Property management pioneer, Leah Jay, has completed a climbing expedition to the summit of Mount Everest.
The climb marks another victory in her attempt to climb the ‘seven summits’ – the highest peaks on each of the seven continents – a goal Leah shared in her recent Hunter Headline interview.
Mount Everest, which stands at 8,848 metres high, is the world’s tallest mountain. This is the sixth summitthat Leah has achieved and she will now set her sights on summiting Denali in Alaska.
Leah has been in Nepal since the beginning of April, completing a rigorous acclimatisation process with an expeditionteam. The team completed several journeys back and forth between Base Camp and the four camps above before weather eventually permitted a summit attempt just before dawn on Monday, 22 May.
The attempt was successful and the team reached the peak of Mount Everest at 4:40am local time (8:55am AESTtime) after more than eight hours of climbing over night.
As well as being the highest peak in the world, Everest is a dangerous and challenging mountain for climbers and Leah was not immune to being nervous about the climb.
“It is beautiful, but also extremely harsh and unforgiving,” Leah said.
Nevertheless, Leah is pleased to have been able to endure and surpass the many challenges presented by the mountain.
“I am thrilled with my efforts and would have been whether we reached the summit or not,” Leah said.
“I am ever so grateful for the experience and the amazing people I encountered along the way.”
For Leah, the climb was both a test of her physical and mental strength and an achievement in memory of her lateson, Elliot. Elliot passed away in 2008 at the age of just 19 after a 12month battle with Motor Neurone Disease (MND).
Leah is a passionate advocate for raising awareness and funds for Motor Neurone Disease Australia. Not one to shyaway from a challenge – even after a climb to at 8,848 metres – she will be participating in the Newcastle Big Freeze event on 17th June.
The Big Freeze sees local personalities taking a giant slide into a pool of ice water, all in the name of raising funds and awareness to fight MND.
IMAGE | Property manager pioneer, Leah Jay makes it to the summit of Mount Everest.
