In the Aftermath of the Nepal Earthquake, Setting a New Goal

In the 2015 climbing season, I started out

with a goal of attempting to climb Everest

without using supplemental oxygen

and using minimal support.

On April 25th, a catastrophic earthquake hit Nepal

killing more than 7,000 people,

and killing 16 people at Everest base camp.

All my goals changed that day.

(wind blowing)

It's really, really hard for me right now to reset

my mind towards a different reality,

one that exists with, you know, a country

that I love that's absolutely devastated right now

in a way that's still hard for me to understand.

You know, from everything I can hear, it just sounds like,

especially here at base camp it was like war.

(people yelling)

We went up to base camp the following day

and it was just unbelievable to see this ribbon

of devastation that had come directly

through the middle of camp.

You know, we walked through what seemed like a minefield

of just broken tables and tattered tents

and boot liners and computers and people's personal stuff

just strewn about the glacier.

(slow music)

I feel like in that moment and in the days after

the earthquake, 90% of what I was thinking about

was how to protect my team

and how to make the best decisions for them.

I heard stories from my friends who were

treating patients about people with head injuries

and so much blood everywhere

and people losing eyes and losing limbs and people

dying in front of you.

If I was alone, by myself, I might've just raced

back up to base camp and went in as a responder

knowing that I could actually provide medical care

for people up there and the risk would be worth it,

but the weight of rushing four people into a disaster

zone where potentially they can be killed

when you were sitting in a safe area,

I couldn't make that decision.

Jon Mancuso came with me on this climb

as the high altitude photographer and videographer

and he's been with me very single step

of this entire journey, from my training at home in

Sun Valley, Idaho, all the way in trekking into

Everest base camp and then beginning this climb.

(people yelling)

The earthquake was so bizarre and such an unexpected thing

that I don't think it was really something any of us

had really thought could happen

or really knew how to prepare for.

Just listening to a woman who had just become a widow

find out that her husband died

and she was wailing and it was something that

I just had never heard before in my life

and I remember just feeling the sense of

desperateness and grief and thinking about

my family and about people who I love

and just sort of being thankful that wherever we were.

From the accident this year at Everest base camp

there was 11 local workers who were killed

and to be able to support their families we need $155,000.

In addition to that, we're continuing to support

21 other families which we have to fundraise for

every single year, and I started the Juniper Fund in 2012

to provide financial support for workers' families who were

killed while working in the mountains.

And we wanna pay these families we wanna keep

this commitment to provide

support for them financially as they get through

this period of grief and sort of find their feet again.

The thing that's so unbelievable about Nepal is how

resilient the people are, but I think it's also

gonna take a long time for the country

to regain stability.

They are going to face huge issues with tourism

and people feeling that it's safe to come into Nepal

and go trekking or go climbing and Everest is just

this tiny island in that country.

And to think that being

on or around that mountain is

something that we shouldn't do anymore

that it's some sort of omen,

I don't know I just don't feel that,

I just really don't believe that.

My biggest objective this year with her was to tell

a positive story (mumbles),

and I think that that story is far from finished

and I think that Melissa is gonna complete it,

and I do believe that I will go back,

I wanna finish telling the story.

You know, selflessly I just want to try to help

as many people as I can right now,

but selfishly I'm a little sad that I can't pursue

my dream right now.

It's hard for me to even admit that,

it's hard for me to say that but it's

the truth of how I feel, it really is.

It'd be dishonest if I just said,

you know, instantaneously when I heard that

there was this devastation and I just abandoned

all of my thought of my own personal goals,

cause I don't think that's how we work as humans,

I think we attach ourselves to things.

My biggest fear is that we have been paying attention

to this devastating earthquake and in another week

we're all gonna forget that it happened

and there's gonna be people for years that

are gonna need support.

I'm just so committed to trying to find a way to do that

and I think that it is a new purpose

and we need to continue to find support

as long as we possibly can.

The Juniper fund provides financial support

directly to families who've lost a worker

while working in the mountains.

To contribute go to www.thejuniperfund.org.