Ben Fogle - Up - My Life’s Journey to the Top of Everest

William Collins

An imprint of HarperCollins Publishers

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London SE1 9GF

WilliamCollinsBooks.com

This eBook first published in Great Britain by William Collins in 2018

Copyright © Ben Fogle 2018

Ben Fogle asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work

Cover images © Mark Fisher

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins.

Source ISBN: 9780008319182

Ebook Edition © October 2018 ISBN: 9780008319205

Version: 2018-09-27

To the Sherpa people,

the real heroes of the mountain

Cover

Title Page

Copyright

Dedication

TIMELINE

AN END AND A BEGINNING

INTRODUCTION

CHAPTER ONE: FAMILY

Marina – Home

CHAPTER TWO: PREPARATION

CHAPTER THREE: RESPONSIBILITY

Marina – Saying goodbye

Marina – Am I worried? Not yet

CHAPTER FOUR: BAGGAGE

CHAPTER FIVE: LOSS

CHAPTER SIX: COLLABORATION

Marina – The media

CHAPTER SEVEN: FEAR

CHAPTER EIGHT: RISK

Marina – The icefall

Marina – Risk

CHAPTER NINE: DIFFERENT ENDINGS

CHAPTER TEN: Positivity

Marina – Summit fever

CHAPTER ELEVEN: ADVERSITY

Marina – Breaking radio silence

CHAPTER TWELVE: SUMMIT

Marina – The summit

Marina – Life after Everest

THE END

EPILOGUE

PICTURE SECTION

OUR CHARITIES

INDEX

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Also by Ben Fogle

About the Authors

About the Publisher

13/4/18 – ARRIVAL KATHMANDU

14/4 – LUKLA (2,800 metres)

15/4 – NAMCHE BAZAAR (3,400 metres)

16/4 – TRAIL TO PANGBOCHE (4,100 metres)

17/4 – PUJA CEREMONY, PANGBOCHE MONASTERY (with Lama Nawang Pal)

18/4 – TRAINING CLIMB (to 5,000 metres)

19/4 – CLIMBERS’ MEMORIAL, LOBUCHE (4,950 metres)

20/4 – KHUMBU VALLEY

21/4 – BASE CAMP

26/4 – RETURN TO BASE CAMP AFTER ASCENT TO LHOTSE FACE ABOVE CAMP 2 (6,400 metres)

30/4–3/5 – ROTATION TO CAMP 3 (7,200 metres)

4/5 – VIC LEAVES

7/5 – TRAINING HIKE

8/5 – SCHOOL ASSEMBLY SATELLITE CALL

16/5 – 7.30 AM EVEREST SUMMIT (8,800 metres)

18/5 – LEAVE BASE CAMP FOR HOME

Dear Ludo and Iona,

Life is about the journey not the destination.

Live it brightly. Live it brilliantly and live it wisely. Don’t waste it. Not one single day.

Add life to your days not days to your life.

Dream.

Dare.

Do.

Live for the now, not the then.

Be spontaneous.

Smile.

Go with your heart. Instinct is often right.

Take criticism on the chin and use it usefully.

Life is there to complete, not to compete. Although it will sometimes feel like a competition, don’t get swept up by it. It’s not a race.

Be magnanimous in victory and graceful in defeat.

Be humble and try not to grumble.

Confide. Don’t divide.

Reach don’t preach.

Be caring and considerate.

Be principled but open-minded enough to be pragmatic.

Try and be the shepherd not the sheep.

Remember, you aren’t just a face in the crowd. You’re unique.

Despite a planet of seven billion. There is no one else like you.

Your personality will be shaped and moulded by the company you keep and the experiences you have.

Be comfortable with who you are. Don’t try and be what others want or expect you to be.

Listen, be curious and learn.

Wealth is all about how YOU interpret it. Money will not buy you happiness nor love.

Experiences WILL make you richer.

Travel will broaden your mind.

People will judge you, but don’t let that judgement define you.

Don’t let failure defeat you.

Insecurity will creep up on you throughout life, try not to listen to it.

Be confident, never arrogant.

Give.

Share.

People will be outrageous and provocative. Try not to be outraged or provoked.

Don’t live life through a screen. Live it for bikes and hikes, not likes and swipes.

Routine is far more dangerous than risk.

Some days you will feel a little down. The highs and lows are human nature.

Your life should be filled with light and shade, it is these ups and downs that remind us what is important in life.

Fortune really does favour the brave.

Be brave.

Take risks.

Live your life.

Smile.

And don’t forget to look UP.

Love Daddy

Ring ring … ring ring … ring ring …

It’s 4 am and I’m in a hotel room in Toronto, Canada. I’m here for my grandmother’s 100th birthday. Her 100th birthday! I still marvel at that. I cancelled everything to be here for this, including leaving my family in Austria.

I hate calls in the night. They make me nervous. They are almost always bad. No one calls with good news at 4 am. Maybe it’s a wrong number. My heart is pounding.

‘It’s Dad,’ says the voice on the line. He’s in the room next door. Why is he calling me?

‘Marina has lost the baby.’

I struggle to comprehend what he is telling me. I only left Marina yesterday, eight months pregnant and healthy, while I flew to Canada.

And why is he telling me this? I look at my mobile. It’s switched off.

‘It’s not good, she might not make it either, you’ve got to get back.’

My world imploded. It’s funny how we never realise how happy and lucky we are until it’s gone. I had the perfect, happy life and in that single phone call I saw the happiness disappear. It was like a little bomb going off in my life.

Not only had I lost a baby that I had been longing to meet, but I also faced the reality of losing my beloved wife, Marina. My soul mate, my best friend and the mother to my children.

I wasn’t ready to become a widower.

The next 12 hours are a bit of a blur. By the time I had thrown on some clothes, Dad had booked me a plane ticket to London. I raced to the airport and was on a flight by 6 am.

It was the worst flight of my life. And I’ve had some bad flights.

For eight long hours, I would have no contact with the outside world. I sat in my seat and imagined what was happening. My sister-in-law, Chiara, warned me in a call before my flight that Marina was bleeding so profusely that she might not make it. Please God, don’t take her from me. I am not a religious person, but here I was, 30,000 feet up, calling on the heavens to hear my prayers.

I sat there with tears streaming down my face. How could I cope? I couldn’t imagine life without Marina, the lynchpin of our family. The fun and the happiness. The glue. She was the family. We would be lost without her. The children, what about the children? What did they know? Ludo was four and Iona three. How would I tell them? How could I tell them?