Tutor To Take on Everest

A Cabot House tutor will climb Mt. Everest this August to raise charity funds for a hospice for terminally ill children.

“It’s about doing something I want to do and for a good cause,” said Myles G. Osborne, Ph.D. candidate in History and African Studies, who will be the only member of his expedition that is climbing for charity. Osbourne said he plans to donate the money to Naomi House, a hospice in southern United Kingdom.

“I always had the climb in the back of my mind,” said Osborne, who is originally from England. The opportunity rose a year and half ago when he learned of the “Challenges” program at Naomi House, which invites supporters to take on adventurous activities to solicit donations.

Osborne is dedicating his climb to Peter Legate, another British mountaineer who died climbing Mt. Everest for Naomi House in 2002.

This is not the first time Obsorne is raising money for Naomi House, which is near his home—he shaved his head for another fund-raiser when he was sixteen. This time around, Osborne is relying mostly on personal contacts and friends for donations, which go directly to charity.

Harvard Mountaineering Club President Lucas T. Laursen ’06, who completed his own climbing expedition in southeastern Kyrgyzstan last summer, said he was impressed by Osborne’s speech about the expedition in Cabot House last month.

“Many so-called ‘benefit climbs’ only support charity with funds left after paying the trip’s expenses, but Myles has agreed to pass on all donations directly to charity” Laursen said.

Osborne will be trekking the snow-covered cliffs with SummitClimb Team, a professional organization that only takes applicants with experience. They will take the “North Col” route to the summit, a steeper and more challenging path than the more frequently traveled “South Col” route, according to Osborne.

Yet, Mt. Everest, towering at 29,000 feet on the border of Nepal and Tibet, is a challenge for even the most experienced climber. In the past half-century, 13 percent of all who braved the challenge died—178 out of 1373 climbs resulted in deaths, according to a 2004 New York Times article.

“Everest is no walk in the park,” said Corey M. Rennell ’07, “gear czar” of the Harvard Mountaineering Club.

To train for the climb, Osborne said he is going through intensive exercise in the gym such as biking and stair climbing. This summer, he will complete his final training at a camp in Colorado by going on long hikes carrying weights on his back.

Above all, numerous hiking experiences have prepared Osborne for his face-off with Everest.

Since 1999, when a friend first convinced him to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro, Osborne has climbed mountains in Russia, Alaska, and South America. “I fell in love with it. I like being outdoors, and the technical aspects of the climb,” Osborne said.

According to Rennell, the biggest risks of being at such high altitudes are cerebral and pulmonary adena, which cause pressure in the brain and lungs. If a climber shows symptoms he must descend in altitude immediately, which is difficult on the steep slopes of the “North Col,” Rennell said.

Osborne said above 7,000 meters, the brain becomes “hypoxic,” or deprived of oxygen, making concentrating, breathing and sleeping difficult. Operating climbing gear at this state becomes difficult for inexperienced climbers.

When asked what advice he would give students, Osborne said, “I would hate to look back at my life at forty and say there was something I wish I had done. If you want to do something, do it.”

More information about Osborne’s expedition is available at www.everest4kids.com.