In this visually stunning presentation, Adrian details his intensely personal account of his attempts to climb K2 in 2013 and again in 2014, and the story behind his newly released book, "One Man’s Climb: A Journey of Trauma, Tragedy and Triumph on K2". His talk is as much a lesson in human development, real teamwork, social conscience and lives in the world below, as it is a story of climbing the ‘Savage Mountain’.
K2, the ‘Savage Mountain’, at 8,865m in elevation, located in the Karakorum mountains on the border of Pakistan and China, is less than 200m shorter than Mt Everest but in every other sense is the ‘King of the Mountains’. It has long had the reputation of being the greatest challenge in high altitude mountaineering on Earth, with a little over 400 climbers reaching its lofty heights in the 65 years since its first ascent – compared to nearly 6,000 who have summited Mt Everest in the same period. Those that do face the daunting statistic that one in every four that attempt to reach the top perish trying. Adrian provides a unique standpoint, being both an accomplished extreme adventurer and mountaineer, as well as a professional leadership, team and personal coach and speaker.
Adrian Hayes hails from the United Kingdom and served as Gurkha Officer and then in the Special Forces in the British Army. Following this, he became Middle East Sales Director for Airbus. He has since become a record-breaking polar explorer, mountaineer & adventurer. In his expedition career, he has climbed Mt Everest and K2, reached the North Pole and South Pole on foot, travelled the length of Greenland by kite-ski, crossed the Arabian Desert by camel, winning two Guinness world records.
As one of the few extreme adventurers in the world with a senior corporate background, he is now an internationally popular keynote speaker and executive coach & consultant. His first book ‘Footsteps of Thesiger’ was published in 2013. Adrian has featured in three documentaries: “The Greenland Quest” in 2011 for the National Geographic Channel, “Footsteps of Thesiger” in 2013 and “In Inner Mongolia” in 2017 for the Discovery Channel. His first book, “Footsteps of Thesiger”, was published in 2013, and details his 44-day journey across the Arabian Desert. His second book, “One Man’s Climb: A Journey of Trauma, Tragedy and Triumph on K2”, was published in November 2018 with a foreword by Sir Ranulph Fiennes.
Members of the RGS, their guests and others are most welcome to attend this event, which is HK$150 for RGS Members and HK$200 for guests and others, including a complimentary glass of white or red wine. This event is free of charge for Student Members.
The Royal Geographical Society - Hong Kong wishes to express its thanks to The Executive Centre as our Venue Sponsor of this talk.
Please note Session 2 is full. You are welcome to join Session 1.