By Brian Fontenot
What began as a way for two college students to strike back at Mother Nature for Hurricane Katrina by climbing the highest mountains on each of the seven continents has evolved into a charity event.
Brendan Batt, 22, a LSU pre-veterinary senior, and Andrew Hillery, 23, a University of Alabama graduate, are now supporting the Muscular Dystrophy Association of New Orleans and have created their own non-profit, Climb for New Orleans.
“It’s all about raising awareness through climbing,” Hillery said.
“It just kind troubles me when I think about what if I didn’t even have the option to [climb],” Batt said. “It’s the least we can do to spread awareness about muscular dystrophy.”
The pair was inspired to support the MDA after the death of their lifelong friend, Nick Ferran, who passed away in January.
In memory of their friend, their summit flags will include his name. If they are successful, they will have put their friend’s name on the Seven Summits.
“It’s going to be a complete tribute to him. He will be with us every step of the way,” Hillery said.
And that’s the ultimate goal – climb the Seven Summits.
The pair planned to climb Denali (Mt. McKinley) this summer, but decided the venture was going to be too expensive and too difficult for the time being.
Batt said Denali has the highest vertical rise of any mountain in the world, shooting from about 2,000 feet to a little over 20,000 feet. Everest, while higher than Denali, only has a vertical rise of about 12,000 feet, with its base at 17,000 feet and its summit at nearly 9,000.
Of the Seven Summits, Denali is second only to Everest when it comes to difficulty and required expertise, Batt said.
“It just seemed like the wiser thing to do first,” Batt said. “We decided it would be better to get [Elbrus] out of the way.”
Located in the Caucasus Mountains, Elbrus’ west summit towers 18,510 feet – the highest in all of Europe. Batt and Hillery will be departing from its base camp at 12,000 feet to make the climb, making for a 6,000 foot climb.
Elbrus offers the chance to experience climbing above 15,000 feet, where the amount of oxygen in the air is cut in half, Batt said, adding it will give them a better idea of what climbing Denali will be like.
“I’m pretty glad we decided to do this one as the first of the seven,” Hillery said.
Batt and Hillery should be physically over-prepared to tackle Elbrus. They have been training to climb Denali for a year, where one has to be in peak physical condition to even have a chance of reaching the summit.
“We were training for Denali the whole time,” Hillery said. “This mountain up in Russia is going to be pretty sweet.”
Batt does a lot of running, going for four miles twice a week and six miles every 10 days, and weight lifting, hitting the gym five days a week.
But to toughen himself up for a climb, he marches up and down the levee in Baton Rouge, carrying 115 pounds of extra weight. His older brother, David, has also been helping him train, especially in the weight room where a spotter becomes necessary.
Hillery currently lives in Los Angeles and has developed his own training regimen-running barefoot.
After finishing the 26-mile-long Los Angeles Marathon, Hillery wasn’t satisfied with the workout he was getting by just running. So, he shirked his shoes and hit the soft sands of California’s beaches and its rough roads.
He regularly treks 10 to 20 miles every few days barefoot, now, and said the whole experience has made his legs so much stronger.
“It’s so much better, especially for glacier climbing. Every move you have to press down on the ice,” he said. “When I strap on shoes now, it’s like a joyride.”
The climb to the Elbrus’ summit will take 12 to 15 days and a Russian not known for taking Americans on climbs will be their guide.
“It’s going to be quite an adventure with this guy. He doesn’t take Americans often,” Hillery said, adding the guide has a reputation of being a good climber and snowboarder.
While reaching the summit is an accomplishment, Hillery said the way back down is usually the most dangerous part. People get careless.
Fortunately, the way down Elbrus isn’t nearly as fraught with danger as other mountains. The duo and their guide intend to snowboard back to base camp.
“We’re going to the top to strap on a snowboard and hammer down,” Hillery said.
The pair hopes to climb four of the Seven Summits over the next year, moving from Elbrus to Aconcagua in South America to Denali next summer followed by Kilimanjaro in Africa.
“It’s way more impressive now, really,” Batt said. “Last year it was kind of an idea. Now, it’s a part of my life. Every day I’m thinking about it.”
They are flying out of Los Angeles on June 20. The price tag for their climb, which includes the flight and the guide, but not their gear, is $9,000.
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