The Road to Everest

Sam Cairns, the founder of Fitnessat58°, has embarked on the ultimate adventure of a lifetime. After arriving in Nepal last week, he’s ready to take on the challenge of climbing Mount Everest.

Before he set off, the Fitnessat58֯ team caught up with him to learn more about his preparation and motivation for such an enormous undertaking.

In this blog, we’ll share his story as he takes us on his journey towards the top of the world’s highest mountain.

We asked:

Sam, what has made you want to take on such a huge and dangerous challenge?

I have always been drawn to extreme challenges.

From roller skiing the height of Mount Everest to completing numerous ascents of Ben Nevis, and running 100-mile ultras, I have always enjoyed pushing myself. Climbing Mount Everest has always appealed to me as the ultimate challenge. Admittedly, once I get an idea in my head, I can’t drop it until I make it happen.

When I decide I want to go for something, I’m going for it.

It was early spring 2022 when I decided in my mind that I wanted to climb Mount Everest.

In November of the same year, I travelled to the Himalayas for a preparation expedition of 6,200m at Lobuche. The training trip taught me a lot. I realised that Everest was going to be a whole different level.

How do you prepare for such an extreme expedition?

The preparation for the climb has been intense, to say the least. From putting together the finances for such an extreme expedition, to sourcing all of the necessary equipment and, of course, mental and physical training.

I have had to push myself to get to a place where I’m ready to take on this experience of a lifetime and make my dream come true.

In terms of training, I have done everything from 3-hour conditioning sessions in the gym to 50km ultra runs and climbing Ben Nevis three times in 9 hours, covering 4,000m of ascent. Weighted uphill interval runs have formed the basis of my training, and I’ve worked closely with Randox Health, whose team played a huge role in this process.

Using their health kits, I gained key insights to ensure my health was where it needed to be, allowing me to optimise my training and nutrition for maximum performance with the Everyathlete health program.

It has over 80 data points linked to nutrition, muscle, joint, hormonal health, and body composition; I used repeat testing to monitor changes in my health data. Randox Health also generously made a financial donation towards the expedition.

I feel in good shape, confident, and excited for the challenge.

 How do you deal with the challenge ahead mentally?

Mentally, I’ve found that the best way to deal with the challenge is to break it down into manageable chunks. Climbing Mount Everest is an enormous and overwhelming task.

You’re away from home for around two months, away from loved ones and home comforts, and trekking deeper and deeper into a hostile and uncomfortable climate.

I piece together lots of small parts day by day like a jigsaw, with each step building together the bigger picture and getting me closer to achieving my dream of completing Mount Everest.

Although, in my opinion, mindset is something that takes constant training, I’ve always strived to remain mentally strong. I’ve put myself into a lot of difficult situations, and it will be tough, there’s no doubt about it. You just have to take each day as it comes. There will be good ones and bad ones, and with the altitude, you feel utterly rotten. But it’s important to accept that and keep your sights on the end goal.

What really hit home for me on my preparation trip in 2022, in the hardest possible way was how serious this climb is and how dangerous the mountains can be.

The one thing that you hope never happens on a trip like this happened.

Tragically, partway into the trip, my roommate, who had become a great friend, passed away next to me.

It was a truly awful and heart-breaking experience that will stay with me forever.

The conditions and the task at hand are not to be taken lightly. I learned so many lessons on that trip. We summited very quickly, which was out of my control. I had severe altitude sickness on my final climb.

I’ve begun the current exhibition with this same climb, which will be completed in around 5-6 days, and I hope that this time it will be much smoother. In the 2022 trip, I really had to rely on mental resilience to see me through.

I can’t put into words how uncomfortable the whole thing is – being away from home, the extreme temperatures, the altitude sickness, cold showers, on top of the Khumbu Icefall (an extremely dangerous crossing on the Everest summit where 44 deaths have been recorded since 1953), sleeping on oxygen, dealing with the risk of avalanche, risk of hypothermia, risk of death.

I was extremely nauseous, all I wanted to do was sleep, but I really had to dig deep and follow the footsteps in front of me.

That’s what I did and I go the job done.

Embarking on this climb again has brought back a flood of memories from my last trip in 2022. Despite the challenges I faced, I am more determined than ever to complete this climb. It’s not just about reaching the summit of Everest; it’s about pushing myself to my limits, both physically and mentally.

Although I’ll complete this trip alone, it’s something I could never have achieved alone. I’ve got an incredible support system which I am extremely grateful for. Without my team, I could never have made it this far. From my climbing partners to my family and friends back home, their unwavering support and encouragement have been crucial in helping me overcome the obstacles that come with a climb of this magnitude.

So Sam, is it worth it?

I’ll tell you in the next blog!