PUSHING THE LIMIT
For this mountain-climbing granny, adventure and good health go hand-in-hand
DETROIT – Because mountains have to be climbed. Because Nancy Norris is only 65 years old, and she believes her quest can inspire others to exercise, eat healthier and keep dreaming. That is her message: Keep climbing, keep striving, keep living. No matter what obstacles are in your way.
Because it’s a challenge. Because it makes her feel so small. Because it takes her so close to God. Because it is Mount Everest.
And so, Norris started dreaming and planning. She read every book she could find about Mount Everest and she put her life in Grand Blanc, Mich., on hold. She took out a loan to pay for the $55,000 trip and she signed up with a climbing company. She traveled to Nepal in March, hoping to become the oldest American woman to climb Mount Everest. Everest is the ultimate challenge, the world’s tallest peak. The mountain has claimed the lives of at least 200 people who have attempted to climb it.
And this was it – Norris’ shot at history.
She planned to write a book about her experiences. She had already climbed the highest peaks on each of the six other continents. She had a theme for her book: “This is what grandmothers look like.”
Norris, a petite woman with four children and four grandchildren, has blond hair and tight muscles and a slender frame and a young spirit. She loves being outside, pushing her limits, chasing adrenaline and adventure by hiking and biking, paragliding and scuba diving, bungee jumping and leaping out of airplanes.
“I think this is what 65 looks like now,” said Norris, a divorced personal trainer and yoga instructor.
Norris started climbing by accident: “A friend ... gave me a membership to an indoor climbing gym. I tried that and had so much fun.”
In March 1998, she signed up for a weeklong snow school, climbing Longs Peak in Colorado. She was hooked. She started traveling the world, climbing mountains in Argentina and Australia and Antarctica.
“I pray continuously when I’m on the mountain,” she said. “It’s the most spiritual thing, the most beautiful thing, being out there in nature. I love challenging myself to stay as strong and fit as possible.”
Norris signed up to climb Everest through Washington-based International Mountain Guides. She went with 20 teammates. Each one traveled with a Sherpa, a paid guide. But the 2 1/2-month trip started with a glitch: “I didn’t get my luggage for five days,” Norris said.
“There was one other person on our team whose luggage didn’t arrive. ... They carted him off the mountain seven days later on oxygen. He could barely walk.
Coincidence that we didn’t get our luggage? It seems like you do hear that. Something is doomed right from the beginning,” she said.
Norris climbed up and down the mountain in phases, becoming acclimated to the altitude and thin air, crossing the dangerous Khumbu Icefall three times. At about 18,000 feet, it is a series of crevices and ice peaks, among the deadliest spots on Everest.
“There are 21 ladders that you have to climb across, up or down, going from Base Camp to Camp 1,” Norris said.
Getting from the base to the top of Everest is a journey that can take months.
“Everybody kind of climbs at different speeds. You might have 20 people waiting to climb up a ladder.”
She spent two nights at a camp at 19,500 feet and then climbed to a camp at 21,500 feet. “That night I had a really bad altitude headache,” Norris said.
She returned to base camp and her health deteriorated. She developed an eye infection, then chest congestion and a sore throat. “It just kind of knocked the wind out of my sails,” Norris said.
She spent a day at base camp, trying to recover, afraid of telling the doctor because she didn’t want to admit it, not even to herself. “Please heal my body,” she prayed.
But her condition didn’t improve. The doctor told her to go down to the valley because she wasn’t going to get better in the thin air. Her trip was in jeopardy.
“It was a very sad time,” she said.
Norris walked about 7z hours down to a village to try to regain her health. “The eye condition cleared up after a few days, but the problem was my throat and chest,” she said.
She kept praying, but it was agony. She felt alone. She called Eric Simonson, the head of the climbing company, who was still at base camp.
“If you are not 100 percent, you are going to be slower when you go through the icefalls,” he warned. “The more time you spend in the icefalls, the more chance you have getting caught in an accident. I know one thing: Your family wants you to come home.”
She was tempted to lie and say that she was healthy again. Because it was her dream. Because it meant so much.
Finally, she turned around and walked down the mountain —disappointed and dejected but alive.
“I feel so fortunate that I got there,” Norris said. “I fulfilled a dream getting there and attempting to climb it.”
Still, it hasn’t been easy. Since she’s been back, she’s had days when she has struggled with disappointment.
On other days, she feels it was all worth it. She learned something about herself, on that mountain when she was trying to decide what to do.
She left Everest with a different attitude.
“I learned to be more sensible,” she said. “That was hard for me. I’m used to just going for it, regardless of the situation.”
Nine of her teammates did not make it to the top, though she’s not sure what exactly happened. “I’m assuming it was illness or injury,” she said. She has returned to her job at Hurley Health and Fitness Center in Flint.
In August, Norris will tackle the Inca Trail in Peru.
Why? Why does she keep climbing?
Because she is only 65 years old. And she has so much more living to do.
Peak moments
Nancy Norris has climbed the tallest mountain on each continent, except for Asia’s Mount Everest, which she failed to summit this spring. Here’s her record:
Mount Kilimanjaro (19,330 ft.), Africa, 2001
Mount McKinley (20,320 ft.), North America, 2002
Mount Elbrus (18,510 ft.), Europe, 2004
Mount Aconcagua (22,841 ft.), South America, 2005
Mount Vinson (16,050 ft.), Antarctica, 2005
Mount Carstensz (16,024 ft.), Australasia, 2006
Tips from Nancy
Nancy Norris’ tips for healthy living:
• Skipping meals will not help you lose weight.
• Breakfast is the most important meal of the day.
• Eat five to six small meals or snacks a day. Eating more frequently (about every three hours) keeps your metabolism higher all day, burning more calories.
• Eat a carbohydrate and a protein together. A green apple with natural peanut butter is a great snack.
• If you are starting a new exercise program, ease into it and increase its intensity over time. Just do something that gets you moving most days of the week.
• You never have to give up a favorite food. Instead, treat yourself to it once in a while.
• Fad diets don’t work. People need to exercise and eat in a way that can be continued for life.
• Don’t put off becoming a more fit and healthy person. You are the only one who can make changes.
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