Chiswick councillor Gary Malcolm scales new heights

Cllr Gary Malcolm at the summit of Kang Yatse 2

A 14 hour slog to reach the summit of Kang Yatse 2 in the Himalayas

Liberal Democrat councillor Gary Malcolm, who represents Chiswick’s Southfield ward on Ealing Council, has scaled the remote Kang Yatse 2 mountain in the Indian Himalayas.

On Thursday 21 August the Leader of the Ealing Lib Dems proudly achieved the summit of Kang Yatse 2 after a gruelling 14 hour ‘slog’ starting off at midnight in the dark in weather that was perfect for climbing.

Cllr Gary Malcolm on the way up

Kang Yatse stands 6,250 metres high in the Indian Himalayas.  Cllr Malcolm commented that the team of sherpas and the wider team were magnificent, and that you cannot do this type of climb this alone, it needs a team.

Many of the slopes were angled at 70% which is steeper than most of Mount Everest.

Gary Malcolm’s step count reached 243,000 steps (about 115 miles) in the last two weeks to build up altitude acclimatisation.

Due to the high altitude and the thinness of the oxygen (at 6,000 metres there was only half the oxygen available making it difficult to function) it is standard practice to ascended higher each day and then to return to a lower altitude to camp. This is to allow the body to acclimatise to the low oxygen levels.

Cllr Malcolm said:

“This was an amazing experience and shows that with grit and determination we can all rise and achieve a positive result. This was my toughest climb ever, physically and mentally”.

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