For Nobukazu Kuriki, the 2012 attempt to summit Mount Everest was costly.
Strong winds from a sudden blizzard had derailed the Japanese climber’s fourth attempt up the world’s tallest mountain. For two days, he cowered inside an improvised emergency shelter that mountaineers call a snowhole as winds howled, and temperatures plunged below zero.
The snow shelter kept him alive — but by the time he emerged, Kuriki had frostbite so bad, he would ultimately lose parts of nine fingers. For a few despondent days in a hospital, he also lost the will to climb.
“Before my fingers were amputated, I phoned my father,” he said in recounting the incident on his YouTube channel. “The first thing he said was, ‘Congratulations.’ I asked him what for; he said because I survived.”
But, he continued: “My dream is not only climbing Mount Everest. My real goal is [to] overcome the barrier of negativity.”
Two years later, he made a triumphant return to climbing, scaling Broad Peak in the Himalayas — the 12th-highest point in the world.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...is-life/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.5617d2ca4e73
Strong winds from a sudden blizzard had derailed the Japanese climber’s fourth attempt up the world’s tallest mountain. For two days, he cowered inside an improvised emergency shelter that mountaineers call a snowhole as winds howled, and temperatures plunged below zero.
The snow shelter kept him alive — but by the time he emerged, Kuriki had frostbite so bad, he would ultimately lose parts of nine fingers. For a few despondent days in a hospital, he also lost the will to climb.
“Before my fingers were amputated, I phoned my father,” he said in recounting the incident on his YouTube channel. “The first thing he said was, ‘Congratulations.’ I asked him what for; he said because I survived.”
But, he continued: “My dream is not only climbing Mount Everest. My real goal is [to] overcome the barrier of negativity.”
Two years later, he made a triumphant return to climbing, scaling Broad Peak in the Himalayas — the 12th-highest point in the world.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...is-life/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.5617d2ca4e73
