Adventurer shares quest to climb Everest with humor, humility

KOLOA, Hawaii — By his own admission, Jamie Clarke was a young, inexperienced egomaniac when he first set his sights on his goal of climbing Mt. Everest.

After two failed expeditions, Mr. Clarke finally realized his goal in 1997. Yet, as the Canadian adventurer and speaker told attendees of Hawaiian Eye 2007 during his keynote speech, the lessons he learned along the way were perhaps more life-defining than the accomplishment itself.

In his a keynote speech at Hawaiian Eye 2007, Jamie Clarke, spoke about the lessons he learned trying to realize his goal of climbing Mt. Everest.

Image: Singer H, OSN

Amid the failures and rejection in his past, Mr. Clarke said he learned the hard way "what failure can teach us." Part of his ability to learn from mistakes was transferred from his mother, as he recalled in an anecdote about a heart-to-heart they had when he was a teenager.

As Mr. Clarke recalls, his mother told him: "Your mistakes are cut into your memory with the sharp edge of embarrassment and hurt. That way you'll never forget them ... at the heart of all these mistakes is data. Take the data and transition it into wisdom."

Later in life, after his first failed expedition, Mr. Clarke recalled this advice and thought: "Why couldn't it work on Everest?"

In preparation for the second expedition in 1994, he decided the aftermath of the first failure was "not about assigning blame," but about tweaking the plan.

For example, besides bigger modifications such as not using oxygen, Mr. Clarke said he thought the group should have more toilet paper.

He told about the group's 2-week trek to the mountain the first time they went. During their journey, his Tibetan hosts fed them and gave them shelter.

During a comical recounting of a meal cooked over a "dung fire," Mr. Clarke said that after the meal, because the food was so foreign for their unprepared digestive systems, the climbers experienced severe intestinal distress for several days.

As a result, they had to ration toilet paper during their climb, and the issue became a constant point of preoccupation and contention.

"You would think that was the worst thing that could have happened to us — we thought about it constantly," he said.

"But it was more powerful than about a logistical piece of toilet paper. The reality was that we didn't have the honesty to face the real problems," he said.

Mr. Clarke said that after this experience, part of his mission was to create a context for the climbers in which everyone would face the harsh realities they were resistant to face. "If we don't want to cheat ourselves out of a chance for success, we need to be honest about our circumstances."

Ultimately, the climbers made it to the top of Mt. Everest a decade ago. Mr. Clarke said, when he finally stood on the summit, he felt had faced his real battle — which was not "about rocks and snow," as he originally believed.

"I had been fooled into thinking that it was about rocks and snow. My fear was facing my fear, which could thrive on the side of mountains," he said.

This realization means something different to everyone, Mr. Clarke said.

"As you move forward I remind you that there is a summit that awaits you ... difficult to get to ... but worthwhile going for the chance to learn your own truth," he reminded attendees.