Mountaineering — 7 Summits for UNICEF

Many people I have met on the mountain trails see the climbing as a break in their busy city lives. Going away is an escape. For me being with nature and going back to basics has become a way of life. I simply take my mountains and experiences back home with me. Being on an expedition is like one long meditation and an occasion to reflect on myself. I came to the point where it is possible to flip the reality and see the civilisation as a break from the real life – the mountains and not the other way around. Mountaineering and benefits of calmness it gives are very contagious and I managed to inspire others to discover the power of nature and mountains in particular. I am glad they are trying and I will continue to support those who dare.

I am doing the 7 Summit challenge – climbing the highest peak on every continent – for myself and to raise money for the Peace Scool Project of Sarswati Foundation and a Polish Home Orphanage. I have raised $50,000 so far.

The idea to climb the 7 Summits was born when I was climbing in the Swiss Alps in 2002. The timing and sequence of the 7 climbs has been dictated by the cost of each expedition, the required equipment, difficulty level and required training. It seemed completely unattainable at the outset. The full budget was to be about $150,000, it was to take a minimum of 180 days of pure expedition time, it was around 150 hours of flying and a minimum of 5 years of commitment to training, good diet and self discipline. When I was making my initial decision I did not have the money, I was not particularly fit, I was and am afraid of cold, I had never been above 5500 m (14,764 ft), I did not have any professional mountaineering equipment, I was working full time and was going through a divorce.

I was working in Russia at the time when I decided to try the first summit - Kilimanjaro. I took a private fitness instructor, trained for 5 months, decided on Rongai route and booked the trip to Tanzania.