Steve Dixon from Barnard Castle has added the Himlung Himal summit in Nepal to his list of completed expeditions. He returned home last week after scaling the 7,126 metre mountain peak in the Himalayas – regarded as one of the toughest climbs outside of Everest.
Steve has previously completed treks to Mount Kilimanjaro, Mount Elbrus and an attempt on Annapurna IV in Nepal had to be abandoned because of poor weather conditions.
Steve is the long-serving groundsman at Barnard Castle Cricket Club, but this was a far cry from Vere Road on a warm summer’s afternoon. He had to contend with temperatures as low as -25C.
The expedition lasted 32 days with the first nine days spent becoming acclimated to low oxygen levels on the way to base camp.
He said: “We spent a couple of days at base camp but on mountains of over 7,000 metres, a rotation method must be used.
“This involves taking our equipment up to camp one. You go up, your body gets used to it, then you come back down and repeat. We do this up to camp two as well. It’s a great way to acclimatise and it gets easier each time.
“After that, it was two weeks of actual climbing and I can say this was easily the hardest one I’ve done.
“There were three of us who went on this one and the other two unfortunately were unable to complete.”
“This was the closest I’ve come to not finishing, that last day especially I really had to dig deep and have some hard talks with myself to make sure I got there.
“I do love the feeling of achievement; however, I can sometimes ask myself why I’m putting myself through it.”
Steve spoke about reaching the top and the toll the climb had taken: “By the time I reached the top I can only be described as a zombie.
“The walk down felt glorious though.”
The oxygen levels are the toughest part of the whole challenge, with levels dropping to approximately a third of those we experience at sea level. Clearly this makes such a trek seem almost impossible, especially with a 17kg bag on your back.
Steve said: “You take two steps and you are having to stop to catch your breath again, it’s completely physically and mentally exhausting.”
Despite the difficulty of the challenge, he has his sights set on tackling even greater summits.
“The ultimate goal would be Everest. I feel that’s the only one I’d like to tick off now.
“It carries more risk, and you are required to be away from home for approximately two months so I’d have to have a long think before committing to it, but we’ll see: it might happen.”
Steve continues to prove that the sky really is the limit.
