Being a member of the THPL community gives us the opportunity to stretch ourselves, to test the limits of what is possible in our lives. And as far as we take it there are more levels that we shoot for and even some that we might never get the chance to reach or experience. Over the past few days, and it appears that for the next week or so, many of us who live in the Northeast part of the U.S. have an opportunity to get a glimpse, and it really is only a glimpse, of what it is like to endure the cold on the climb to the top of Mount Everest.

For many reasons, it is unlikely that any of us will get to the top of Everest. But if we were to give it a try, if we were able to get three months off from work, spend $60,000 and to travel half way around the globe we would need to get ready for two-three months of bone chilling cold. You might be wondering how cold could it be? Well, consider that on a bitter cold week like we are currently experiencing, when we are unlikely to want to go out for a run, or even walk to the car, the temperature is ranging from -5 to a high of 8 degrees. It is on weeks like this that give us pause when thinking about the climbers working their way up Mt. Everest (when they do so in May – the warmest time of the year on Everest). They must just be able to take cold temperature better than others. On the typical day in May the high temperature on the way to the summit is -15 degrees. And so, on your Everest summit trip you get to climb in the cold, eat in the cold, and sleep in the cold - to imagine how they feel, imagine it colder than it was today and will be tomorrow or the day after that and after that. And then think of staying outside in that cold for days on end. Seems quite ridiculous or undoable. But it is what is done for those who summit Everest. The “cool” part about this is that for a moment you can at least get a sense of how “really” hard it would be to climb Mt. Everest. Any one game?

Loving life and not being cold to the bone

Ciao

Joe