Today I chat with Katie Sarah, an extraordinarily accomplished person. Katie is the first woman in the world to have completed the Seven Seven, that is the Seven Summits (the highest mountain peaks on each of the seven continents) plus the seven volcanic summits of each continent. She is now edging towards the Explorer’s Grand Slam.
Obviously, Katie’s achievement includes the one-and-only, mother-of-them-all, Mount Everest which she summited in 2010 from the northern side (i.e. Tibet). We chat about all of that including what Katie faced on summit day, what motivates her, her training and preparations and some of her other expeditions, like Denali and Mount Elbrus. A strong theme that come through is Katie’s ability to set a goal and diligently and patiently work towards it e.g. Katie knew, after her first trip to Mount Everest in 2007, that to successfully summit, she needed to improve her mountaineering skills so she set about acquiring the necessary skills.
We also discuss the links between being in the great outdoors and wellbeing, between the feeling of accomplishment after finishing a trek and self-confidence and how such pursuits give one a greater sense of perspective.
These days Katie is cutting back in her work at Sarah Mountain Journeys, the adventure travel company she owns, and is dedicating more time to charity work.
I found this conversation empowering (because, although what Katie has achieved is truly amazing, she makes it sound possible if you approach it the way she has done) and I hope you do too.
Links to websites motioned in our discussion:
- Sarah Mountain Journeys: https://www.sarahmj.com
- Guide Dogs SA/NT: https://www.guidedogs.org.au
- Sight For All: https://sightforall.org
