Ep 123 Jost Kobusch - Attempting the Impossible on Everest
Episode description
Jost Kobusch is a mountaineer, alpinist, speaker and author. His love for the sport is pure and his passion to push the perceived limits of what is possible is infectious. Jost has been making attempts on the west ridge of Everest in winter, solo and without supplementary oxygen. He’s up against extremely cold weather that dips to -50 C and winds that reach 200 mph. He just had to turn around from his most recent try.
Jost and I discussed:
- Overcoming fear
- What Reinhold Messner thinks about his attempts
- Why his Everest summit attempts are different
- What it's like to summit Everest via the "regular route"
- Financing these endeavors
- What he looks for after a day in the mountains
- Why he doesn't use oxygen tanks in elevation
- His harrowing night on Everest
My Take: It's always impossible until it's done. Intentions matter. If you are challenging yourself and improving daily your seemingly unachievable goals become less of a dream and more like a reachable reality. If you want something hard enough, it is going to take hard work, dedication, persistence and passion to keep up the pursuit - even after you fail once, twice, or many times more.