Armchair explorer makes it to the top

KATHMANDU, June 1 - Everest this spring saw more than 200 climbers making it to the summit. Many went up the mountain eyeing new records. For others it was just another day up in the mountain. For Michael Kobold, an American watcher maker based in Pennsylvania and by his own admission an 'armchair explorer' and an acrophobic, the summit was a challenge that changed his life.

Kobold's first trip to the mountains was in 2008 when he accompanied famous British explorer, Sir Ranulph Fiennes, the man described by the Guinness Book of World Records as “the world's greatest living explorer”, to raise money for Marie Curie Cancer Care foundation to honour his wife and sister, who both died of cancer. Sadly, Fiennes failed in his attempt after making two previous attempts in 2005 and 2007 and thus was deprived of a chance that would make him the oldest Brit atop Everest at 64.

Fiennes was a man on a mission. But for Kobold it was one of his regular routines, working for the promotion of his watches. During his days at the base camp, he met a group of men from the U.S. Navy SEALs, who challenged him to climb Everest seeing his clumsy attitude. “I cut my hand while cutting a piece of ham and they humiliated me saying I could never climb any mountain.”

Kobold accepted the challenge and even promised them he would raise funds for the Navy SEALs Warrior Fund. “I don't know what made me take the challenge but I regretted promising them after I went through such difficulties preparing for the challenge.” The idea of collecting fund sure lured the Navy men as they promised Kobold to give a two-month training for the climb at their headquarters in California.

For Kobold, who had spent most of his life behind closed doors making watches, the training session was a real test. “Earlier, the only time I ran was up to my refrigerator and the only pull I could manage was once. But here I was doing 20 pull-ups at the end of my session,” recalled Kobold.

After two months of rigorous training, Kobold was ready to shrug off his acrophobia and put sedentary lifestyle to rest. He formed a team with Sir Ranulph Fiennes, Kenton Cool and Wills Cross. All of three members created records after their summit to Mount Everest on May 21 this spring. Fiennes became the oldest Brit atop at 65, Kenton Cool held the record of seven summits by a Brit and Cross became the first diabetic American to conquer the peak.

Having spent most of his life at ease, food up in the mountains was his greatest obstacle. But he dealt with the problem in the most uncanny way. He asked the famous Hershey, chocolate company, one of his sponsors in the ascent, to deliver 2000 bars of chocolate to Kathmandu from America and chartered a helicopter to ferry the whole package to Lukla.

“The idea of bringing chocolates to the expedition paid off. In fact I would have about five-ten people everyday outside my tent asking for chocolates,” he said.

The Navy Seal Expedition finally took off on May 17 from the base camp and reached the summit on May 21.

Hillary Step, the last hurdle on the way up, was the most difficult part of his journey. Seeing the hurdle he had developed a feeling that he could not go on anymore but somehow managed to overcome the step after receiving some swearing from his friends.

“There were points I thought of giving up. In fact I had that feeling in every camp we spent the night,” Kobold said. Upon reaching the top, he said he was surprised to see a jam at the top of the world.