Local climbers set to conquer Mt. Everest<\/p>\n
By Dwiatmanta<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Mountain climbers aren't always sure what they
\nget out of the life threatening sport.<\/p>\n
Gunawan Achmad, a 36-year-old man has devoted more than half
\nof his life to conquering the world's highest mountains including
\nthose in Indonesia.<\/p>\n
Gunawan, or Ogun as his friends call him, looks set to
\novercome the extra challenges of Mt. Everest, the world's tallest
\nmountain. He may become the first Indonesian to reach the top of
\nthe world during a 55-day multinational expedition beginning at
\nthe end of the month.<\/p>\n
\"Everest will be the biggest of mysteries I have dealt with,\"
\nthe muscular 165-cm man said as he underwent his physical
\ntraining on Friday.<\/p>\n
\"I have never been able to answer the question about what
\nmountain climbing is for,\" he said. And he never tries to, which
\nleaves his father, mother and wife groping for an answer.<\/p>\n
Ogun, born into a Jakarta civil servant's family of 10, saw
\nhis younger brother die during a rafting expedition, another
\nrisky sport, along the Mamberamo river in Irian Jaya three years
\nago.<\/p>\n
He also never forgets the dark day in national mountaineering
\nhistory when Norman Edwin and Didik Samsu were found dead on the
\n6,600m Aconcagua in Argentina in 1992.<\/p>\n
But Ogun, who made his mountain climbing debut in 1973 in
\nCiremai, West Java, seems to leave no room for retreat.
\n\"Mountains have given me everything, including a wife and a
\ndaughter,\" he joked. Ogun makes a living as a mountain guide.<\/p>\n
He admitted that he sometimes hears his wife, Wati Wahyutami,
\nan insurance company employee, grumble, \"Am I your second wife?\"<\/p>\n
Leaving his two and-a-half-year-old daughter Shivalaya at his
\nrental house in Juraganan, South Jakarta is another challenge.<\/p>\n
\"I may also owe a huge amount of money after this expedition,\"
\nOgun said. He has collected Rp 25 million (US$11,537) out of the
\nRp 100 million needed.<\/p>\n
Expedition<\/p>\n
The expedition up the north face of Everest, by International
\nMountain Climbing, involves 14 climbers from seven countries.
\nPeter Kowalzik of Germany will lead the team.<\/p>\n
Ogun refuses to speculate about his chance of a successful
\nascent of the 8,848m snowy mountain, despite having scaled six
\nother mountains in the Himalayas since 1987.<\/p>\n
\"Everest is absolutely different. At such altitude and
\nchilling climate, nobody is a trustworthy fortune teller,\" he
\nsaid. For these reasons, Ogun has been preparing himself for the
\nacclaimed ascent for four years.<\/p>\n
Everest, named after Sir George Everest, one time surveyor
\ngeneral of India, has claimed numerous lives. The most tragic
\nbeing two Englishmen, George Leigh-Mallory and Andrew Irvine, who
\nmysteriously disappeared \"while going strong for the top\" in
\n1924. Nine years later their axes were found at an altitude of
\n8,400m.<\/p>\n
Sir Edmund Hillary, a New Zealand's explorer, and Tenzing
\nNarkey, a Nepalese mountain guide, using oxygen, became the first
\nmen to reach Everest's summit in 1953.<\/p>\n
Ogun, in fact, has failed to reach the top during many of his
\nHimalayan expeditions. He has only managed to stand on the summit
\nof the 7,160m Pumori and the 6,150m Island Peak out of his six
\nattempts on mountains near Everest.<\/p>\n
The team leader will decide whether he deserves to climb to
\nthe peak and join a score of people who have made it to the
\nhighest point in the world.<\/p>\n
If he does not make it this time, Ogun will have another
\nchance next year. He is expected to lead an ambitious campaign by
\nthe country's oldest mountaineering club, Wanadri, to scale
\nEverest in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the republic.
\nMaybe then he will figure out why he climbs.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/local-climbers-set-to-conquer-mt-everest-1447893297",
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