Kiwi conquers Everest on artificial legs

New Zealand climber Mark Inglis last night stood at the highest point on the planet as he became the first double amputee to conquer Mt Everest.

His wife, Anne, confirmed her husband's achievement as she spoke to him briefly after he stood atop the 8850m mountain.

"He's incredible," Mrs Inglis said. "He's dreamed of this all his life, probably. He's over the moon.

"They didn't expect to be this early, they thought maybe mid to late May, so Mark will be stoked. I imagine they'll be having a few whiskies."

Inglis conquered Everest on two carbon-fibre artificial legs especially adapted for climbing.

He snapped one of them when he was at about 6400m while preparing to move up to Camp 2, which is at about 7500m.

He was able to fix it well enough to get to his climbing companions, and then rebuilt it with spare parts.

The 47-year-old arrived at Base Camp on April 7. He made his bid for the top with an early-morning start in perfect weather from Camp 4 - less than 450m below the summit.

Mrs Inglis said she talked to her husband briefly at 9.20pm, but there was static on the phone line and it cut out.

But she had heard from the partner of Wayne Alexander, another climber on the expedition, that the group had conquered Everest, were in high spirits and had returned to Camp 4. "I'm relieved the worst bit's over and feel great to know that he's done it."

She said she also spoke to her husband on Saturday and he had sounded confident and ready for the final push.

"He said he wouldn't call again until they had been to the top."

Mrs Inglis said she expected her husband home early next week. "It will be interesting to see what he wants to do now. He can't go any higher."

The original expedition party split into two groups. Four members of the first group had already reached the summit before Inglis made it to the top.

Inglis arrived in Tibet on April 1 and spent a week acclimatising before beginning the long haul up Everest.

On April 29 he wrote on his website that he was still struggling with acclimatisation. "Just when you think you can breathe, it takes two stops to get to the loo."

In November 1982, Inglis, then a mountain rescue guide, lost his legs to frostbite in a climbing mishap.

A blizzard trapped him and countryman Phil Doole in an ice cave on Mt Cook for 14 days.

Both had their legs amputated below the knees.

Sir Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay first conquered Everest, on May 29, 1953.

~NZ Herald

Rant: Desperate to be a Housewife

I’ve come to realise that, when it comes to your future employment, we’re deceived as children. As an intelligent young girl, I was put into advanced classes and taught “enriched” curriculums of maths and science. Throughout my school career I was encouraged to think about my future and which course I would take at University. The whole of my life was centred on my school education – the rest was just “extra-curricular”. Through my university studies, I felt I was still aiming for something – my “career”. I went overseas briefly, and then it began. To cut a long story short, 4 jobs and 5 years later I am entirely disenchanted with the whole process. Job satisfaction has slipped from average to non-existent, and I know I’m not alone.

So why did all of our teachers, role models and other leaders always tell us that we should spend our formative years solely preparing for this disappointment? Why didn’t they tell us that even if we slogged through our uni years and graduate with flying colours, we’d still be stuck with thousands of other graduates in the same un-fulfilling jobs? At least the let-down wouldn’t be so bad. At least we’d be prepared for the daily grind. But they would get us so excited about “our callings”, neglecting to tell us that if we chose anything half exciting it would probably lead to unstable employment at best, and that the more regular career paths would lead to daily dread.

If I knew then what I know now, I would have taken Home Ec at college. Surely learning how to run a successful household is more important than calculus? It completely baffles me how people can be so ambitious and strive to work longer hours and incorporate more stress into their lives (aka promotion). I have absolutely none of this ambition. My main goal in life right now is to finish off my novel, fight to get it published, and make enough money from it so that I can take a break to write the next one. In other words, I strive to leave the corporate world behind and focus on domestic matters. The long-term goals involve is for my husband, whose chosen passion will actually earn some money, to be the “breadwinner” and “bring home the bacon”. Will I actually get to enjoy life before the kids come along though? This is my dilemma. And this is the end of my rant. More upbeat, quirky posts in my usual tone to follow soon.

Well done, Michael Campbell

Michael walked away with the US Open in golf yesterday. The first Kiwi to win a major in some 40 years. What an inspiration to all of us, and a lesson in perserverance. An awesome victory for a great bloke. :-)


P.S. Good on ya Norm for winning Dancing with the Stars!

Good on ya, Rove!

I was pleased to discover that Rove McManus scooped top honours at the Australian "Logie" TV awards. He's such a nice, funny bloke and we look forward to him entertaining us at the end of the week.

Can anyone enlighten me to as to why the awards are called "Logie"?

First Anniversary :-)

Tomorrow morning we are off on our first real trip away (alone) together since our honeymoon. The occasion is our first wedding anniversary, and we are going to the beach where we first got together. The weather has been beautiful all week, and although it's forecast to change I'm keeping my fingers crossed! (It was forecast two rain the last two days and all we've had is brilliant sunshine)

We're currently deciding whether to take my car or his (will air conditioning or fuel economy win out?) and who will drive there. We're both very easy going when it comes to these decisions - which makes them harder to make. Meanwhile I've made multiple lists of what we need to pack from different parts of the house. I like ticking things off lists. Gives me a sense of achievement and control in this madcap world.

We're away for four days - so no posts until at least Tuesday. I'm going to do my best to switch off from the normal stresses of life - even though I'm going to find out if I got a job today or Monday. Wish me luck!