Cho Oyu is considered a prerequisite peak for climbing Mount Everest. This expedition will give me the opportunity to climb at extreme elevations to prepare myself for the ultimate challenge of Everest. The climb will take seven weeks to complete and begins in August 2006.

Cho Oyu is the sixth highest mountain in the world and is located on the border of Nepal and Tibet. It is 8201 meters (26,906 feet) high.

Legend states that Padmasambhaya, the founder of Tibetan Buddhism, buried sacred texts on Cho Oyu. He wrote these texts called “Cho” to help heal the world from chaos. “Oyu” is the Tibetan word for turquoise and probably refers to the color of the ice on the flanks of the mountain or the surrounding lakes. Thus, Cho Oyu is often translated as “Turquoise Goddess.”

We are in a time that begs for individual, family, community, national and planetary healing. Our lives can be filled with the chaos, angst, and health issues of 21st century living. I am climbing Cho Oyu in celebration of my own personal healing process and I am dedicating my efforts on this climb to inspire others along on their own healing journeys. Healing can be likened to climbing a mountain; both are arduous journeys fraught with risk and hardship. Facing that danger and suffering holds the promise of tremendous growth and freedom but it demands a mountain of courage to begin such an expedition and even more determination and perseverance to continue when the journey becomes difficult, terrifying, or the way is lost.

In scaling Cho Oyu, I will climb the mountain over and over again, climbing up and down the peak to move supplies and gain acclimatization. In my healing process, I have toiled equally hard. Both journeys are filled with crevasses so deep; I cannot see their bottom and the way around them seems impassable. Mountaineering and healing both require tremendous exertion to achieve both my goal of reaching the summit and my ultimate goal of climbing beyond the past.

There is clarity and liberation that comes to me from hard work. It is a clarity resulting from pushing beyond and not settling for anything less than all I can be. I aim to push, to overcome, to breakdown, to fail, to fall and get up again. And again. And again. I want to do the simple yet profound act of placing one foot in front of the other.

For hours and days and weeks at a time. I want to dedicate my entire self to Cho Oyu and to all who have or who will embark on similarly arduous healing journeys.