One Final Reflection

In a few days, the journey changes.

For the past number of months, Everest has been a constant presence in the background of everyday life — early mornings, late evenings, training blocks fitted around work, logistics, setbacks, decisions, and the steady awareness that the margin for error becomes smaller the closer you get.

Soon, the preparation phase ends and the real test begins.

This will likely be the final post before the expedition. With a bit of luck, I’ll return in May or June with good news.

A Long Build

The Everest decision didn’t start this year.

It has been building over time through smaller decisions, smaller climbs, and smaller risks taken along the way. None of them felt particularly significant individually, but together they created momentum.

There were successes along the way, but also failed summits, expensive lessons, and moments where the sensible option would have been to leave the idea behind.

Denali last year is a good example. After significant preparation and cost, we turned around just a few hundred metres from the summit. It would have been easy to frame that as failure. Instead, it became part of the process.

The same is true of many of the unseen parts of this journey — the training blocks that didn’t go to plan, the financial pressure of funding an expedition like this, and the ongoing balancing act between ambition and realism.

Ordinary Background, Unusual Goal

One of the consistent themes of this project has been the idea that you don’t need a perfect starting point to pursue something meaningful.

I did not grow up in the mountains. I am not a professional climber. My day-to-day life looks relatively normal — a full-time role, responsibilities, constraints, trade-offs.

The gap between “normal life” and “Everest” can seem enormous.

But most large goals look unrealistic until enough small steps have been taken.

At no point did this feel easy or guaranteed. But it did feel possible — and that was enough to continue.

Facing Criticism and Doubt

Pursuing something visible always invites opinion.

Some of that feedback has been helpful. Some of it has been challenging. Some of it has simply reflected the reality that not everyone will understand why you would choose to take on something difficult, uncertain, and uncomfortable.

There have been questions about risk, about priorities, about whether the time, cost, and effort are justified.

Those are reasonable questions.

Everest is not a logical decision in the traditional sense.

But not everything that is meaningful is purely logical.

It has been about exploring the limits of what is possible when belief is matched with consistent effort over time.

Doing Everything Possible

There is always more that could be done.

More training. More preparation. More resources. More certainty.

But at some point, preparation has to transition into action.

Right now, I feel comfortable that I have done everything realistically within my control:

Structured training over many months. Technical preparation. Experience on other peaks. Financial commitment. Support from people who understand why this matters. An honest attempt to share the process along the way

There is a quiet confidence that comes from knowing you have fully committed to something.

The outcome on the mountain is never guaranteed. Conditions, health, and countless external variables will ultimately decide what is possible.

But effort is one part that can be controlled.

And that part has been done.

Making the Goal Bigger Than the Individual

One of the most important decisions in this project was to link the climb with the ISPCC.

If this journey was only about personal ambition, it would feel incomplete.

The ISPCC’s work focuses on ensuring children and young people have the support they need to shape their own futures — regardless of their starting point.

That aligns closely with the core idea behind this project: where you start does not have to define where you end up.

Some people have asked why share fundraising support with a charity when the expedition itself is already a significant personal investment.

The answer is simple.

If even a small number of people benefit as a result, then the project has achieved more than a personal objective.

Regardless of Outcome

If the summit is possible, it will represent the culmination of years of gradual progress.

If conditions prevent success, the process will still have been worthwhile.

Because the real success was deciding to try properly.

To commit fully.

To remove the easy option of wondering “what if” at some later point.

That question tends to stay longer than failure ever does.

Until May or June

For now, the focus shifts fully to the climb.

Thank you to everyone who has supported the journey so far — through encouragement, advice, practical help, or simply following along quietly.

Support genuinely makes a difference, particularly on longer projects where the finish line is far from guaranteed.

If you would like to support the climb or the ISPCC, the donation link is below.

With some luck, the next update will be from the other side of the mountain.

The climb continues.

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