Going large Pendleton and Fogle to tackle Everest
Television presenter and former Olympic cyclist set to brave perils of the world’s highest mountain
In the 64 years since Sir Edmund Hillary became the first person to reach the summit of Mount Everest, more than 280 people have died attempting to follow in his footsteps. Six people have lost their lives this year alone, so deadly is this inhospitable mountain, where winds of up to 200mph whip sheer rock faces while the tiny figures slowly scaling its icy ridges are consumed by what is known as summit fever.
These are the treacherous conditions that Ben Fogle, the television presenter, and Victoria Pendleton, the former Olympic cyclist, will face when they attempt to scale Everest in May 2018.
At 44 and 37 respectively, both with spouses at home (Fogle also has two young children with his wife Marina) and blossoming careers, the decision to pack themselves off to Everest and attempt a climb that can end in fatality could be considered foolhardy.
“I’m probably having a midlife crisis, for sure” says Pendleton, admitting that Scott Gardner, her husband and former Team GB sports scientist, would certainly rather she did not go. “I think in an ideal world, he’d like to be able to stop me, but he knows that won’t make me happy.”
When Benedict Allen, the British explorer, went missing in Papua New Guinea recently, Fogle’s wife Marina wrote in The Daily Telegraph that it “sent a shiver” down her spine. He admits she took some convincing, having said in no uncertain terms when they first had their children Ludo, eight, and Iona, six, “your days of taking on big challenges are over”.
“And she was right, at the time ... but I don’t always want to be someone who did those big adventures. I want to be the dad who does them.
“It is selfish, of course it is. And my wanderlust does frustrate her and it’s far from perfect. But I think the best relationships are the ones that keep each other on their toes.”
Having chosen to announce their epic climb exclusively to The Telegraph, Ben says he and Victoria are “still getting to know each other”, but it’s obvious they click; he laid back and affable, she energetic and forthright. Are they ready for the inevitable gossip?
“There will always be speculation,” says Fogle. “But we are trying to break expectations [and show] that a male and a female can spend time together and just be friends. Not ‘friends’ in inverted commas.”
Upfront, they have agreed on one thing: they won’t be reckless. Each year, hundreds of climbers are thwarted by poor weather or simply not getting high enough, quickly enough, and call off their attempt.
The Everest sweet spot – when the conditions are just right – occurs over two weeks in May. Most people spend six weeks going up and down the mountain from Base Camp (at 17,400ft) to acclimatise, before making an attempt on the summit – or the “death zone” as the top 2,700ft are known. Fogle and Pendleton plan to do it in four. “We might not make it,” Fogle says, suddenly serious. “You have to accept that. I promised my family that I won’t be blinded by summit fever.”
Pendleton interjects: “I’d stop you anyway.”
“I think that’s why Marina likes the fact I’m going with Victoria,” he says.
“She sees her as sensible. I think if I was younger, even five years ago, my pride would have been too uncontrollable to hold me back.”
Pendleton – who has appeared on Strictly Come Dancing and become a jockey since retiring from cycling after London 2012 – admits she might feel differently about the challenge if she had children. “I feel a lot of guilt for the things I do and that’s something that runs like a vein through my life,” she says. “I think that guilt, rightly or wrongly, would stop me doing it if I had kids. I’d probably want to go in my heart, and I’d resent the fact that I couldn’t. As a female of a certain age, there’s one thing I should be doing, apparently, and that’s staying home and having kids. But if I’m being true to myself right now, I’m not there yet ... maybe I never will be.”
Fogle also has a deeply personal motivation. “I don’t like to dwell on it, because it is still too raw, but losing our son, Willem [who was stillborn in 2014], had a profound effect on me,” he says. “It’s difficult to describe the heartache of holding your lifeless son in your arms. Imagining what his life might have been. But it gave me renewed purpose. I want to seize the moment and have no regrets.” On Everest, the pair will be accompanied by two local Sherpa guides, as well as the aptly-named Kenton Cool, a 44-year-old Briton who has summited Everest 12 times, and with whom they spent three weeks in the Bolivian Andes in August.
The next few months will involve further training climbs and a visit to Nepal with the Red Cross, for which they are raising money. There will be a podcast, some filming and Fogle will be highlighting environmental issues in his new role as UN patron of the wilderness. The whole project is being funded by Fogle’s good friend, Princess Haya Bint Al Hussein of Jordan, in memory of her father. “It’s going to be life-changing” says Pendleton. “Doing something as incredibly audacious as this is going to have a profound effect. It’s going to be a hell of a journey.”
To watch Ben and Victoria talk about their journey go to www. telegraph. co.uk/ video
‘It’s difficult to describe the heartache of holding your lifeless son in your arms. Imagining what his life might have been. But it gave me renewed purpose’