BBC presenter left stranded in Mount Everest 'death zone' 29,000ft above sea level
Michael Woods took on Mount Everest last week, making him the first ‘Deaf UK climber’ to do so.
The BBC sign language presenter said the summit was part of proving to himself ‘that anything is possible if you refuse to give up’.
Woods took on climbing the 8,848-metre mountain to raise money for the National Deaf Children’s Society (NDCS) and it’s no easy feat.
But it presented a particular challenge for the presenter when he was left stranded in the infamous ‘death zone’.
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This occurred when Woods was on his descent from the summit and lost contact with his Sherpa near the Hillary Step. This dangerous zone on Mount Everest sits at nearly 29,000 feet above sea level. And the nickname refers to altitudes above which the pressure of oxygen ‘is insufficient to sustain human life’.
Woods is safe now, but previously took to Instagram to give some clarity on the ordeal.
“I was up near the Hillary Step for around 2 to 3 hours completely alone with nobody around me. In that moment my kids came into my mind and I fought my way back down to stay alive,” he wrote in a post.
The BBC presenter explained that he ‘was not rescued’. Instead, he added: “My guide Sherpa came back up to meet me around halfway, approximately 8400m, to support me on my descent back to Camp 4.”
Woods says he will share ‘more details’ soon but explained that on his way down from the summit his ‘oxygen was empty’.
“And that must be why I became so weak,” he added. “Still crazy to think about it all.”
When he reached the top last week, Woods said it was ‘one of the hardest battles mentally and physically I’ve ever faced in my life’ but he pushed on.
“There were moments during this expedition where I genuinely didn’t know if I could make it, especially after being sick and struggling with energy, but somehow I found a way to keep fighting all the way to the top of the world,” he wrote.
“Standing on the summit of Mount Everest is something I’ll never ever forget.”
Woods said on JustGiving that he was taking on the challenge in order to ‘show my children that nothing is impossible’.
“I want them to grow up believing they can achieve their dreams, no matter how big they are,” he added, having raised over £3,600 so far.
Topics: Mount Everest, BBC, Charity
Jess Battison