TRI-4-LIFE MOUNT EVEREST CENTENARY CHALLENGE 2022
Twenty years ago , in an act of remembrance and friendship , a group of family and friends decided to take part in the Crewe and Nantwich sprint distance triathlon . Over the coming years , they completed many more community , charity , and adventure challenges together , all over the world …
Then in 2022 , they set their sights on something higher .
Having seen pictures of Mount Everest in a schoolbook at age seven – and grown up on the tales of local mountaineering legend , George Mallory – Liam and Phil decided to follow in the footsteps of their childhood hero . George Mallory embarked on the first three British expeditions to Mount Everest in the early 1920s – including the 1921 reconnaissance expedition , and the first ascent of the world ’ s highest mountain in 1922 , where his team achieved a record altitude of 8,225 metres without supplementary oxygen , before being pushed back by poor weather .
During the 1924 expedition , Mallory and his climbing partner , Andrew ‘ Sandy ’ Irvine ( from Birkenhead ), disappeared on the northeast ridge . The pair were last seen by Noel Odell about 245-metres from the summit , and Mallory ’ s ultimate fate was unknown for 75 years , until his body was discovered on the 1st of May 1999 during an expedition to search for the climbers ’ remains .
Whether Mallory and Irvine reached the summit before they died remains a subject of debate , ( a picture of Mallory ’ s wife , which the climber had promised to leave on the summit , was missing from his jacket , so its possible they perished descending ) but one thing ’ s for certain : their adventure inspired the tri-4-life team to follow in their footsteps 100 years on .
As part of their community and charity commitments , the team raise funds for two local NHS charities : The Countess Charity in Chester , and the Wirral University Teaching Hospital Foundation Trust . The team was also fortunate enough to meet legend mountaineer Doug Scott , CBE , at a presentation evening in 2018 , and pledged to support his charity Community Action Nepal – which is helping to renovate and restore the new Sherpa Heritage Museum in Khumjung , as well as a new porter shelter at GorakShep .
Here , they share their incredible journey with us :
Two tough acclimatisation climbs , and a long , slow slog leads to another moment of reflection on the huge challenge ahead . Base camp itself is a sprawling metropolis of tents housing climbing
22 merseylife . com teams from all over the world . Everyone is following their own preparation plan that will lead them to the same , very narrow weather window in six weeks time . The Adventure Peaks Team had been setting up camp and preparing for the tri-4-life team ’ s arrival , and it was emotional to be reunited again for the first time since their trip to Baruntse last year .
The Sherpas are busy all morning preparing the stone structure of the Puja . The Puja is an important ceremony that pays respect to the mountain ‘ Sagarmatha ’, Goddess of the sky , and offers blessings for safe passage . Tri-4-life are joined by the Makalu Adventure team from the adjacent camp , and all climbers place their kit around the Puja to be blessed .
The Lama arrives from the monastery at Pangboche , and everyone participates in the mantra and prayers . Chimes and drums are struck , and rice and flour is thrown into the air as an offering to the gods . The Puja is covered in beautiful decorations and sculptures made from butter and tsampa , with plates full of food and drinks prepared as offerings . The time to make the ultimate climb was almost upon the team . The Puja ceremony and the meaning behind it was a sobering reality , and now they placed their lives in the hands of the true heroes of Everest , the Sherpa team .
The first rotation was to clear the Khumbu icefall and return back to base camp . Everyone was geared up and ready to leave at 0500hrs , and with great trepidation , they made their offerings to the Gods and headed across the arduous terrain to crampon point . By this point , the team is feeling the various effects of the altitude : headaches , sickness and diarrhoea , which delays their departure into the icefall by 15 minutes . Although it ’ s light , the temperatures are freezing in the shadows of Nuptse , Lingtren and Pumori . Around 2 hours pass navigating the steep ice pitches , when silence is broken by a piercing rifle-shot-like echo , followed by silence . Everyone stops in their tracks , looking up and wondering what has happened , when another noise like thunder starts building up ahead . The ground starts to vibrate , and it feels as though the mountain ahead is collapsing . Holding their breath in disbelief , a huge cloud of ice particles sweeps overhead , then everything settles .
Once everyone has confirmed they ’ re okay , the team carries on along the fixed line – but only fifteen minutes later , the rope disappears under huge lumps of ice the size of cars . It becomes soberingly clear that , had they not been delayed earlier in the day , they had every chance of being under the fallen ice . Moving to the east side of the icefall , the team ’ s lives were spared for a second time when thousands of tonnes of rock and ice