Lying in my tent alone that night I wept quietly, as all the emotion seeped out of me. For the second time in recent years, I knew I should have died.I wrote:March 31, midnight.The emotions of today h...
It was like climbing a mountain of waist-deep molasses while giving someone a fireman’s carry, who, for good measure, was also trying to force a pair of frozen socks into your mouth. Nice.
It was a feeling that I could be a little different from everyone else of my age, and that, if pushed, I could battle against the forces of nature and prevail. Adventure felt the most natural thing in...
I was also really fortunate at Eton to have had a fantastic housemaster, and so much of people’s experience of Eton rests on whether they had a housemaster who rocked or bombed.I got lucky.The relatio...
I soon found my feet, and was much less homesick than I was at prep school. Thank God. I learned that with plenty of free time on our hands, and being encouraged to fill the time with interests, I cou...
Finally, finally, I was thrown into this tiny, dark cell. It all went quiet. But I instantly noticed the warmth. And I could just make out the shape of the room under the crack in my blindfold.I waite...
Finally, I could see the four-ton trucks below me, parked in a small turnout next to a dam at the foot of the mountains.I raced down to the dam and clocked in.I knew I was slow, as I could see all the...
Fail your way to success.
But what do I remember and value most?For me, it is the camaraderie, and the friendships--and of course Trucker, who is still one of my best friends on the planet.Some bonds are unbreakable.I will nev...
At this point, my greatest enemy was myself. Self-doubt can be crushing, and sometimes it is hard to see outside the black bubble.
At 10:50 A.M., the radio flared into life. It was Mick’s voice. He sounded weak and distant.Bear. This is Mick. Do you copy?The message then crackled with intermittent static. All I could make out was...
So accept that fact. But don’t despair, because the good news is that help is nearer at hand than you might imagine.You see, if I am going to enter a difficult jungle or uncharted mountain range, I al...
Dwelling on mistakes, endlessly replaying scenes in your head, only makes them grow.So the next time you find yourself lying in bed at night, cursing your stupidity or foolishness, it’s worth remindin...
But just as I was about to burst into tears, my dad would then start to applaud me.Applaud the fall?But why?Dad wanted me to understand that I could only become a horseman if I had fallen off a horse...
All you have to do is give it an opportunity to be unleashed.So pick big targets and surprise yourself with how capable you really are deep down.Remember David and Goliath? Rather than David, the youn...
You just have to hang on in there through those dark hours - don’t give up, let the mountain sustain you and empower you, and you will experience the mountain within you.
You are wonderfully and powerfully made. In other words: it is no accident you are good at certain things!
We were eighteen thousand vertical feet above sea level, in the mouth of Everest’s killer jaws. I noticed my hand was shaking as I fumbled with the ropes through thick mittens.It was pure fatigue.An h...
We can’t always choose our circumstances but we can choose how we respond to what life throws at us, and there is power when we realize our ability to alter our destiny.
Trying often comes before failure. Endeavour more often leads to success.But they are just words, I hear you say. Why does it matter whether we say ‘try’ or ‘endeavour’?It matters, believe me.