“peak performance”
Saman tha Larso n ( Scholastic, expert 21 )
Introduction
1
When Samantha Larson was 18, she achieved her dream—
to scale Mount Everest.
2
Most fathers and daughters have special traditions,
something they bond over. My dad and I, we climb mountains.
3
It started in 2001 when I was twelve. My dad was an
occasional climber. He would climb mainly on short trips near our
home in Long Beach, California. But that year, he proposed a
family vacation to Africa to climb Mount Kilimanjaro—one of the
tallest mountains in the world. I was the only one who thought,
"What a great idea!" To be perfectly honest, I didn't even know
what it meant to climb 19,300 feet. I figured I'd get to see some
zebras and giraffes.
4
When my dad and I arrived at the tiny lodge at the base
of Kilimanjaro, a group of climbers who'd just finished were
talking about how the altitude had gotten to them. The higher
you climb, the harder it can be to breathe since there's less
pressure in the air. I've been a dancer and a gymnast since I
was small. So, until then, I hadn't been concerned about
physically doing it. My dad assured me we could go slowly, and
that if I changed my mind he'd be happy to turn back. But we
didn't need to. And that's how it all began.
Getting Started
5
Kilimanjaro is one of seven mountains that together are
called the Seven Summits. The Seven Summits are the highest
peaks on each of the seven continents. Fewer than 200 people
have climbed all seven. At first, my dad and I weren't thinking
about completing all of the Summits. Climbing was something
we loved. But after each trip, it became natural to want to
up the stakes.
6
In 2002, I became, according to my guide, the youngest
person to scale Mount Aconcagua. That's a peak on the border of
Argentina and Chile. After that, we tackled Mount Elbrus in
Russia. Then Denali in Alaska. Then Kosciuszko in Australia. Most
of the trips were taken over school breaks. Sometimes I'd miss
class and be doing my homework on the side of a mountain! One
time, I even brought along my oboe to practice. More and more,
I began to recognize the sense of accomplishment I felt at the
end of a successful climb.
Annotation & Analysis:
1. Highlight who the article is
about.
2. Paragraphs 3 and 4 focus on
Samantha’s first climb. Where
did she go?
3. Any words that we need to
mark as challenging? Any words
that are difficult to pronounce?
4. Why is it challenging to breathe
the higher you get up?
5. What do we think is the most
important information in ¶ 5?
What does the bolded and
underlined statement in this
paragraph actually mean?
6. After reading this writing do you
think you could create a
timeline of Samantha’s climbs?
Give it a try!
7
Conditions vary from mountain to
mountain. But as a general rule, the higher you
go, the colder it gets. The biggest challenge a
climber has to face is the change in altitude. If
you take a mountain too fast, you can get altitude
sickness. This can show up as fatigue and nausea.
In extreme cases, fluid starts to collect in your
brain. But we always traveled with an experienced
guide and took all the precautions we could. I
tried not to spend too much time worrying about
it. I never felt threatened. While you can't
eliminate these risks, if you make good decisions,
you can really decrease them.
Making It To The Top
Training for Everest
12
Eleven hours after starting out from our
camp, we made it to the top. I felt a wild mix of
emotions, but it wasn't what I had expected to
feel. I'd been imagining this moment for a long
time. I had this idea I'd be excited and jumping
around. I was the youngest non-native person to
scale Everest, and the youngest person to climb
the Seven Summits. But all I could do was cry.
Maybe it was because I'd had this goal for so long.
It was strange not to have it anymore. That and
the fact that I still had to get back down. It took
five days, bringing the entire climb to a total of
about seven weeks. Because of the need to slowly
acclimatize, going up takes much longer than
going down.
8
After graduating high school in 2006, I was
accepted to Stanford [University]. But I decided to
defer for a year to train for Everest. Everest is the
highest of the Seven Summits. It was also the last
one my dad and I needed to climb to complete the
circuit. I never really went into it thinking I'd be
breaking any records. Everest is part of the
Nepalese Himalayas and is just over 29,000 feet.
In 2006, several hikers died trying to reach the
top. More than the other mountains, Everest was
going to require getting in serious shape. I started
running and swimming to build up my stamina
and lung capacity. I also spent a lot of time at
indoor climbing gyms.
9
In March of this year, we arrived in
Kathmandu, Nepal. Each person is usually
accompanied by his or her own guide and a
Sherpa. A Sherpa is a Tibetan native who carries
your equipment, food, and oxygen tanks. The
climb takes about eight weeks. Working from a
base camp, each day we'd go slightly higher than
the day before. We slowly and safely adjusted to
each new altitude. There were times when I'd look
to the right and the drop would be about 1,000
feet. To the left it'd be about 5,000 feet!
10
Early on, I decided to blog about the trip.
Base camp had Internet access. Almost every
night I'd journal the day and people would post
comments. The first entries were from people I
knew. Then the Los Angeles Times ran an article
about me. Suddenly I was getting 200 messages a
day. Some of them were pretty amazing. One
came from a girl who said she lived in Iraq in a
war zone. She told me she thought my story was
inspiring. She hoped that one day an Iraqi girl
would be able to climb Everest, too.
11
At 11:00 P.M. on May 16, we set out for the
top of the mountain. By then it was just about
3,000 feet away—less than a mile. At some
points, I was going pretty slowly. Every step took
so much effort. It's important to keep moving,
though. Once you stop, you start to get cold.
Everest, at its iciest, was about 30 degrees below
zero. I didn't get mountain sickness on Everest,
but I did experience a huge loss of appetite. My
dad did as well. For the last nine hours of the trip,
I ate maybe half of a chocolate bar.
13
This fall, I started my freshman year at
Stanford. Right before, my dad and I climbed
Carstensz Pyramid in Indonesia. It was sort of like
a last hurrah. It's been really special to have him
as a climbing buddy, and I'm hoping we'll still get
to climb together. Then again, it just might be
time for a new goal.