Some ski area owners might be tempted to liken the challenges of operating a ski area to climbing Mt. Everest. Dick Bass, the owner of Snowbird, Utah, who at 55 years of age reached the 29,028 foot summit of Everest last April is now singularly qualified to compare the difficulties of both tasks.
Bass, who reached the world’s highest peak on April 30, has achieved renown as the oldest man to mount the summit of Everest. Though he pooh-poohs the significance of his age in reaching the top of the world’s highest peak, he is impressed by the speed with which he was able to climb—just 11 days from base camp to Camp 4, the point from which he struck out towards the summit. This ascent is normally accomplished over a four-week period, giving climbers more time to acclimatize.
On Summit Day, when he climbed 10 hours up (followed by five hours down), Bass admits to being “scared shitless” a good portion of the time. Burdened with blistered and frost-bitten feet, he made the final ascent under hard conditions which prevented crampons from biting into the snow. Climbing without ropes added another frightening dimension.
Making his first genuine attempt to reach the summit, Bass benefited from the experience of three previous lower Everest climbs. With his lungs screaming and thighs burning, he said he kept repeating the third stanza of Kipling’s “If . . .”—muttered in the slow, rhythmic beat of a mantra to help give him balance and determination to reach the top.
Later, Bass told a Dallas 4th grade class of his preliminary attempts. “Don’t feel bad if you don’t succeed when you try something difficult,” he said. “The experience will set you up for the next time. Only feel bad if you don’t try.”
As arduous as the summit climb may have been, Bass said he was psychologically frazzled by business pressures, publicity, loose ends and details he now feels obligated to attend to as a result of his success. This year as in the past, Bass found climbing an escape for the challenging difficulties which occur regularly at altitudes closer to sea level.
Rather than pursue another Everest climb, Bass says he plans to follow up on 25 hours of footage shot on Everest and previous climbs that included the highest peaks on all the continents. The “Seven Summit Odyssey,” which he conducted with Frank Wells who heads Disney Productions, is expected to become a full length motion picture or TV movie.
Having achieved his goal of reaching Everest’s summit, Bass admits he will probably not try again. However, were someone exceeding his age to reach the summit, Bass said he might feel compelled to try again.
