By RASHAD ROLLE

Tribune Staff Reporter

rrolle@tribunemedia.net

AMID temperatures that dipped blow zero, Richard Beek, 44, completed one of the world’s most gruelling tasks when he became the first Bahamian to reach the summit of Vinson Massif, the highest peak on Antarctica, earlier this month.

Now, he will set his sights on something higher: reaching the top of Mount Everest and hoisting the Bahamian flag there.

The mountain climber works at Deltec Bank and has ascended to the highest peaks of six of the world’s seven continents, climbing atop Aconcagua in South America, Mount McKinley in North America, Mount Kilimanjaro in Africa, Mount Elbrus in Europe and Puncak Jaya in Australia.

If he reaches the summit of Mount Everest next spring, he could be the first Bahamian ever to accomplish the feat.

His love of climbing grew after reading a book about Mount Everest as a child, he said. A climber for 14 years, he said he finds the activity most would scoff at doing “therapeutic”.

“I find it therapeutic because it’s all about thinking about the basics,” he said. “Are you warm enough? Are you hungry? Do you have enough energy? You have to focus on what is important and not be preoccupied with work related issues. You take it one day at a time and can’t look at the whole project because then you’ll be overwhelmed.”

“It’s great to be at places rarely visited, to see the world from that altitude and to test yourself against the elements.”

Mr Beek trained for six months - running upstairs, doing cardio exercises, swimming and gym workouts before attempting to climb Mount Vinson, which he scaled on January 6.

“The temperature was very cold and that’s always a bit of a concern,” he said. “We slept on the ice for two weeks as the temperature got down to -10 degrees.”

His preparation to climb Mount Everest will begin a year before he makes his attempt, he said.

While mountain climbing, Mr Beek is no stranger to life threatening encounters.

A group of 11 people successfully climbed Mount Vinson with him, but not everyone has been so lucky during past climbing attempts.

“While climbing a remote mountain on Alaska a person died from a heart attack during the summit,” he said. “And the day we summited, the group behind had a person who died from HACE, which is altitude related issues.”