'There's an Everest for everyone'

1.751882-4113307995 — Maxime Chaya, the first person from Lebanon to climb Mount Everest, is planning an expedition that is tougher than anything he has undertaken so far Image Credit: Supplied

The sky is the limit for Maxime Chaya. The 39-year-old mountaineer from Lebanon, who has waved the country's flag atop the world's highest mountains, is getting ready for a new challenge.

He was the first Lebanese to climb Mount Everest and complete the Seven Summits — the highest peaks on every continent. In 2007 he also became the first person from the Middle East to reach the South Pole on foot from the Antarctic coast after a 47-day solo journey.

Two years later he became the first man from the Middle East to reach the North Pole on foot, all the way from Canada, which made him the 17th person in history to complete the Three Poles Challenge.

His first achievement was in 2000, when he was invited to climb Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania. "It was a different feeling and a different experience," he said of Kilimanjaro. "Instead of competing against others, you were competing against yourself on the mountain. I later found out it was one of the Seven Summits."

The father of two thought this could be his chance to pursue his lifelong ambition. "I thought long and hard and thought this could be my chance, because had I been born in a normal environment, I would have been able to achieve the ambition of becoming a professional athlete. So I challenged myself to climb the Seven Summits and that's how I started."

"When I was a child I used to hear about Everest. Never did I imagine I would attempt to climb these summits, let alone succeed," he said.

But he did succeed every time he set out to reach higher grounds. "What I wasn't expecting at all was how positive and embracing everyone in the region was towards my achievements. Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine this," he said.

Chaya has been honoured by the Leban-ese government: he was knighted in 2003 and later decorated as an officer in 2006 for the many achievements that have placed Lebanon on the map of mountain climbing. However, Chaya doesn't identify with any one journey as his biggest achievement. "The summit is only half the journey. It's how you come back that matters," he said. "My greatest accomplishment is not the summits or the poles or the expeditions I've carried out successfully but, rather, how I'm using them now."

Today Chaya is making the best of it all. The Lebanese mountaineer has become a role model in his home country for people of all ages. He is actively engaged in charity work and public-speaking events at schools, universities and even large companies.

"I've been able to translate all these successes into something inspiring for the younger generation that has so much talent. But maybe this region needs a bit of a push or a bit more self-confidence to achieve its potential," he said.

His message to the youth remains unchanged: "You have so much more potential than you think you do and it would be a shame not to live your life and achieve your full potential. Don't be fooled by what people say; you can achieve it all. There's an Everest for everyone."

Today Chaya is unstoppable and is pushing for his own full potential. He is preparing for a new expedition.

In his own words, "more people have stood on the Moon than have completed this expedition".

Though not yet revealed, it will be "very different from what I used to do, but it's even tougher. It's tougher both mentally and physically," he said.

"There are a lot of logistics. It's something new to me and I'm doing this with two other people," he said. "Hopefully we'll be able to do it. It's not going to be easy."

The mountaineer said he plans to blog live with photographs and videos throughout this expedition.

He is also holding talks with National Geographic Abu Dhabi to document the journey from start to finish.

If all goes smoothly and on schedule, Chaya will be setting out on his journey around the end of April or early May this year.

Also the co-author of Steep Dreams: My Journey to the Top of the World, a book on the adventures and challenges he has faced on his journeys, Chaya is working on his second book, which tells the story of his life with a strong backdrop of the war in Lebanon and the impact it had on his growing up.

Maxime Chaya's record list

The Seven Summits: