Summit

Snow never melts atop Mount Everest… winds at the highest altitude summit reach 200 miles per hour… overall a very difficult challenge!

 George Leigh-Mallory is first recorded as attempting the climb in 1921. On his third try, in 1924, he disappeared into the mist, never to be seen again. It is believed that he reached the top but slipped and did not live to tell his tale. The mountain had won.

 However, friends of Mallory gazed upon a large picture of Mount Everest and declared, 'Mr. Everest, you defeated us once. You defeated us twice. You defeated us three times. But, Mr. Everest, we shall someday defeat you because you can’t get any bigger – and we can!'

Eight more attempts were made on the mountain resulting in eight more failures. Finally, Hillary and Tenzing defeated Everest. Since then, there have been over 11,346 summit ascents by 6,098 people.

Failure comes only after we have given up. If the odds of winning are slim to none, they might be worth taking. Surely, we can get bigger and better – better in ability; better in experience; better in wisdom; better in faith.

Scale the summit, blunt failure’s knife
Commit to take on challenges in life!

 - Pravin K. Sabnis