Patrick has conquered Mount Everest!

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Off the Press

JULY 2010

on top of the world Patrick has conquered Mount Everest!

We’ve all been watching with interest as Perth environmental consultant, Patrick Hollingworth, began his bid to become the third West Australian to climb the summit of Mount Everest. His dream came true on Monday May 18 at 1pm local time as the 33 year old reached the summit of the mountain. The climb has taken a toll on Patrick who said that “the two and a half days of descent, on top of the four previous days of ascent and three nights at above 8000m, left me completely and utterly exhausted, and slightly devoid of emotion. The mind has been focused on getting down without accident, and the Lhotse Face in particular required immense concentration to avoid a fall of over 1000m. I have known this kind of exhaustion before on other Himalayan peaks, the kind where after taking ten steps you have to sit down in the snow and search somewhere deep within to find the energy to repeat the process – but not for such an extended period of time”. His current state of health is sound, all things considered. His toes and fingers took a hammering from the cold but he has not sustained any long-term damage. It has taken immense physical strength for Patrick to conquer the mountain, but what appears to be of more importance has been his mental stamina and strength of character. From base camp, Patrick spoke about his fatigue and reflected on his achievement, which was a result of years of hard work yet, he only spent 20 minutes at the summit.

Partly in shock through his feat of mountaineering, fatigued and with bad weather coming on ten minutes after leaving the summit, Patrick knew that even though he had reached this pinnacle, getting home safely was going to be almost as difficult as the initial ascent. The low levels of oxygen and grueling conditions meant Patrick and his team had to rest every 20 metres.

“We’ve done it, we have climbed Mt Everest and we have made it back down alive and everything is fine” Patrick has since reflected on seeing injured and deceased climbers on the mountain, remembering that this was a sober reality check. Horribly, the first dead body was someone he knew. The second belonged to a Russian man who failed to reach the summit and had since been frozen on the side of the mountain. This stark reminder highlighted the danger of the climb and how unforgiving the environment can be. Back on safe ground Patrick contemplates his achievement. “It has at last started sinking in that we climbed Mount Everest! This evening we watched the 60 minutes of footage that I took from a head cam which I turned on at the South Summit at 8700m. It’s awesome, we have great quality footage of us climbing the Hillary Step (and tragically some guy falling down it!) and some great vision looking down

the cornices of the Kanshung Face. It really is spectacular. Watching the footage makes me want to climb Everest again!” What does this climb mean to Patrick? Aside from the physical changes, having lost 15 kilograms, Patrick comments, “I knew that if I managed to climb Mt Everest there might be some media attention and so on. However, I wanted to get some additional benefit that wasn’t purely for my own selfish reasons and hence the Men’s Advisory Network. Because I have had my own experience with depression, I wanted to, well… I hope that I might be able to inspire other people who have suffered and show them that there is some light at the end of the tunnel and that you can achieve things if you put your mind to it”. Scott Print is proud to have supported Patrick Hollingworth and make his dream a reality!

In this edition • Making the Everest Dream a Reality • Quality Recognised at International Awards • Technical Profile: Personalisation • Running for Telethon • Let us help you this Annual Report season • One simple step you can make to make WA a better place


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