Mountaineer Kenton Cool has reached the summit of Everest 11 times,
and along with his climbing partner, Dorje Gylgen, became the
first to attain the Everest Triple Crown, climbing Nuptse, Everest
and Lhoste in one seven-day expedition without returning to base camp.
His autobiography, _One Man’s Everest_, tells his tale of overcoming
obstacles, keeping motivated, and the thrill of the challenge.

Why climbing in the first place?

It just gives you that sense of freedom, of being at one with nature
and the landscape, it’s something I’m very passionate about.
London’s a beautiful city but at the same time I can feel a little
claustrophobic when I’m here, whereas the mountains give me a sense
of freedom. The climbing club Leeds University was really vibrant in
the early 90s; you couldn’t help get caught up in the enthusiasm and
I never looked back from there.

When did it become a vocation for you?

I first went to the Alps at 17 and I’d done a couple of Alpine
seasons and learnt the trade a bit, so to speak. All the books
indicated that the Himalayas was where it was happening, so second
year of university a couple of us started to put together an
expedition and off we went.

Sounds exciting!

We didn’t get an awful lot of climbing done – I got terribly sick
but we had a fabulous time. I absolutely loved it: the journey,
travelling through the sub-continent by train, epic bus rides, the
trekking, climbing. The whole thing was absolutely fascinating and I
fell in love with the Himalayas as soon as I got there.

YOU’VE SPENT A LOT OF TIME IN KATHMANDU PREPARING FOR CLIMBS. HAVE
YOU ANY REFLECTIONS ON THE RECENT TRAGIC EARTHQUAKE? 

On a personal level I work very closely with a team of Sherpas on
Everest and unfortunately three of them lost their lives in the
disaster this year. It certainly makes you reflect on what we do and
why we do it but I think it’d be a shame if anybody decided not to
go to Nepal because of what happened this year. The mountains are a
wild place and no matter how great we think we are as a human race we
will never tame the mountains or our planet as such.

I’d been in Kathmandu the week before it hit and it was a huge
shock, though the earthquake was kind of predicted. Everybody knew
there was a big earthquake due; unfortunately there is another due to
release the tension under the earth’s crust but nobody can predict
quite when.

Nepal is such a beautiful country with some wonderful people in it
and it pains me that it’s going through this anguish. It may have
dropped off the radar in the West now but that agony is still
continuing and they’re in the grip of the monsoon right now, many
villages are being plagued with disease through dirty water, it’s
desperately sad. As much as I love the Himalayas, I know I have a home
here that I can return to. I think we in the West forget that
sometimes.

What can we learn from your autobiography, One Man’s Everest?

Being autobiographical, I’ve tried to be very honest in it, and for
me, ‘one man’s Everest’ is a metaphor for whatever you want your
Everest to be. I try to get across is what mountaineering means to me,
and hopefully I can encourage other people into adventure and into
challenging themselves. ‘Everest’ can be whatever it is for you: a
bike challenge, overcoming a phobia, anything.

I’ve included stories about some of the climbs I’ve done and why,
there are funny stories in there but also serious points. I was
inspired by reading the adventures of other people, like Chris
Bonington and Sir Ranulph Fiennes, so I hope that my values and morals
as a person come through in the book. More than anything, I hope
people read it and enjoy it. It’s going to take people from Alaska
to Scotland, to the Himalayas to the Alps and back again so it’s
quite the rollercoaster.

You must have some amazing memories on the mountain – anything come
to mind?

My first summit in 2004 is always going to one that I really cherish
because of what it represented, being up there the first time and
being pretty much overwhelmed by emotion and the view, it was
stunning, such a great day. But each time I’ve been up there it’s
been a little bit different with different emotions, thoughts,
weather.

Is climbing Everest getting easier with new technology?

In this day and age people tend to think they can lay down a lot of
cash and get to the top but it’s not like that. The avalanche on
Everest last year, the earthquake this year, really shows that however
rich you are, however talented you are, you’re very much put in
place by the mountain. We only climb Everest because she allows us.
Anything that does go wrong can be very dangerous so I’m always very
cautious when I enter that sort of arena.:

One Man’s Everest_ is published in hardback by Preface on 27th
August, priced £20.