"...But there are men for whom the unatainable has a special attraction.
Usually they are not experts : their ambitions and fantasies are strong enough to brush aside the doubts
which more cautious men might have. Determination and faith are their strongest weapons.
At best such men are regarded as eccentric, at worst, mad..."

Walt Unsworth, Everest  

Born in Belgium on December the 1st 1982, Sébastien spent most of his childhood in Brussels (below 100m!). His first contacts with mountains were through short and easy trekkings with his family during summer holidays while camping in France. At that age (14 years old), walking was definetly a boring activity to do  while staying along the swimming pool with his friends was a lot more fun.

In 1998 - he was 16 years old - he made his first altitude experience : the ascent of the Mt Valier (2.938m) in the french pyrenees. He left early in the morning with a friend (Michel, who had to convince him with some free ice cream) and surprised on the summit his father and sister  who had started the day before. The challenge was to climb Mt Vallier quickly enough to be on the summit before his father and sister. That tough but exciting ascent clearly changed his mind about climbing. Being on top of a mountain after waking up at 4 am and walking more than 12 hours was an experience that changed the course of his life.

It is the IMAX movie on Everest seen the next year that engraved the first pictures of Everest  in his head. "Never stop exploring" is the slogan of a famous mountain gear brand, Sébastien never stoped dreaming. Ascending the Everest became a dream. At first completely unrealistic but with experience it got achivable!

At the end of his university studies (2005) in commercial and consular sciences (ICHEC), he had in mind to climb a high mountain in order to experience the fear and the  amazing landscapes in extreme altitude.  He decides to climb the Kilimanjaro (peak of the African continent, 5.895m) with his father, in December 2005.

After the successful ascent of the Kilimanjaro, he couldn't stop and just wanted to keep climbing higher. He undertook the ascent of the Aconcagua (peak of the Southern American continent, 6.962m) in February 2006. Due to a strong acute mountain sickness he had to turn back 600 meters before the summit. After a lot of research on altitude sickness, in may 2006, at the age of 23, Sébastien decided to climb the top of the northern American continent, the Denali (6.194m). Among all his expeditions, this is  the toughest. The extreme weather conditions (-40°C), the heavy loads (30Kg backpack + 40 Kg sledge) and the lack of hygiene and confort (no shower for 3 weeks) were among the difficulties climbers have to face. A heavy storm with winds up to 140km/h blocked the team at the last camp for 4 days. He came back home without any summit pictures but with the pride to have been through the limits of his body.

The ascent of the Cho Oyu (8.201m) in October 2006 was his first 8K peak. Sébastien was the only climber from his team who summited with his guide and Sherpas. This ascent of the 6th summit of the world was an excellent preparation for his next expedition which lead him to the top of the world: Everest (8.850m).

During his differents expeditions Sébastien consistently learned about extreme altitude climbing : the risks undertaken to reach a summit and the differents objectives of an expedition. At first he never thought climbing Everest was achievable for him, but through his different expeditions  and experiences, 
ascending  the Everest became his most appealing dream.

The human being is born weak and full of defaults but with willingness, ambition and perseverance, it's possible to improve your skills and achieve inhuman challenges. Discipline, passion, resistance and ambition will be your strongest weapons in order to reach a summit.
 

Copyright © 2008 Sébastien Glorie. All rights reserved.