Climbing Everest, Skiing Down, And The Mental Game | Episode 411

Climbing Everest, Skiing Down, And The Mental Game | Episode 411

Breath is never guaranteed above the death zone, which is exactly why this story hits so hard. We dive into a rare Everest ascent and ski descent attempted without supplemental oxygen and open up the bigger questions: how do you prepare for a goal where the margin for error is razor-thin, and what does mental health look like when every choice is a trade-off between speed, safety, and survival?

We start by grounding the conversation in our core values—choosing people and culture over politics—and then move into the nuts and bolts of high-altitude risk. From the role of expert guides and base camps to the realities of thin air, hypoxia, and weather windows, we map out why supplemental oxygen is standard and why going without it pushes the body and mind to their absolute limits. The ski descent adds another layer: balance and judgment must hold under hypoxic stress, on snow that can change by the minute, with no guarantee of a second chance.

The heart of the episode is mindset and planning. We examine self-belief as a practical tool, not a slogan, and talk through decision points that define whether to press on or turn back. We also dig into logistics many overlook: medication timing and storage, hydration strategies, fuel for melting snow, backup plans for delays, and how to structure “oxygen” equivalents in everyday life—mentors, routines, and safeguards that keep you steady when things tilt sideways. The lesson isn’t to imitate extremes, but to respect ranges, prepare for variance, and build resilience that adapts under pressure.

If this conversation moves you, help us grow the community that makes it possible. Subscribe, share the show with a friend, and leave a quick review so more people can find it. What’s the bold goal you’re training your mind and plan to meet this year?

Chapter Markers

0:00 Welcome And Mission Of The Show

2:01 Choosing People Over Politics

4:13 Framing A Modern Miracle

6:15 The Real Risks Of High-Altitude Climbing

9:20 Everest Logistics And Oxygen Reality

12:25 The Everest No-Oxygen Ski Descent Story

16:20 Why This Attempt Defies The Odds

19:05 Weather Ranges, Data, And Decision Points

22:05 Self-Belief, Mental Health, And Grit

25:10 Medication, Planning, And Survival Details

28:10 Travel Lessons And On-The-Fly Planning

30:20 Gratitude, Community, And Growth Goals

#EverestAdventures #SkiDownTheSummit #MentalGameStrong #ChillOnThePeak #SnowAndSummit #ClimbAndConquer #MindOverMountain #EpicSkiJourney #AltitudeAttitude #AdventureAwaits #justiceforsurvivors #VoicesforVoices #VoicesforVoicesPodcast #JustinAlanHayes #JustinHayes #help3billion #TikTok #Instagram #truth #Jesusaire #VoiceForChange #HealingTogether #VoicesForVoices411

Chapters

• 0:00 Welcome And Mission Of The Show
• 2:01 Choosing People Over Politics
• 4:13 Framing A Modern Miracle
• 6:15 The Real Risks Of High-Altitude Climbing
• 9:20 Everest Logistics And Oxygen Reality
• 12:25 The Everest No-Oxygen Ski Descent Story
• 16:20 Why This Attempt Defies The Odds
• 19:05 Weather Ranges, Data, And Decision Points
• 22:05 Self-Belief, Mental Health, And Grit
• 25:10 Medication, Planning, And Survival Details
• 28:10 Travel Lessons And On-The-Fly Planning
• 30:20 Gratitude, Community, And Growth Goals

Transcript

Justin Alan Hayes, Voices for Voices: 0:02

Hey everyone, Justin here with Voices for Voices. Thank you very much for joining us on this episode of the show. We're over 410 episodes. Just incredible here going into the second week in January of 2026. Uh, thank you for being so loyal and watching and listening wherever you reside or wherever you are traveling to or from or in the middle of your travel. If you have layovers and multi-stop uh travel on your uh itinerary, uh we owe it to you uh for having the demand for us to do the show that we're we're doing, and we love being able to bring uh new content to you and all in the name of helping people and bringing people together. Uh it's uh just an incredible feeling. Hope everybody's having a happy, healthy, safe, prosperous 2026 so far, or whatever that means to you. Uh and again, you don't have to be a believer uh to be a fan of this show. Uh just because we are, that doesn't mean you have to be. Uh that said, we'll still we still pray for everybody across the whole world uh every night. So um you can't get enough good vibes, is the way I look at it. Um so let's uh let's let's get started. Uh so what we've seen uh an incredible activity uh around uh governments and uh militaries all across the world really uh since 2026 really got got kicked off um even before that. And and so we uh the reason I bring that up is because sometimes military involvement and missions is due to uh politics. And if this is your first show tuning in, uh we choose culture and people and humans over politics and and military usage. Uh doesn't mean that topics won't uh come into shows here and there. It just means that we're not gonna we're not gonna spend a whole lot of time on those topics because there's plenty of plenty of shows to do that already, and and frankly, we're we're trying to look at look at the world in a in a positive light and helping uh people, even though some military missions uh could be argued are are helping people, but we aren't looking at that. We're looking at things just from a culture uh culture perspective, a human human life, uh helping people survive and thrive. Um and we want to talk first here tonight uh as we're filming uh in the in the evening where where we reside. And I want to talk about a miracle. So some people may believe in miracles, some may not. I'll lay out the situation, and then you can our viewers and listeners always decide. Uh so we'll leave that. It's a little bit a little bit warm. So I'm gonna there we go. Adjust uh adjust my jacket here. And and so with that, there are many, many different hobbies people have, playing sports, playing music, rock climbing, mountain climbing, skiing, and there are certain, you know, if we're looking at if we're looking at let's say from mountain perspective, there's certain heights that uh we we we look at and go, okay, if somebody is going to embark on climbing you know said mountain, uh that not only should they have somebody who is local to the area uh to help, um, just makes sense, right? If you're going if you're going into a situation that could be a life or death situation, you kind of want to have uh somebody who has uh had some experience in that. That's just my my input there. And then there are other aspects of variables, such as the weather, uh, the higher you go, the less oxygen for us to breathe. Um right, and then you're literally carrying all your things like as you're as you're climbing. We're talking about climbing mountains, and so it's an incredible amount of uh physical stress on the body and emotional stress, mental health. Uh you can prepare and prepare and prepare, and people still have perished, um, no matter how much preparation they they have done. And so when I talk about miracles, the the one I'm gonna refer to as a miracle is uh climbing Mount Everest, is one of the tallest mountain mountain ranges in the in the world. And so again, you you you want to make sure you're well versed, and there's different base camps where you go a little bit and then you rest and then you go a little bit. Uh and then depending on the weather, you may be stuck at a base camp, so that might re you know put you back a day or two. And if you only brought food for a certain amount of days and your food runs out, you know, uh there's not a whole lot you can do. I don't, I don't think uh maybe I and I'm not again I'm not well versed in this. Uh I'm going off of a uh the story that I came across. Uh so maybe maybe you're able to buy food uh if you know you run out given you know weather and different conditions. So there's that, then there's having the guide, you know, somebody that is with with you and with your group or with you individually, and then there's a thing called oxygen that we need, all our brains and bodies need oxygen in order to continue the functions that our body completes, and the higher you go in the atmosphere uh the less amount of oxygen there is. So let's just say there's a hundred percent oxygen uh at sea level, and let's say at you know, for every ten thousand feet up, uh oxygen goes down by ten percent. I don't know this to be true. I'm just I'm throwing out this hypothetical because I know that oxygen, the higher you go, the the lower the oxygen level is. And so when you're anybody is is is you know going on these climbing expeditions, one of the things that is recommended, from what I understand, doesn't mean I'm right. Uh I've I've been wrong my my fair share of times, is there is supplemental oxygen that can be brought with with a person so that the higher and higher they go, they're able to supplement with oxygen to help get more oxygen basically into the body. I mean, it's pretty pretty straightforward. Now, I don't know how much is needed, I don't I don't have the numbers, and that's not important. What's important is that the oxygen level, the oxygen availability, the higher we go in the atmosphere uh goes down and down and down. And so the higher you go, the less and less and less and less and less oxygen that's available in nature. So a lot of people, from my understanding, take supplemental oxygen with them. So as they get to certain points, they're able to basically replenish to an extent their oxygen levels. And so what's this have to do with mental health? Well, it has everything to do. Number one, it's you know, you want to stay alive, so that's that's one thing. You want to stay alive, uh, because that's the whole point. We want to stay alive, we want to reach the summit, and then we want to come down safely, all that safely. So having the guide, having enough food, having you know, the the mental and emotional strength, the physical strength, the food. I think I mentioned that, uh, you know, the guide and the supplemental oxygen, and then I think there might even be like certain vitamins that that help ahead of time, uh, that may even be during the trip. Because this is from what I understand, it's not this isn't something you do in you don't do it in one day, you do it in more than one day. And so the story I came across was this person decided, and I don't I don't I don't know if let me just tell the story and then I'll tell you the part I don't I don't know. So this person wanted to climb Mount Everest and ski down without any supplemental oxygen that I just talked about. So totally relying, from what I understand a hundred percent on the oxygen availability that is already built up in his body and what's available in nature as to climb up, reach the top, and only have a certain amount of time, and then ski, ski down, uh, and then you know, take breaks and and you know, have all that mapped out. The part that I don't know is if he had any supplemental oxygen, if there were to be an emergency uh that uh was uh uh unfolding if his if if if this guide who he's uh helping him uh with this voyage if there was supplemental oxygen, if there was, again, if there was an emergency. And you know, again, we're talking about life and death decisions here. So I don't know if there was in case of that situation. So nonetheless, this person did it. They set out the climb without extra oxygen and the ski all the way down Mount Everest without any supplemental oxygen. I don't again, I don't know if there was I don't know if there was some uh again it in in case of your worst case scenario but he did it. Doesn't mean it's uh end all be all is this individual is the first individual who who did that, who has done that. Because as I mentioned before, most people, if not all, you know, you you look at kind of like a packing list of like what you need, and so you you know, you do your shopping, and you and then and you prep prep, and you know, you're trying to you know get as you know ready as you get your body as ready as it as it can be. And again, there's a lot of people that have unfortunately passed away, um, you know, and then there's avalanches, there's all kind of variables that a human can only prepare for. Uh but no matter how much preparation a person does, doesn't mean that you won't encounter or I wouldn't encounter something no matter how much I prepared. Um, and so this is the story I came across. When I talk about miracles, I we can use whatever word we want. And we say, Well, well, that's not a miracle, you know, that was just luck. I I don't know what it was. I call it a miracle because to my knowledge it's never been done as far as not bringing supplemental oxygen, climbing all the way up, hitting the summit, the peak, and then skiing down. And so that's why I say, in my opinion, it seems like a seems like a miracle. If it's happened before, I haven't seen any other articles and uh any other news stories. Again, it doesn't mean that they don't exist. I'm going on the information that I know that I saw with my own eyes, and it it was uh, you know, like it is like a documentary, so I was able to hear uh and so there was some some uh video recording equipment, which I'm assuming there were drones, or at least a drone that was uh capturing uh on top of the camera cameras that was were with the guide. When I say guide, I mean guide, like G-U-I-D-E, not guy like G-U-I. Um so we gotta look at these types of events, and you know, there's a reason why it happened. And there must be reasons why other people, if they've tried it uh before, I don't know if they've passed away, I don't know if they had the the supplemental or they had planned, like, oh I'm gonna you know, I'm just gonna get through it, and then maybe they reached a certain point and they're like, well, I don't know. And coming from me, somebody's not a uh an avid climber, mountain let alone mountain climber, uh, I would be taking every every single uh whatever's on the packing list of things, I I would be taking every single one of those. I wouldn't say, uh I don't know, I don't think I need this one, I don't think I need that one. That something like this, this is something that people even with supplemental oxygen pass away. Uh so call it what you will. I call it a miracle, I call it an event that happened where from all appearances somebody defied the odds. Didn't mean that it was never ever ever. Ever, ever, ever gonna be possible for somebody to do this to climb ever with no supplemental oxygen and ski down. You know, we can set out with a plan, we can set out with goals, whether as an individual or as an organization, and then we may at some point decide, okay, we need to adapt. Like this is a little bit more than what I had expected. And I'm just thinking that a lot of people had run into that second that second side where you know this it's a little more than what I expected, everything or a lot of the things that I'm that I've read ahead of time, you know, it's no joke. I mean, you're dealing with mother nature here, right? And and and mother nature teaches humans on a daily basis in different areas of the world that you know she reigns kinda kinda in in in one of the you know, the s the supreme kind of area. And so if you don't if you don't believe in God or higher power mother nature, if an avalanche is gonna come, oxygen levels are gonna get even lower than what was expected. Because what I could what I could see is you know, you get ranges, right? So I mean think of the just think of regular weather. No matter where you live or where I where I live, every day there is well, here's what our high temperature is expected to be, and here's our low temperature, what it's expected to be. And then there's forecasts of you know by the hour and and and that that come up. And so those are ranges, and and and so I I I would I would think that when you're looking about climbing Mount Everest or climbing the hill in your backyard or a local park, you know, there's gonna be ranges of well, once you get to this point the this is what you can expect. This is the high part of the range, here's the low part, and here's kind of the middle part of the range. And so there can always be deviations, right? Because then there not only is there what's expected to be the high and the low temperature, but what's the historical, what is what is the highest the temperature's ever been on this specific day, and what's the lowest it's ever been. And if you know, if you're climbing gets snow, here's the most snow, or here's the least, or here's the most rainfall, or the least, or uh the dew point. You know, there's all these all these data points that you you gotta look at. And and so I'm you know thinking like mentally as well of at what point along a journey like that, climbing Mount Everest, does a person say, I need my supplemental oxygen, number one? And then what if you run out? So there's that's another option that you don't have really control over, because until you're there, you don't really know. You know, you can look at all kind of data, and and but until you're there, or until I'm there, I'm not going there. Let me tell you put it that way. Let me just make sure I'm letting letting that be known. I'm not nowhere gonna get near that. I I'm not in the shape that I'm in. Uh even at that on the risk meter, the older I've gotten, you know, the risk kind of has uh gotten a little bit lower uh risk level. Uh you know, start out with whatever a higher risk level, and then the older. It's just me. So this person did it. They set out the climb Everest without supplemental oxygen and a ski down after hitting the reaching the summit or the highest point in the mountain range, and that's so awesome. Uh and that should be applauded. Uh the the one one of the things, one of the byproducts to come is maybe inspiring other people to go, hey, they did it, so maybe I can do it. Uh, I just hope no there's no unnecessary people passing away because you know, they you know, like a video game. Well, like, oh well, that's just a video game, so that's easy. I can do that. I can I can do what they did. Uh but that's what I want to bring up. So emotionally and and mental health-wise, right, you gotta be you gotta be all in, and that's from you know, you know, people prepare, you know, a year or two out, and that's the other part is if if you if you think that you're just gonna uh you know book a trip and leave in three days and and and and do it, uh I I doubt it. That's probably not gonna happen. So there's this all there's all kind of preparation that that goes on, but from a mental side, you gotta be all bought in. You gotta, you know, be you gotta be a believer in yourself because when you're up there climbing, there might be a guide that's there to help, and there might be a few other people with you that you've never met in your life, and and and so you have to have incredible self-belief, inner strength. Because when you get to, you're gonna get to some hard decision points of what do I do? Do I just cash out at this point and and and just be happy I made it, whatever, to whatever level, whatever height, uh, or do I continue, like what's it what's it worth to me to keep going no matter what, or not, and so that mental health part, you know, it's gosh, I I don't know. It's and it's not just that belief or that inner strength, you have to have that, and you have to be nourished and the conditions, and there's gotta be so many variables that that line up to even think about trying to continue on whether you have supplemental oxygen or not. Again, there's been people who have passed away with supplemental oxygen. So just because you have it doesn't mean it's a a for sure thing that you're gonna be able to check that box. Doesn't mean that that that that's gonna happen no matter what. It increases the odds. Uh that's what made this this person's voyage all the more rare. This never happened before, as far as I'm concerned, uh, and from what I've read, and it's never been done before. And uh, but yeah, that mental health, you know, if there's mental illnesses, and you know, how does that play into it? You know, if there's medication, and right, you're you're you're you're carrying in literally ever everything you need. And and and so there's medication you're taking, you have to have water, you know, to be able to to wash down the the medicine. And so I don't know how like you got a plan for all that. Like, is that even possible? You know, if you're talking about like a a one week or two weeks, or I don't know how what the time is, but again, it's not like uh you know, like a weekend trip, from what I understand, to do it, even if you do complete it. And and so you know, medication-wise, if somebody's taken, even even if it isn't mental illness, even if it's for something else, uh they're uh you're taking medication for, uh how do you how does that how's that factor in? Because we might think, oh, that's nothing, that's something minor. Well, is it you got three weeks? So you got three weeks, let's just call it three weeks, and you'll probably want to have some extras, right? Because what if there is an avalanche and you're caught for three or four extra days? Well, your your your decision's pretty much made up if you're out of medication and it's something that you need and you don't have uh the decision probably gets made for you, you know, given given that. So there's all kinds of different variables that play into everything on a daily basis, but especially, you know, with this this trip that I saw, this documentary, I I was really I mean just taken aback that everything kind of lined up with expectations, there were setbacks, continued on. Um I don't again, I I'm sure they they spoke about what the you know the preparation time was uh you know getting ready. Uh there was a consultation with different different doctors or you know, different professionals in the field. Uh I I would I would think that that would probably be a good idea if somebody was thinking about doing that. Just in general, whether it's climbing Mount Everest or uh I don't know, running a marathon or walking a marathon, again, you have to have the fluids, and you have to have the energy. And you know, depending on what you're looking at, if you if you take medication or if you don't, it doesn't matter if you do or you don't, you just have you just have to prepare, just like you prepare for other trips. Yeah, you know, you prepare for how many days you're gone, planning to be not gone, uh planning to be not home, and you know, a few extra days because uh I now know from my travels uh that I got stranded overnight without one of my um medications, but then also there are um you know ones you take different times a day, and given you know when the stranding happened, you gotta look at it and go, okay, well I missed this flight, and I don't want to miss the next one. So uh, you know, you're you're just doing planning on the fly. Uh yeah, I usually travel pretty lightly, and I didn't have enough as many, you know, snacks or food. So there, you know, you're traveling, you know, you're getting the highest prices known to a person. Yeah, and and so that that was a part of it. And so that was something that I definitely now I've learned. I've learned my lesson from from that. And so that's just something, mental health or not, just going, hey, I'm gonna need to eat dinner. Oh, I'm gonna need to eat breakfast, and I gotta do all this before security opens. Uh anyways, so we hope you've had uh uh you know, it's been a little one of the another one of these uh upbeat stories for our show. Uh just incredible. I'm I'm sure you can you can find the uh the story I'm referring to. Uh if you can subscribe, if you can reach out to you know 25 of your friends, you can text them, send them group chat, that'd be awesome. If you can give us a thumbs up, like, share, follow, all that great, great stuff. We are uh one of the hottest podcasts on the planet, you know, behind uh the Joe Rogan experience, and now Dan Bongino's back. Um and it's all because of you. And we have nothing but love coming back to each and every one of you. And we look forward to coming back on another episode of the Voices for Voices TV show and podcast. And until then, let's help get our reach, let's help expand our reach from over 100 countries and provinces and territories across the world to 300, at least 300 countries, provinces, and territories across the world. And let's go from over 1,000 cities across the world to over 3,000 cities across the world. I know we can do it, and with your help, we can do it. So have a great day, wherever you may be, and please be a voice for you or somebody in need. Bye bye. We'll see you on the next show.