Everytime during last couple of years that I have stood up and told an audience that I am the first Vegan in the world to climb Everest, it's bitten my conscience big time. I alway ask myself - How can I be a Vegan and climb wearing a down suit and mittens with leather in them. My excuse - for a one time purchase of non-Vegan gear - I made it to the top, and possibly inspired many to turn Vegan! I saved many animals. What BS!! a complete cop out on my part.
Back in 2014, before my first attempt to climb Everest, I wrote to several big companies including North Face, Mountain Hardwear, Rab to name a few. My request to them - please create a synthetic one piece suit for my Everest expedition. All of them rejected the idea and said it's pretty much impossible to pull off. The technology to replace down just does not exist for big mountain climbing. I was super dejected. I decided to build my own synthetic suit using Primaloft material. I quickly realized that the end product would be so bulky and heavy that I would almost look like a Michelin man! At the end of this entire exercise - I gave up. Doesn't happen too often, but I did.
And then few months ago when the team at Save The Duck said that they would build a one piece synthetic suit for my Lhotse expedition, I was on the moon! My dream of a first Vegan 8000 meter expedition no longer seemed impossible. However, I was scared too. I would be risking my life and my fingers and my toes high up inside the death zone in bone chilling winds and thin air. Neither the synthetic suit nor the synthetic mittens had ever been tested in these conditions. I was going to be the guinea pig. But I was ready - more than ever - for the animals!
Veganism is a lifestyle choice. Not just a dietary choice. I wanted to be a Vegan from every aspect when I stood on top of Lhotse. And that time had finally come.
