Hilaree Nelson is one of the first Women to summit Mt Everest and its neighbor
peak, Lhotse, in a single 24 hour period. As part of the Pittsburgh
Cultural Trust lecture series, this adventurer recently brought her National Geographic Live Tour, The Point of No Return, to Pittsburgh. She shared
her adventure of leading a team of elite climbers on a grueling climb to the
summit of Bruma's Hkakobo Razi (a remote peak in the Asian country of Myanmar).
Her amazing story of determination and passion for the climb was an inspiration
to never quit and “live outside the box”.
Reflection
My blog inspiration
Book, “Everything I Need to Know I Learned From a Little Golden Book”
recommends that we “Dare to explore”. That is just what Hilaree has done her
entire life. Her sense of adventure and survival started as a child when her
family spent summers on a boat along the western intercostal of Canada where
she learned to play and live off the harvest of the sea. She was a competitive high
school athlete and after graduating college in Colorado, she spent 5 years
climbing and skiing the French Alps.
A horrific skiing accident that occurred
during her guide of a heli-skiing expedition changed her life direction. She found her peace and solace
in the mountains and in 2012 conquered Everest and a neighboring peak.
Adversity can fuel self -discovery as it causes us to make a change or sink.
That is just what this blog is about: finding your passion by trying new things
after hitting bumps in the road of life.
Maybe that is why her story had a magnetic pull on me and seemingly the
audience because this woman found and lived her passion.
The month
of grueling travel was the pre-game before the
challenging mountain climb that was only successfully conquered once before. They had
no road map through Hkakobo Razi’s jagged ridges and the team hit several dead
ends having to retrace steps. They endured
bitter winds of 50 to 70 miles an hour and battled hypothermia and a diminished
food supply. Hilaree had to be creative in the planning of this climb and this team had to fall back on their gut,
skill, and unbelievable determination in order to survive and press forward.
 |
| *Team depleted at end of expedition- Renan Ozturk,Mark Jenkins, Cory Richard, Emily Harrington, Hilaree O'Neill Photo by Taylor Rees |
This was
a true story of stamina with many “points
of no return”. There were
disappointments when the team had to
split because the climb was too technical, leaving the 3 men to peruse the peak and the two women
to wait at camp. Even though they did
not reach the peak of Hkakobo Razi, they
all dared to explore it. Hilaree was an honest
storyteller. Her words were heartfelt as she shared how the trip evoked
self discovery and personal life lessons ( see National Geographic video here).
 |
| Hilaree was inspiring and a heartfelt story teller |
(For more Talks and Poets sponsored by the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust go Trustarts.org)
Spiritual Source
I Lift up my eyes to the mountains-where does my help come from? My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth (Psalm 121 1-2)
