PAUL FOUNDED THE ORIGINAL EVEREST CLEAN-UP EXPEDITION
Tackling the trash at Everest Base Camp in 1988. 21st century Everest expeditions are compelled to leave the foot of the mountain in a clean state. The environmental situation higher on the peak is yet to be fully resolved. © Paul Deegan
As a British teenager in the 1980s, I proposed the original idea to tackle the 35 years of trash that had accumulated at Everest Base Camp after the first ascent by Hillary and Tenzing.
One year later and I co-led a 47-strong ecological expedition to the foot of the world’s highest mountain. I learnt about leadership – the hard way – when the experienced joint leader announced that he would be unable to join the expedition for the first half of the project.
My team succeeded in clearing up several football fields’ worth of trash, including used medical supplies, empty glass bottles and an empty tin of caviar.
Fast forward 30 years and the Nepalese authorities with the local Sherpa population have established a system to keep Everest and its environs free of the trash that greeted our expedition.
Turning his back on a promising career in trash collection, Paul led an expedition INTO THE UNKNOWN
A late afternoon sun warms climbers on an unexplored mountain range close to the border between China and the former USSR. © Paul Deegan
More people have stood on the moon than on the mountains my team ascended in a remote corner of Central Asia, on the tri-nation border of China, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.
Going somewhere that no-one had gone before threw up a unique series of challenges. How do you cross a raging river that has no bridge? Which valleys lead to the mountains you want to climb? How would an injured team member be evacuated from a place that has never been seen before?
Ultimately, we made good on our commitment to make the first ascents of several unclimbed peaks. During the course of our explorations, members spotted the elusive snow leopard, photographed wandering bactrian camels and met nomads who had never previously encountered outsiders. The nomads’ home brew of fermented mare’s milk, laced with horse hair, took some getting used to.
paul WAS GIVEN just fifteen hours’ notice to join A TEAM CLIMBING north america’s highest mountain
Rebecca Stephens catches her breath en route for Camp 3 on Denali. (Eagle-eyed viewers will spot the distant tents at Camp 2 in the center of the picture.) One year after this photo was taken, Rebecca became the first British woman to summit Mount Everest. © Paul Deegan
Having recently returned home from an ill-fated expedition to South America’s highest peak, I was still partially acclimatised to high altitude but otherwise exhausted. Yet the opportunity to ascend Denali, the highest peak in North America, was too great to resist.
I called my employer from the airport to try to explain why I wouldn’t be in work that day. Or that week. Or that entire month.
After flying to the foot of the mountain and starting the long climb towards the summit, we were assailed by one of the worst recorded storms to strike the mountain. Static temperatures plunged to –40°F, windspeeds increased to 100mph and it started to snow. All told, we experienced five feet of fresh snowfall in the month we were on the mountain.
PAUL HAS RETURNED TO EVEREST THREE TIMES — NOT TO CLEAN IT Again BUT TO TRY TO CLIMB IT
The late Ted Atkins infiltrates Everest‘s Western Cwm. The mountain’s immense South-West Face (first climbed by Sir Chris Bonington’s team in 1975) dominates the background. © Paul Deegan
I abandoned my first ascent just one day from the summit when I realised I didn’t have the physical strength to reach the top and return safely to the foot of the mountain.
Nine months later and I tried again. This time, I became embroiled in the infamous ‘Into Thin Air’ storm. Over the course of the climbing season, 11 people lost their lives and I vowed never to return to the mountain.
But ‘never’ is a long time. Eight years on and I returned to face my nemesis. Deteriorating weather forced me to abandon my summit bid when I was less than one day from the top.
During the long descent towards Base Camp, I received an updated forecast: the weather was expected to improve. I pressed the pause button to consider my options and ultimately decided to retrace my steps back up the mountain. Two days later and I summitted – alone yet together – on a postcard-perfect morning.
Paul’s adventures encompass so much more than mountaineering
Porters marvel at an ice formation on the Chadar — a frozen thoroughfare that for centuries has provided the only means of entry each winter to the ancient Himalayan kingdom of Zanskar. © Paul Deegan
Over the years, I’ve had the pleasure and privilege of…
…working alongside scientists at a research station floating on the icy skin of the Arctic Ocean.
…assisting the first person with brittle bones disease to kayak off the coast of Antarctica.
…trekking along a frozen river in a gorge deeper than the Grand Canyon to reach an ancient kingdom.
…helping keep cast and crew safe on the set of Tim Burton’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
Today, I take audiences on journeys out of their comfort zones and into the unknown. Rest assured, I still pick up trash wherever I go.