Deshun Deysel has been described as the only black female high alititude mountaineer in the world. She grew up in Uitenhage close to Port Elizabeth and was part of the Sunday Times Everest Expedition in 1996 as well as the Discovery one in 2003. She had to turn back an agonising 350 metres from the summit due to bad weather.

She spoke at TGIF last Friday morning about her experiences on Everest, how she first became interested in mountaineering as well as her faith. The second time she attempted Everest she says, “I prayed every second!”

Deshun_Deysel-Mount_Everest.m4a (12.9 MBs)

Her talk is around 55 minutes long and she showed quite a few video clips - none of which I can include in this podcast - but I think it’s still a fascinating story.

‘When you climb Everest your very sanity comes into question. Your being gets tested on all levels. The mountain peels away at you physically, emotionally, mentally, spiritually, until there’s nothing left but the desire to get it over with. As a woman, the extreme conditions on big mountains test you even more.’