Exploration
This man is trying to climb the 10 highest mountains in Colombia in 30 days
Inspired by Ross Edgley's Great British Swim, Thomas Palmer is a novice adventurer who has decided to do something no human has done before...
Adventurers are an inspiring bunch. By their very nature, the act of completing a seemingly impossible feat makes others shake their heads in disbelief, some of whom think, “If that person can do it, then maybe so could I…”
This is exactly what filmmaker Thomas Palmer thought as he documented Red Bull's very own Ross Edgley on his Great British Swim last year.
Sitting on the boat, eating fish and chips in Grimsby, Thomas had an epiphany while chatting to Ross. “He’s such an inspirational man, Ross. He doesn’t have a negative bone in his body. Such positive vibes. He gave me some advice: approach your goals with so much passion you forget to ask if they’re possible. When I left the boat that night I knew I was going to do something.”
Palmer was inspired for his challenge by Ross Edgley's Great British Swim
© Tom Palmer
It had been a tough year for Thomas, and this chat inspired him to pick himself up and do something inspirational. “I’d had quite a bad depressive episode and lost my direction. And even though I felt terrible every day, and terrified – I had bad anxiety – the Great British Swim pushed me on. However bad I was feeling I could always look out at the sea and see this crazy man swimming around the UK, and there’s lots of positivity around that."
The idea began to take root, and eight months later, Thomas is about to embark on his own seemingly impossible challenge and spread some of that positivity around the fact that you can overcome limiting beliefs.
The destination is a long way from the Lincolnshire port: Colombia, specifically 10 of the country’s highest mountains and volcanoes. Some of which are active.
“Colombia has everything,” he says. “It has the Caribbean coast, the Andes, Sierra Nevada, the music, the people, the culture… I want to show people the beauty of the country through this challenge.”
It will be anything but plain sailing, though. Here, he tells us the problems he’ll face in the next 30 days...
The language barrier
Tom getting to grips with nature in Guatemala
© Tom Palmer
“Originally, my plan was to do it alone as far as I could, and film everything myself. I was delaying starting, then up popped Pablo, who is my cameraman and DOP. He came into the hotel where I was staying, pitched for the job and now he’s onboard. He’s Colombian and can barely speak any English. My Spanish is getting better, so I can communicate on a basic level, but it adds another interesting aspect to it. And he’s quite a character.”
The perils of public transport
“We have to travel more than 3,400km by public transport. So the challenge is to not only climb the volcanoes, but also to travel the length of the country, from south to north. I wanted to hitchhike but Pablo didn’t think that was a great idea as it was too dangerous. We’re having to travel mainly at night as there’s no other way to make the challenge possible. You can’t afford to waste time travelling in daytime.”
The climbing
“It’s a bit of a stab in the dark, as we’re not traditional climbers. I’ve done some climbing in the past in Nepal and Africa. I went quite high in Nepal, but that was over a 15-day climb. This is 30 days, 10 mountains, ascending the equivalent of more than 10 miles upwards. It’s going to be a real test of fitness. We don’t know much about climbing, reading the mountains or anything. The first four volcanoes I want to get done in 8-10 days maximum. Once we hit no.5 and 6 we’ll need guides. The northern ones can take up to six days each… so we need to climb fast."
Altitude sickness could be an issue
“I struggle massively with altitude sickness. Above 3,500m I can barely put one foot in front of the other. Our first summit is over 4,000m, and we’re going up to 5,700m. That worries me as I could become delirious, drunk-like, and it could massively affect my decision-making. You become over-confident, thinking you can keep going without support.”
Active volcanoes
“You never think a volcano is going to erupt on you. Some of these volcanoes are extremely active, especially a couple in the south – Galeras is often erupting. The advice is not to climb them, and sometimes they say you can climb them, so I’m not sure how we’ll get around that.”
Other dangers
“In the north, there are pumas, big cats, venomous snakes, venomous frogs, especially in the lowlands. It’s a risk, 100 percent, and there are other Colombia does have its unsafe parts. The risk of hijacking, in remote places at night, is high. They block the roads quickly with big stones, and we have a lot of expensive kit, so we'll have to keep our eyes peeled."
Filming while climbing
“The packs will be very heavy. We picked up two 60-litre backpacks the other day to put all our kit in, as we need our hands free for climbing and filming. I’ll be doing pieces to camera, blog-style, explaining everything. Pablo will be filming me climbing, and I’ll be filming Pablo. It will be interesting…”
Mental fitness
“I wasn’t having a great time during the year of the Great British Swim. But it’s hard to even have negative thoughts when you’re in the presence of someone like Ross who is so determined and on such a positive vibe. And he gave me some direction, about the ups and downs of life, and told me I just needed to find a new direction. He said I should get myself on one of these crazy adventures. I’ve always liked the freedom of walking and climbing. It doesn’t matter who else you are with, the beauty of the landscapes really brings you into the present. The effect nature can have on your body and mind is incredible, especially for me.”
The journey in full....
• Palmer will begin his journey in the south of Colombia, with Azufral first in line to be conquered. It’s a stratovolcano sitting at 4,070m, and he aims to climb it in a day. The volcano’s crater contains a huge bright blue, sulphurous lake perfect for Instagramming.
• Next he will head 90km north to the city of Pasto and the second volcano, Galeras, at 4,276m. It’s the most active volcano in the country and, at times, you are not allowed to climb it, so this may prove to be his first major obstacle.
• It’s then south to Cumbal Volcano and a climb of 4,764m into snow-capped peaks. From the summit he should be able to see far into the bordering country of Ecuador.
• Fourth peak is 560km north – Puracé, at 4,650m. Another active volcano, this also features a snow-capped peak.
• Number 5 follows a 1,000km journey north to the town of Juntas. Nevado del Tolima sits just outside the town, and it will be the first of his climbs to breach 5,000m (5,215m). This will be Palmer’s first real test, and he concedes that he may need a guide for this.
• Nevado del Ruiz – the sixth peak – sits in the same National Park as Tolima, so is not far to travel. At 5,311m it is the seventh highest peak in the country.
• His last volcano comes next, the 5,364m-high Nevado del Huila.
• A long journey north follows, before he has to tackle the final three peaks. Palmer will be going up to 5,410m to summit the mountain of Ritacuba Blanco. As he says, “This peak looks gnarly – I’ll need real climbing equipment on this one.”
• The penultimate peak is Pico Simon Bolivar. Palmer will be out of the Andes by this point and on the Caribbean coast in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta range. At 5,775m, it is the second highest peak in Colombia.
• The title of highest mountain in the country goes to Pico Cristobel Colón – the peak Palmer has saved until last. At 5,776m it is 1m taller than its neighbour and is the fifth most prominent peak in the world.