Sharon Wood

First North American woman to summit Mt. Everest (May, 1986)

The expedition was termed ‘Everest Light’. We wanted to climb it by a route that had never been climbed before in its entirety. And we wanted to know that if we succeeded, it was because of our strategy. A statistician said we had a 17% chance of succeeding. That really inspires a higher level of performance

We wanted to climb Everest in what was called good style; by a difficult route with the minimum resources and maximum amount of efficiency. That’s what good style is. If we climbed the conventional way, we might just pile a bunch of money and resources at the goal. “Everest Light’ required elegance and efficiency.

I had to rock climb through this 400-foot section that above 28,000 feet. And I was so convinced that I needed more strength, and I needed more time, more work, more resources.

What I eventually realized is that I just needed to get myself out of the way

When I was on Mt. Everest and I looked up, I was momentarily convinced I needed to have the perfect setup - more of everything, more strength, more time, more resources. But it really came down to removing my own self-imposed obstacles. They take up a huge amount of room. “I’ve never done this before, therefore I can’t do this. I’m too weak, there must be someone much stronger.” You wouldn’t believe how much room self-doubt takes up.

It was extra weight I was carrying in anticipatory angst. How much mind chatter! I had shut myself down. I was only ‘half in’. I needed to be wholehearted. I needed to remove the clutter. I had to be discerning, but ‘all in’. It was my mindset, a matter of believing that I could do this. Making every move elegantly, with the least amount of energy and the maximum amount of efficiency.

It was about removing the obstacles. And I was the obstacle

I now teach novices over 55 years of age at the climbing wall in Canmore. It’s about resetting the goal. Even if you get only a few feet off the ground, you do it elegantly with the least amount of energy and the maximum amount of efficiency. The goal is to move and to learn how to move your body in a way that you never have before. I am writing my own story just now and it reflects just that. I’m calling it ‘Rising’!