, it really strikes fear into you. The avalanche could be coming from anywhere, often you’re unsure where it is happening - you can be walking and then all of a sudden a big ice block can just fall and crush you at any moment,” he recounted.

The avalanches were just one of many challenges Al Zarouni and the team had to deal with.

“There is danger everywhere on the mountain, and many different types of challenges that you have to overcome and face everyday. One obvious challenge we faced was the high altitude, which made it harder to breath. Being at such high altitudes also caused hallucinations.

“To me the biggest challenge was the daily distance we would travel - which was around 13 to 14 hours of climbing and trekking, so by the end of it I felt both physically and mentally drained. I would think to myself if I would be able to do this again the next day - but I would wake up the next day after some sleep and I just got on with it. I kept pushing myself,” he said.

Al Zarouni also said that the UAE Armed Forces team did not climb Mount Everest the commercial way - which involves mountain guides, or Sherpas, who help the climbers by carrying their equipment and supplies.

“During a load carry, which is when we moved from one camp to another, we would roughly be carrying 15kg-18kg on our backs, and all this while climbing for 13 hours,” he said.

If Al Zarouni and his team needed any reminders of the dangers they faced, a Sherpa guide was killed not far from where they were climbing.

“The Sherpa ran out of rope and fell about 20 metres and died. His body was brought to camp 2 and you could see all the blood stains on the snow,” he said.

The final climb to reach the summit of Everest was another big challenge the team had to overcome, Al Zarouni said.

“Summit day basically took us 18 hours to complete. We had to wake up at 9pm - there was no sleep or rest, no food, and no water. At such a high altitude you don’t really feel like eating, and it’s also very difficult to drink because it’s so cold that your water basically freezes, We just wanted to reach the summit and return back to camp four.

During the summit climb, Al Zarouni soldiered on even with frostbite on his hands.

“I was changing my oxygen cylinder because it was frozen at the top and I took my gloves off to do it. Because my hands were exposed, they started to get very cold and I knew I was going to get frostbite.

“My hands felt numb but they were still functional albeit with a very slow movement, and it felt like needles were pricking against my finger tips. On the first day, my hands started to turn white; by the second day, blisters started forming and my hands started turning blue.

“I will have to remove one of my fingers on my right hand, the finger has gone completely black, and it’s hard as a rock - the finger is basically dead.”

Despite the injury and the inevitable loss of his finger, Al Zarouni remains upbeat about the whole situation.

“At the end of the day it’s a work related injury. It’s a small price to pay for achieving something very big - climbing the tallest mountain on earth. I trained for a very long time and I was determined to reach the summit. There was a consequence obviously, but in life there are always consequences. I have no regrets.”

Al Zarouni says that he is currently taking things one day a time, but is overall happy to be back at home and with his family.

“When I arrived home, my daughter was actually scared of me because I looked so different - she didn’t recognise me.

“I lost so much weight while climbing Mount Everest - 11 kilos - so both my daughter and wife were very worried about me. My wife didn’t care that I had just climbed Mount Everest, all she was concerned about was to check if I was okay as soon I got back home.

“My process since returning has been to basically stuff my face with food. I have regained some weight, and eventually I plan to go back to the gym and to eat properly to get back to how I was before. It will take some time, at the moment I can’t really train properly because I can’t grip anything, so it is difficult but I am dealing with,” he said.

By Sami Zaatari Staff Reporter

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