As appeared in the February 9, 2009 edition of The Russell Villager
(reproduced with permission)

Fitness trainer gears up for Mount Everest
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By Martha Tanner
Villager Editor

Fitness at 50 can be an uphill climb – even if you do own your own fitness company. But for Gregg
Bradley, owner of Custom Fitness in Russell, it’s an uphill climb that has inspired him to become fitter, at 53, than he has ever been in his life.

On March 22, Bradley will join a group of trekkers to climb to Mount Everest Base Camp. The group will be led by Jean-François Carrey, who became the youngest Canadian to scale Mount Everest in 2006. The trip is being organized by International Mountain Guides, a company which organizes and leads climbing, trekking, and mountaineering expeditions around the world.

At 8,848 meters (29,029 feet) at the summit, Mount Everest in the Himalayas is the tallest mountain in the world. Base camp is located at 5,300 meters, or a little over one vertical mile. Bradley and his group will be climbing to about 5,600 meters, then coming back down to base camp. In comparison, Canada’s highest mountain, Mount Logan in the Yukon, is 5,959 meters at the summit (19,550 feet).

“I don’t want to use the word ‘apprehension’, but there is no sitting down in the middle of the trek and saying, “I’m going home!” says Bradley.

Physically and mentally, Bradley is confident he is prepared for the trek. One thing he can’t prepare for, however, is altitude sickness, which can occur above 2,400 meters.

“Fitness is not a guarantee of success,” he says. “Some of the fittest climbers in the world can suffer from altitude sickness.”

Bradley, who was introduced to trekking through some of his clients, learned about the Everest base camp expedition the same way. One of his clients mentioned that he had just signed on to the trip and, Bradley recalls, “It seemed like destiny was going by my door.”

Trekking usually involves long hikes over rugged territory. Mountainous areas are particularly popular with trekkers, who plan their vacations around mountain ranges, not beaches.

“I can see myself falling into that kind of pattern,” says Bradley. “I want to experience trekking a little more.”

Bradley began trekking in Gatineau Park and soon graduated to the Adirondack Mountains in New York State.

Bradley had to start out slowly to train for his Everest trek, as he was recovering from arthroscopic surgery on his knee when he signed on for the trek at the end of September. By December, however, he was training six days a week: doing strength training, cardio, backpacking, hiking, hill climbing, snowshoeing (with a 30-lb pack) and paying way more attention to what he was eating. So far, he is halfway to his goal of losing 20 lbs.

Bradley will fly to Hong Kong on March 22. From there he will fly to Kathmandu and from Kathmandu to the small airport in the village of Lukla, where the trek by foot begins. The expedition is expected to arrive at base camp on April 6. The trekkers will arrive back home on April 19, having been gone nearly a month.

The group will follow the golden rule of “climb high, sleep low”, climbing to a certain point and then dropping back to a lower altitude for the night, to allow the body to acclimatize to decreasing oxygen levels and, it is hoped, avoid altitude sickness. They will actually climb above base camp to 5,600 feet before dropping back down.

In addition to guide Jean- François Carrey, the group of about 20 will be accompanied by almost as many Sherpa guides, some with yaks for carrying gear.

Bradley has also been reading everything he can get his hands on about Everest and watching videos as well.

Willie Prittie, who climbed Everest in 2005, wrote this about the final ascent from the tea house at Pheriche (4,300 meters) to base camp:

“On this stage, something changes and from here on up we are fully immersed in the highest mountains on earth. Everywhere we look, every turn of the trail reveals yet a new vista, a mountain or range, any one of which is stunning. The cumulative effect is hard to describe to someone who has never been here, but for some of us it is nothing less than lifechanging.”

Bradley credits his clients with introducing him to the world of trekking and is particularly inspired by the 60-year-old client who told him about the Everest base camp expedition and who has summitted some of the biggest mountains in the world.

He also says that training for the trek has taught him a lot, most importantly, that “fitness without a goal is a lot harder than fitness with a goal”.

This in turn, has helped him help his clients with their fitness goals, as he helps them focus on short-, medium- and long-term goals, progressing from one goal to the next as improvements are made.

“A client inspired me, and I’ve inspired others, who, in turn, have inspired others,” marvels Bradley. “Some have turned their lives around. One of my clients phoned up an old friend she hadn’t seen since Grade 2 and asked, “Want to go hiking?”

“Once you challenge yourself and overcome that challenge, everything else looks less intimidating,” he says. “Your confidence level goes up.”

In the future, Bradley hopes to go trekking with his family to Macchu Picchu in Peru and Costa Rica. “I’m planning a lot of future trips around trekking with the family,” he says, adding that it is important to be introduced to the sport by someone with experience.

It’s hard work, he says, but the feeling of standing at the top of a climb and enjoying the views after all that hard work is hard to describe. “Not that many people get to stand up there and see the world from a different perspective.”

That’s partly what will make the Everest expedition so enriching. “I’m really looking forward to it. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

“I’ve heard that you think differently about the world when you come back, how infinitesimal you feel.”

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