Ron high on Everest trek

Cardinia LiFE YMCA adventurer Ron Spencer returned to Australia triumphant after completing his quest to reach Everest Base Camp during a 24-day, 250-kilometre trek in May 2011.

The 65 year-old retired former fireman and farmer, lost four kilograms of muscle as he conquered the grueling but stunning walk through the mountains of Nepal.

Ron credits his regular training sessions at Cardinia LiFE together with a disciplined diet and strong determination to succeed with providing the fitness and strength to make the journey.

“I’ve been a member since it opened but upped my training for the trip six months before we went. We did this walk the hard way, through Cho Lo Pass, and really needed to be in peak physical shape,” he said. “The cross-trainer and stepper became my best friends.”

The trek was led by adventure company Intrepid Travel and undertaken by a group of 14 consisting of walkers from Australia, Ireland and New Zealand. Ron said it was a test of physical endurance, with temperatures ranging from 5 to 10 degrees during the day, but plummeting to as low as minus 25 at night.

“It took time to acclimatise to the high altitudes (over 5000 metres) and the lack of protein in the food. There’s no meat available so our diet was mainly rice, potatoes and lentils,” he said.

“It took two weeks to get myself back together with things like digestion and sleep.”

The trip was Ron’s third visit in 20 years to trek in Nepal. He first walked to Gokyo Lakes in 1990 and returned 16 years later to trek mountains in the Annapurna Region.

“I could always see Everest on those trips and set my goal to return one more time and climb to Base Camp,” he said.

“It was a fantastic experience but very tough – tougher than I thought it would be. Anyway, it’s out of my system now and time to move on to new challenges,” he laughed.

Ron is the president of the Pakenham Bushwalking Club and said there were still many challenging walks he wanted to do including several in the Tasmanian wilderness.