8 hours from the Top of the World with Trent Thorne

Oli Le Lievre 0:01 G'day and welcome back to the humans of agriculture podcast. I'm your host, Oli leaf. Welcome back to another week. This week, I am recording from home, on what around country and I'd like to extend my respects to the traditional custodians on the lands wherever you're taking our podcast this week. Now, several months ago, I sat down with the first person I know who was about to attend Mount Everest. I had a zillion questions for him. And I can safely say that he's back home in Australia, he's back to work. And we got the chance to sit down with Trent Thorne to find out all about that trip. If you haven't listened to Episode One, here's a reminder, check it out in your show notes or just search trends on humans of agriculture. So here we are several weeks postpartum, we thought we'd sit down and check in with Trent and find out more about what the trip was actually like. Now we're gonna put it up front. Unfortunately, he didn't make it to the top of the world. We'll have a few stats here in a second to kind of just quantify and put it into perspective. But after a huge expedition, he made it to the final stage before Everest, literally, he was six or eight hours off, doing the final ascent to the top, and his body just decided that it had had enough. Now, if you remember, in episode one, Trent was saying that he wouldn't put himself or others in danger. And the descent from Everest, or any of these columns is actually rated as being more dangerous than the ascent, as fatigue and exhaustion can catch people out. So unfortunately, he didn't make it there. But he did have a heck of a trip he achieved so much. But let's put this into some context. 2023 is shaping up to be one of the deadliest years on Mount Everest with at this stage at recording 17 people having died, including at least one Australian, as of July 2022, probably need to find some updated figures here. But 6098 People of the 8 billion on the world had actually made it to the top of Mount Everest, for a total of 11,346 total summits. So in this chat, we want to find out from Trent, what it was like what actually happens up there in Nepal at Basecamp. And kind of beyond what he discovered and learned about himself, his team. And yep, a couple of them did make it to the top. He chats about the power of nature about being removed from the outside world somewhat ish. And what the recovery has been like since let's get into it wow, look at Trent Thorne 2:28 your face. Yeah. So that wasn't a thing. So stones because I'm not really used to taking selfies. Oli Le Lievre 2:34 The bead is be there. Trent Thorne 2:38 The is absurd. Oli Le Lievre 2:41 God, well, Trent. I think what are we back? How long has been two weeks, three weeks that you've been back for? Trent Thorne 2:48 Three? Yeah. In Australia. It's three. I've been back off the mountain basically. Yeah. So a month now like Katmandu I was there for a week. Oli Le Lievre 2:57 It's incredible. Because after the first episode we did, which was obviously pre Columbian chatting about the different scenarios and the preparation and things you did just the different people that were following and messaging and I had a few different people message me at different times going, Oh, how's he going with it? And I was checking the adventure consultants, Twitter, a fair bit, and then their website blogs, which was great. Just keep up to date with it was literally that last few days where it was, I think it was, was it your 10? Buddy who made it to the top? Yes. I was like, No, where is it? Where is he? And then I was like, Okay, what's happened and then started, obviously, because you were off Twitter at this stage. It was the last few days, the very last moments, but I just want to know how you feeling now. You're a month post climb? Trent Thorne 3:38 Yeah, well look on it took. I went straight back to Kathmandu after the climb. And it is fair to say my body and my mind were just pretty shattered. I had a pretty severe chest infection, which unfortunately dragged me off the mountain right at the end. But the coffee I ended up getting just took quite a long time to go. So I sort of fortunately it wasn't due to being Katmandu, or late not leaving Nepal till early June, the second of June. But there's no way I would have been able to get on a plane until that time anyway, because my cough just sort of cleared the flight like it was just really, really chronic. And then once I got back to Australia pretty much went straight back to work. But it was it was at least another week of being at work before my brain came out of its fog. It was weird. It'd be hard to describe it. It was sort of like my body and my brain weren't really working together and I'd find a dispute we're doing a lot of staring off into space. And that wasn't like a level of wistful and so it's just more a case and I just think my brain was still in shock and maybe not used to processing so much oxygen. But then the weirdest thing which is still probably the little bit of the case of my body is just rejecting me entirely in terms of Viper fitness because I have been going back to the gym. I have been doing some running, but it's like my body has not done anything for six months. So it's like It's reset itself almost it's I've been getting the pain you get when you go for a run for the first time in a long time, it's because and I can't explain anybody just and as I said I only I can sort of explain is that my body's rejecting it's gone through something traumatic. And it's basically saying no to me in some way, shape or form. So other than that, everyone's been incredibly supportive. I've just really enjoyed catching up with so many people. So many people just want to hear my story and what it was all about. And just delve so deep into the minutiae of the entire trip. And I'm absolutely have zero problem doing that. But it will could ask me pretty good overall getting back, but I do find occasionally, it still feels a little bit weird, because at one stage, not too long ago, I was staying in the middle of nowhere freezing my ass off, Oli Le Lievre 5:49 at least not losing your gloves. That was one thing I was very mindful of looking at finances. Okay, Trent Thorne 5:54 I did see that. Because I know we talked about that. And it's funny, or what, what made funny for the individuals concerned, but sitting on the WATI face, I did see a couple of gloves, gloves just slide past me down the face. So you know, it's held off above you is not having a good day, and the trip has become, you know, Ken was if I can't find a replacement, so I did see it happen in real time. Oli Le Lievre 6:17 And so you did just talk a little bit there about the body. But let's start probably at the back end of the trip. And where I was really, I guess gunning for you, obviously the whole night. But the gunning for you was the last few days, there was really a 24 hour period with the plan was up Everest back down and then up lotze. And you were sitting there in Ohio's view wherever on summiting Everest, and the body had other plans for you what was it like and what actually happened? Trent Thorne 6:48 Well, we'd started a couple of days earlier down at base camp, and but every day, we were doing something quite energetic, we had one rest day at Camp two. But for a five day period, we pretty much had big days, just moving steadily up the mountain, as I said, save for one day where we rested the camp too. So the final day before some days, you're basically starting at 7300 meters, you're just just starting oxygen. And that is the final climate velocity phase. So we had about 700 meters of face to cover that day. And when I looked at my Garmin at the end of the day, I basically carbon 1.3 kilometers, there's a little bit of traversing up top. So it's not a big day when you look at it like that as 1.3 Ks, but it took us 10 hours to cover that. So you're basically doing about 100 days now. And that's because the Lottie pace is just it's the best way to describe it. It's like an ice ladder. So it's, it's not vertical, but it's near on vertical and all day, all you're doing is just literally step after step, just going up this vertical face, and there's really no place to stop, there's really no place to rest. You've got people, whilst there's no big queues or traffic jams up there. You know, there's other climbers who are that behind you. So you've got pressure of just keep on going, even though you're going at that incredibly slow rate that's as quick as you can really go. It's a big day, what I'm trying to say is just a huge, huge day, I think we had expected because we started at 4am. So it's freezing cold, we started but we did that deliberately. So we would, if there was going to be a queue with the head of it. Most other teams started at six. So we got in, after that 10 hours, we got into the high camp, the South Col at 2pm in the afternoon, with a view to 10pm that night heading off to the summit. So there was always we'd probably plan on being there a little bit early, but the day just took longer. I hadn't really really noticed how fatigued I was. At that point, all I wanted to do was get a bit of food and be get some fluid into me, it's very hard that I found all the way up the mountain above camp to eating and drinking is just becomes hard. And I think the way to try and explain that is that because it's such a low oxygen environment, the body doesn't feel like it needs it. Even though it's something as obvious as water, even just taking a gulp of water becomes hard. So you're forcing yourself to drink every gulp of water every mouthful of food. But you know, you need that for the energy stores about what's going to happen the next day. So you're constantly conscious that I need to be pushing this food into me this drink into me. So I got into Montana because freezing cold and South coal there's always a little bit of a wind there because you've between Everest and watse. So it's a shoot for the wind. We knew that going in. I've got into a tent, started doing a few things and then that's when I started noticing I suppose because I started to cool down a bit my calves just really the best way I can describe is that they just became like lead bricks, sort of they're not didn't freeze up on me but they were just like a rock. And after a couple of hours of me just trying to get them moving in the sleeping bag because you just there's no point being out of sleep maggots too cold, or fed pretty quickly realized that the timeframe between 2pm and 10pm was not good. me enough to get my calves working again. So I made the call after Bob, probably by about 6pm. This, I could feel I knew my body well enough that this there was no way I could do what I was about to try and do. And the decision was, it was a relatively easy decision to make in terms of, I know that if I go up there, I'm gonna put myself in danger. I talked about this last time, I was going to put my Sherpa in danger. I just wasn't prepared to do that. No, so it was conscious of not because definitely stressed last time, I locked my fingers, I liked my toes, and there'd been a lot of frostbite on the mountain, it was actually it's been the worst year for prosple I'd ever the amount was actually colder this year, which manifested itself and people were first taking more time, they obviously suffered more frostbite injuries. So I just made the call. I just knew that I could got them out. And I could probably get to a certain point I knew I would be able to get on top. And I thought, what's the point? That's just, that's irrational, I'm better off staying here. Keeping the powder dry, and hopefully my legs come good. And I can try Loxy tomorrow. That was that's the why I rationalized it to myself. I just knew it was right, it was the right decision. But it still immediately stand for the obvious reasons, because I knew that my one shot was gone. You know, I, we talked about it marked on being one and done. And that's still my intention. I have no plans. Really to ever go back. I'm sure there's a few people on my team who will be speaking to me in a year's time or two years time saying let's have another shot. But I'm pretty firm my view that won't be happening again. So look at 10pm or 9pm, when my teammates started rustling in the tent, they because I already told them at six o'clock, this is what I'm doing. I'm not going and I think they thought I was just speaking at the side of their mouth or something or just not, you know, not being fed income. And at nine o'clock when they started putting me in in the sleeping bag. As I was getting ready. I said, I'm sorry, guys, that's my decision have made. It's the obvious one, and I can't go back on it. And I don't regret the decision. So that's basically that's effectively what happened to my teammates left and in full credit to the four of them that left the four of them samedi and as did all the Sherpas. So yeah, it frustrating doesn't even begin to describe the feeling. But I was obviously incredibly happy and thrilled for them because I could see the expressions on their faces when they got back, you know, they it was, it's what I wished I was doing, but I just knew that I just couldn't. And then the next day, obviously, well, I stayed in the tent all that day, they are obviously out there summoning they came back and plan was at midnight to leave for Loxy. I got up, I went I started climbing up loyalty and I could just within at least 50 to 75 meters at the start of the column. I just knew my cars were caught. And I even said to the shipper a little bit lower. Now I said this just isn't happening. And the shipper with all credit to him, he said, Look, just let's keep trying, let's just go slow. Let's just keep trying. And I tried for about 30 meters. And then you just feel there was nothing, there was no energy, my car flip just, they just weren't there like they had been everywhere else on the mountain. So I look, that felt bad as well. But it also at least made me know that the day before my decision was the right one, you know. So it gave me a little bit of comfort that I hadn't missed out on Everest, it was my carbs were in trouble. So then when I had to get off the mountain, so 2am in the morning, we just started heading down the hill down the Lottie face, which took six hours to descend. And then by the time I started getting back to camp, I was some of the things I'd be experienced at the mountain, it's hard to really manifest themselves, which was my chest infection. I didn't know that at the time. But I proceeded over the course of that day, then just to go downhill quite rapidly, like a loss in the voice, a cough just became really, really shocking. And I want the benefit of your listeners run through all the simpler flip things, we're moving in a bad direction. And because it was what I was at that still at six and a half, 1000 meters, and I still had a very long walk out the next day back down to base camp or another seven hour walk minimum, which you would have taken longer the way I was feeling like it would have been it would have been just awful. To the point where I would have really, really struggled to get out of it, they've made the call to get a helicopter to get me off the mountain, which as I said was not the way I wanted it in my trip because that basically meant I had to fly all the way back to Kathmandu to go to hospital. But it was the right call again, like I was not in any fit state to be walking off anywhere at that point. So again, I don't know whether my chest infection had anything to do what have transpired. I just don't know, I really it's just an unknown unknown. Oli Le Lievre 14:33 And I think you'd said it before. And you kind of reiterated it then though, that you weren't willing to take risks that were going to put other people in danger. And you absolutely stuck by that though. And were thinking yes of yourself but also of those others and what I was really interested in, I think you did a tweet when you're recapping it and you'd mentioned that potentially you think you might have been able to get to the top of say lotze But it actually would have been the dangers that you would have put yourself and others in coming down that that's where other people find themselves in trouble? Trent Thorne 15:01 Well, that's right. And if you look at lottery, as I said, I tried, and I could have still kept going up, as I said, my cards were cool. But all it meant is I could have slowed down to an absolute crawl. And like, we gotta remember how pseudo we are already at a snail's pace, right. But then you moving into, as I said, in the Frostbite territory, blasts, given what I now know that I was beginning to really start suffering from something I might have felt at that time, but I was clearly at the very nascent part of a sickness, if I go on up the hill, another three 400 500 meters, they would have had to come down those 500 plus the 1000 meters off the face, you know, I could, I don't know where I could have ended up. So just it's one of those things that I suppose it was lucky that I didn't go door to face that day, because I really, I things can, you know, turn bad very quickly up in those zones. If I, as I said, my, my lungs just basically, were shocked as well with this chest infection, like my capacity would have been reduced, which would have been my ability just to even move down the mountain would have been compromised. So it's not something I've really thought a lot about. But I, I am fortunate that I went down when I went down because I was no good. I was in a better place to be when I actually started getting properly sick, which happened quickly. Oli Le Lievre 16:17 And one thing which will you're probably not aware of, we saw while you were climbing, there was obviously the Australian and the tragedy around it. We had a few people message us straightaway going. Have you heard from Trent? Like, where's he at? etc? And like, I guess part of that was a oh, shit moment. But it would have been pretty confronting being on the mountain at that stage. Trent Thorne 16:38 Well, I'll say No, only because I didn't know I wasn't aware at the time. I can't remember when I became aware that it has happened, you are aware of, again this year, more people have died than any other year, which is not something to be, you know, be crowing about. It's very, very unfortunate. Last year, there's only three deaths this year, there's been 17. So we were getting, you're getting snapshots of things, you know that, frankly, you're getting the story from back home before we got to that base camp, because it's but then again, you'd see occasionally the awful side of it of a helicopter longlining a body off the mound, like so we were seeing that. And the one question people seem to be fascinated by like, do you see dead bodies? That is oh, you know that though, because you've been told that before and you but we were seeing them as they were coming down to some of the people who just recently passed. But again, I didn't know who these people were they've got, you know, for the sacred dignity, they've got shrouds and things on them. So they that Australian gentleman, I can't remember when I heard that. But I don't think I was aware till I really got back down. And the one thing you as you mentioned that I've been told by now, not kidding at least 100 people who said they thought the same thing, that they'd heard scant details, and they've mind immediately went to thinking that it was me which I'm sorry that that happened. And I'm sorry for the gentleman in question. This family, obviously, Oli Le Lievre 17:59 I had no idea that there was 17. And so even that, I think talks to Well, I guess that extremity of what this actually is, and it was funny, like, since we chatted, I've chatted to numerous people now like I've always thought about doing so many people? Well, sorry, they've thought oh, that might be something I'd like to do one day or whatever, challenge myself. And then when you actually talk to the statistics of how many people have made it to the top and what's actually involved and how long it actually takes and the different levels from what you mentioned last time. People like Ah, okay, there's a lot more to it than what is perceived on the outside. Trent Thorne 18:34 Well, and it's funny. Well, not funny, but I know by guiding comm you have seen one of their comments online in the last week or two, you know, their firm, like they have a very, very firm view on the way safety should be dealt with and why these teams should be run up the mountain. And that's, there's one thing of actually having been there. Now, I was just so happy and proud to be part of the team I was part of because I could see things that were happening on other groups, and you're just shaking your head going, how do these people? How are they allowed to operate up here, you know, and with the greatest respect to some of them, you know, they really shouldn't be have any sort of license. It's like our group, there was eight of us in climbers in our group and adventure consults. Whenever they I asked them, what's the maximum you would have in the group, they said, 10. That's the most we think we can deal with and actually feel as though we're keeping you safe. One of the groups I had at climbers in their group, and you know, I don't care how many guides you've got, like that is just an absurd number to try and keep a corral on, you know, and move them up and down the mountain. And that's just asking for trouble. I think, you know, and I know, again, a lot of this stuff just comes back to money, whether either whether they're guiding companies or trying to get it or the clients are trying to pay the little as possible, but, you know, you need to be fairly calm and real about this. Like if you're paying less, that means that you're not getting something, you know, and I'd be asking and as I speak I did say last time I Pretty sharp, it's very expensive to shoot some people. That's all they can afford. If that's all I can afford, that's fine. But do is there's no way I'd be compromising on my safety just for, you know, a few $1,000. Because I don't want to get into specific examples of some of the people who passed away up there. But a lot of them, I would put in the preventable category, if they had done that team for better resources or how I would say it, you know, so I know people don't want to hear that. But that really is the reality, you know, these some of these teams really shouldn't be operating up there. Well, and Oli Le Lievre 20:33 let's give a little plug to adventure consultants. Because tell me about the team behind the scenes and the beautiful pastries and everything else you were accustomed to? Well, they Trent Thorne 20:43 had sort of a group that pioneered these sort of expeditions. So they were pretty much the first connect commercial expedition operators up at Mount Everest. So back in 30 years ago, and everyone is probably many people have seen that Everest movie from the 1996 disaster. Well, this isn't a great plan, this part for everybody. But adventure consults are one of the groups that unfortunately, were part of that 1906 disaster. But the lessons that obviously, we'll learn from that still echo through to this day. So die Connor, who owns adventure consultants now was there then like an Dorjee my Sherpa guide was there, he was part of all of that way back in the early 90s. So I said last night, he This was his 22nd successful summit. And guy has, you know, like a lot of these New Zealand mountaineers, you know, Barry, doesn't want to have to drag the details out. And they're not exactly, you know, forthcoming in terms of the incredible accomplishments they've done all around the world. But he's done a lot of first sense and eight, seven or eight of the 8000 meter mountains, and that he's just a very experienced operator. And that's what 30 years or 32 years does on the mountain. So they are, you know, as I said earlier, they've seen the mistakes like they were there in 2014, and 2015. Unfortunately, 2015, six of their team died. And as part of that, the earthquake and what happened at Basecamp. So that, obviously, it's got nothing to do with mountain climbing, it's just on very unfortunate set of circumstances. So they've been at the one way, or the best way to describe it is that they've seen sort of every permutation of screw up, whether it's human or environmental up there on the mountain, and they know how to deal with it. And they just, again, on this trip up the eight people, two of our team were cut prior to the final rotation, because they had made the call with those two individuals that either their fitness wasn't up to scratch, or their skills weren't at the level they expected them to be. And they've given them enough warning, etc. And then I like that, not that they cut the two people, but the fact that there aren't optimizing, they're worthless, it doesn't matter that you've paid a significant sum of money that's relevant to them, it's like, well, we expect you to be at a certain level. And if you're not, you're going to create problems for you and us up the mountain. Yeah, and I know, in those two particular individuals cases, and I can't speak for them, but I'm certain that they saved their lives, if they went higher up the mountain, they were at a significantly higher chance of getting into, you know, into whatever level of danger. And I'm sure they've still smarting. That's what a good leadership outfit does is they make the hard decisions. And that's about as hard decision as it gets, as you know, you've got a client is paid. There's not many tool companies out there where you've paid an unfathomable amount of money. And they basically said that we're not letting you go any higher. You know, that's their, that's them. And I don't see that happening anywhere else in any of the other groups in the mountain, you know, and that's the other thing is, they are vetting all of us before I ask the question about how many people do they apply to join their crew, and it's quite a significant number. So they are actually doing a good a very job as they can to make sure they're getting people that they believe will fit in with their culture, but also have a greatest opportunity to get to the top and have a good climbing CV. So they don't just take people as sort of alluded to at the very start of this question. People are going through almost and it's the first time they've had a mountaineer experience, which is just shouldn't be allowed to happen. But it continues to happen up there, as you were saying, some people who've shown an interest in this and maybe going in doing this would find an avenue for one of the operators up here to actually go and try this and that. Okay, if they got there. That's incredible. But frankly, I just find that to be reckless and extreme because I looked at so many things on this trip. And it's hard to think of one that comes to mind now, but there's my level of experience on so many different prior expeditions came into play on this one where you just know what to do in a certain situation. And it's just life experience, but in this case, a very specific niche experience. But if you haven't had that before, particularly in the environment you're in, you know, things can turn back quickly. You know what I mean? So I have this big body of knowledge I can rely upon to help me out in certain situations like muscle memory you don't just know exactly what you gotta do when something bad is happening in front of you, you know? Oli Le Lievre 25:04 Yeah, that natural reaction. So tell me with the benefit of hindsight, what was something which pleasantly surprised you up on the mountain then that whole trip? Trent Thorne 25:13 Well, I suppose first thing is maybe not present. But one thing I'd probably look forward to doing for so many years, and it absolutely exceeded my expectations was the walk in the height. The height Everest base camp is obviously one of the more well known hikes around the world. And it was just stunning. Like I and obviously, it's something I enjoy doing. But so what are some of the days are you just pinching yourself? Because it is just an incredible view the entire day, you know, it's you just can't get over the high for these mountains that are sort of looming above you and the precipitous, you know, drops down to the river valleys, and it's just beautiful. Then you've got, you know, herds of yaks walking past you know, like, like, it's just you're taking all these little boxes. It's just, it was absolutely beautiful. Look, the food I've obviously been on these shows before, but the food did surprise me in terms of just it just the consistent quality. I think it's one thing people do ask me a lot about because I think people expect you're just eating stuff out of a bag rehydrated. Like a lot of camping sort expeditions do. And there's that criticism of that sometimes that's all the Indochina in very rudimentary cooking environment. But this kitchen, we had four cooks just cooking for us the show present for cooks call them first camp two, there was four cooks that sat at Camp two for the entire season, they didn't come up come down, they stayed at Camp two, for the entire three months season because the Sherpas are going past so often they need people there to, to cook for them. So we are so well catered for, despite all of that, like I was conscious that I needed to keep eating because I know I lose weight. But you know, also you got to put your energy stores in. So I would take every opportunity to have second thirds of things, which is not normally my bag. I still lost eight kilos, despite all that, which sort of shows you how much sort of energy you're putting out. And look, I suppose I'd maybe I didn't find this surprising as well, that just my teammates, they, most of these trips you go on you. Generally with people you don't know I've been fortunate on some trips to be able to go with crews that I know everyone, and that's obviously great. But I've my climbing crew, I really only knew one well, I knew another lady from America to an extent but I wouldn't say and you're well, but the rest of them were just all completely unknown to me. But they will be friends for life. There's no doubt about that. But and even people ancillary to the climate why we had a young doctor in our team think Ben was a 28 Ben Alba, he's a Scottish young Scottish bloke just fat was an absolutely brilliant guy. And I Benny and I would would most mornings, this will just show you the level. So you would have 10 T, which a base can I don't drink tea or coffee, so it was wasted on me. But you would have the cup boys would turn up your 10 You'd hear them obviously, and then they'll give you a hot towel to wake you up. And whatever you want to pretend to know, as I said, I didn't drink 10 Tea. So I just would go to the domain dining tend not to sit down with being in front of the heater, just shooting the breeze for half an hour or an hour before everyone turned up for breakfast sort of England and you know, just a really great guy looked after so incredibly well. But we were one of the only I think of all the expedition crews on the mountain as anyone for that had the benefit of actually having a doctor in their team, you know, like and again, when I got sick even on the way you know that a cough on the way you got someone there just to help you every single day and give you the best possible and the quickest possible exit from that, you know, problem like so we're, again you paying for that, but that has its own benefits. So yeah, I can't criticize anything about the way our expedition ran and the people who were a part of it. Oli Le Lievre 28:46 So I've got one question just around the tea. Did you manage to sneak in any contraband cans if they Trent Thorne 28:54 are you remember that? No. Now, I didn't it because that's extra white, but I can tell you right now, the one thing because you crave things like incredibly and wasn't just me everyone was craving Coke or just something that bottle on your tongue is anything different. And the often a very first rotation we've got all the way back down to the icefall waiting for us at the bottom of the icefall was the sort of the head Sherpa, effectively who runs everything back at Basecamp. And he added his slip bag and just pulled all these bottles of coke for us and like I could have cried like it was. So that became like a bit of a thing. Every time we came back down the mountain, we'll get a bar go and when you think about that, it's not such a big thing, but to get a bottle of coke to base Canvas $10 us like everything has a cost to it, you know. So it's a sort of thing. They obviously treat it as a special thing and it shouldn't be you shouldn't have a coke every day because it's just as extraordinarily expensive, you know, so I did appreciate it like little things like that. So no V's but I did have a couple of sneaky cokes which I will never forget Oli Le Lievre 29:59 But I think if Coca Cola cottoned on to that they've got a pretty good advertising campaign don't they? Trent Thorne 30:04 Well, I was slightly boring but all the way through the valley I was keeping a diary and I was writing down, I have a little coke index in terms of telling me how expensive things were getting. So I did keep a track of coke, which says probably more about more than anything else. Oli Le Lievre 30:20 I'm intrigued, other cravings or random thoughts or things that came here? Trent Thorne 30:25 Well, look, I can tell you the one things which are well and truly satiated. So going back, he was like a beef burger like they were cooking burgers for us account which it began, we're playing amazing. But chicken, they were mostly chicken and there was no beef to speak up. And I think that's it because of the Hindu influence which I didn't really fully join the dots for a while there. Because they're mostly Hindu all but the Sherpas are all Buddhist. So there's really no Hinduism on the mountain. And that's one thing I suppose I shouldn't I'll get onto that. But burn like a beef burgers is dying for and a steak like a good steak, which. So I've, as I said, since I've been back, I've literally not both of those on the head. But the one thing I suppose that surprised me as well. I'm not religious in any way, shape, or form. In fact, you know, I'm not disrespectful to anyone's religion, but it's like, you can deal with that over there, as long as it's, you know, bothering me with a go crazy, but I just really don't hear anything about it. It just doesn't come into my life. But we had a number of puja ceremonies, it's the Sherpas, the llama local alarm comes up from down the valley. And it's quite an intricate ceremony, which I won't, but it goes for hours. And I won't go through it all. But there's a lot of chatting, prayer, reading rice, throwing weed, water coming out of coke, plastic coke bottles, and you know, like there's not stuff going on. But you end up I found that I was just letting all of that just I was embracing all of that. Because I just thought all of this is trying to get rid of the fear and use what they're actually saying that some of these little things like we had necklaces they gave to us, which was to push the fear out of you. And also give you safe passage up the mountain. And I just thought what a hypocrite I am because I was embracing Oh, it doesn't have any, any little looking thing that will do that for me, I will completely accept all that. And I couldn't believe again, as I said, I was completely happy to do all of this. And when we would leave campus at midnight to go up to the ice wall. The puja it's called elapsed cyber ceremonial altar, I suppose it stays there the whole time. It's got all the prayer flags leading off it. It's quite ornate in terms of everything that's on it, we would do 360 degree laps and this thing before we would leave cap and there would be the main shirt would be up it'd be burning Juniper, we'd be throwing rice that the chef has been behind us chanting like a day. And he said I would do I'm getting goosebumps. Now think about because it's like I would just be completely accepting that because I thought, well, they're doing this. For me they're doing this because this is what they believe in. And I need to delete this for the moment because, you know, to do anything to the contrary, might put me in someone's bad books. And I didn't want that to happen. So I'm not saying I became religious. But I certainly for a couple of months was prepared to accept whatever was happening. If you understand what I mean, Oli Le Lievre 33:10 believing in something bigger, maybe Trent Thorne 33:13 me, maybe, but I'm not going to come. But that being said, I've never really thought about Buddhism, but there's good there's some good tenants in Buddhism, but I'm not prepared to embrace it fully. Oli Le Lievre 33:23 Versus face. It might be a bad three. When people have asked you questions, has anyone really stumped you on anything yet? Trent Thorne 33:31 No, no, because I suppose they might. And a couple of years I wrote very comprehensive diary notes. I always do on all these trips, because you just forget things so quickly. So there's a few things that I surprise me some people. And I'll certainly won't go into this for your listeners. But some people are just fascinated by the whole toilet routine. I mean, truly fascinated where it scares me a little bit in terms of what why they're so fascinated by. And so I look like, I can't believe how much I've had to go through that chapter and verse and I mean chapter and verse to some people. But no one's really stumped me. The one, as I think I've sort of alluded to, the outpouring of interest just is still incredible. I can't believe it. I've been asked to speak at a couple of the cotton conference coming up in torment a month or so I've been asked to speak at that. And there's a couple of things which I won't go into details yet because they haven't been finally confirmed. But in circumstances where I'm still quite down on myself that I haven't achieved, what I wanted to achieve and what I set out to achieve. Some people are just really think there's a story here that still needs to be told in terms of, I suppose, preparation, but also decision making, which I'll have to see is in a month's time, I'll give my first presentation a little bit. It's still going to be pretty raw by that point. Oli Le Lievre 34:48 Have you got in your hand, you don't have to answer it at all. But in your diary or anything. If you got quite philosophical about the whole piece. It's the journey, not the destination. Trent Thorne 34:58 Probably not the last Few days, I still need to write like everything I wrote my diary religiously every day, which became the topic of conversation and campus, everyone else's diaries would be days and days behind. But it gets so hard because I was writing like basically typing into my phone. And those last few days, there's just too much going on. And, and because it ended the way it ended, I haven't quite gotten back to it yet. So there might be a degree of wistfulness when I write the last few passages, but I suppose because the interesting Well, wasn't so interesting for me. But my diary, I actually was sharing with a couple of people who expressed an interest in reading and as I was going, so there was only about six or seven people that I shared with, and some people just because I was getting messages back from them, I think they didn't quite appreciate what you're going through a lot of the time up there. And it's not that I'm being overly Frank but it's just things like the office observation which I made, which is a very unused the whole thing is very unusual in the sense that you're you're tapering for two months, like my fitness level from when I started to when I finished was was significantly less but that's everyone's in the same boat. It's not like he can go back to base camp and sit on that exercise bike or bike or just do it, you know, run to keep extra fitness levels while you're deliberately doing nothing, you know. So I think a lot of reading what I was going through at the time, people just have no real appreciation of, of the difficulty of the environment and what you're actually you're having to exist in on our we explained we talked about this last time, and you just base camps quite comfortable. As soon as you move up the mountain, everything, everything it gets hard to do. You know that I was explained to someone the other day, I think this is probably okay to explain that. It's getting moving slightly into the total territory. But I once you go to bed at night, you don't want to believe your taxes too cold, you know, so if you have to go to you know, let's just say that, we all have PE bottles, and the people's, unfortunately look exactly like your water bottles. But they do that because it's their heart. Now this isn't going where you think it's going. But if you have to go, this is the thing and people find weird, it's like, you don't then just leave it outside your sleeping bag, because you won't have morning, you've got a frozen bottle block. And it's all How do I get that out of the bottle? So you actually have to put that in your sleeping bag. And people sort of going that's disgusting. Oh God, well, it's just the reality what you have to deal with it like the first this is the first trip I've had where my two ice trays like I've used to things like my sunscreen sits on my frozen sunscreen many times before. So I always leave it on my thigh. When I go to sleep. It sits in a pocket on my thigh. So it's always against my body. So I can use it the next morning, but I've never had toothpaste freeze before. Like, you know, so this is just every single time you gotten them out, there's a new thing you got Jesus Christ. So we're gonna now think about that, you know, like, so that's, that's the reality of being at a stupid altitude and a stupid temperature. Yeah, Oli Le Lievre 37:52 I definitely didn't think of going another way. But that's also the original hot water bottle. Trent Thorne 37:57 There is a degree that are like, again, like a bass game. That's why basically, we would every night when we go to sleep, we had to get two of our bottles, the cook boys would build it with boiling water, and we'd stick them in our sleeping bag. So we had every night you just got a little sort of rudimentary hot water bottle. And I got used to that, like, you get a good night's sleep and you got a couple of hot water bottles, literal bottles in your body. So you were Oli Le Lievre 38:18 one of the routines that you've kept into your home. Trent you just got a little hot water bottle that you'd have to bid. Trent Thorne 38:23 Well, with our prices, maybe it's not such a bad idea. Oli Le Lievre 38:27 What about and maybe, yeah, only another couple of questions for you. But something surprisingly, that you learn about yourself? Trent Thorne 38:34 Well, I think that religious one is probably the one that jumps to mind. Look, the one thing I would say that when I was a bit younger, I was guilty of maybe being a bit stubborn, being dogmatic sometimes off. I think in my as I've gotten a bit older, I'm I am becoming a little bit more relaxed in that regard and prepare to accept. Yeah, like I was so regimented the way I expect people to behave on some of these trips. And you've just got to accept that people are different, and that's okay. And frankly, it's to be embraced sometimes, and then you end up getting along with people that you maybe might not have previously. So I found that I I'm just letting things flow a bit more, I suppose. Which I as I said, I don't know if that's normal most people get as they get older, they get even worse in some of these traits, you know, get even more stubborn in order back. So I think I'm slowly working my way out of that that behavior which pleases me because it was not an aspect I thought was endearing. Oli Le Lievre 39:36 And I'm curious, Hamilton Locke might be curious as well. Now, I'm curious, did you outlook on work and I guess the society that we live in here in Australia shift change, refresh, frustrated at all? Trent Thorne 39:51 Although, let me answer sorry for why I basically, as we discussed before I left I had very capable team here who were able to pick up the candles and move matters along and pick up new matters that came in and basically keep an eye on my inbox. And whilst I was looking at emails, I mean, I'd seen him and God anyway, I really wasn't really reading anything. I didn't make a phone call for two months, because, well, I couldn't. And I can tell you what, that felt pretty good. And I have no regret in saying it. Like, if it felt really good to be, I would, I'm sure as we just you just had mentioned, I would send the odd tweet. But I wasn't sitting on Twitter, I wasn't sitting on anything. You know, I basically, I didn't know what was going on out there in the world, which is not something I'm used to. But I was quite okay. Embracing Well, actually, I was getting a little bit annoyed that one of our team members because they would be sitting on Instagram and telling us all the other gossip from all the other camps. And I suppose going, I don't give a shit what's happening in other camps. Like I said, All I care about is what's happening here. You know, if it's going to affect us, okay, well, maybe, but I don't want the scuttlebutt anywhere else, because it doesn't. Yeah, it's just, it was like What's cluttering up my mind? So I really did, absolutely decompress. And maybe that's probably why I was so foggy when I got back because I've just forgotten how to use my brain. But I have caught up with a few of the more senior people here, not to the extent of really talking a detail about this or things going forward. I'm sure we will in the coming weeks. But I did say they were quite supportive. I know I said that before. But they were very, very supportive. And I'm sure they were watching as closely as, as everyone else. I know, one of the very sweet young girls here at the office was telling me she cried when she if she learned that I hadn't made the talk. And I said, Well, honestly, you're more invested in this than I was I hadn't even cried so. But you know, that's just some people really got so incredibly, you know, locked into the progress, which as I said, I find very touching. Oli Le Lievre 41:55 Yeah, it's incredible. And I think well from the outside, then it probably means nothing to you at all. But like it, it is an incredible feat. And it has been fascinating to chat with you, God three and a bit months ago to the men today. And I'm looking forward to continue when we bumped into each other at various stages. And whoever knows, you might be talking at the ACA breakfast this year. Yeah, no, not Trent Thorne 42:16 sure you have that? Oli Le Lievre 42:20 Was that the probe? Where he's Trent popping up? Trent Thorne 42:24 Well, are we keen to have a beer, I could say his last time I think we met, I'd had over six months off before I left, then the two months I was away and I have had a few drinks, it's been back. And I've been enjoying socializing a bit more and not having to duck off early. So hopefully, I don't brace that too hard. But it is nice to be able to not worry about, you know, I can't ever be here because of x, y and Zed or training tomorrow. So the social part of my life has certainly been a bit fuller than it was. Oli Le Lievre 42:55 Well, yeah, I'm glad you actually came back to Australia. And you didn't just decide to take yourself to Europe or something for European summer off the back. Trent Thorne 43:04 I think well told me about having a walker. I think that Absolutely. I'm probably fat because I'm a little bit in the red when it comes to leave at the moment. So what went through that over the course of the next 12 months? Oli Le Lievre 43:15 Oh, I can only imagine. Well, Trent looking forward to catching up face to face and very glad that you made it back safely. And I'm sure this will be a journey which we continue to chat about and learn from years to come. So thank you. Trent Thorne 43:28 Thanks. Hi, no worries. Oli Le Lievre 43:31 Well, that's it for another episode from us here at humans of agriculture. We hope you're enjoying these podcasts. And well if you're not, let us know hit us up at Hello at humans of agriculture.com. Get in touch with any guest recommendations topics, or things you'd like us to talk and get curious about. If you enjoyed this episode, please share it with a friend. rate subscribe, review it, any feedback is absolutely awesome. And we really do welcome it so Look after yourselves. Stay safe. stay sane. We'll see you next time. Transcribed by https://otter.ai