World renowned mountaineer and explorer Jon Muir, thinks people have lost the spirit of adventure and become ‘soft.’
Muir, who will be visiting New Zealand from Australia next week for a speaking tour, said, “Each generation is becoming softer and a little less adventurous. People are less imaginative, worried about delving into the unknown. It isn’t healthy.”
Muir, who has been on five expeditions to Everest and climbed the mountain in 1988 with a small team of Australians’, said all you need to summit now is a “big chequebook.”
“There are so many adventures out there, yet everyone is lining up with their cheque books to make the 10,000th ascent of Everest,” he said. “It’s appalling.”
As well as climbing Everest, Muir has trekked to both poles; in 1999 he was part of the controversial “Icetrek: expedition to the South Pole with Peter Hillary and Eric Philips and reached the North Pole the following year with Philips.
In 2001 he succeeded on his fourth attempt, in making a 2500km, 128-day south to north unsupported crossing of the Australian continent.
“I saw the crossing as one of the biggest prizes remaining in world adventure, “he said. “To do it unassisted was a huge ask and in a different league to anything else I’d done. Everest took a lot of gas out of the tank, but paled in comparison to the desert crossing. I’d always come back from other trips feeling I could keep going, but not this one.”
Muir will be in New Zealand to ‘inspire ‘Kiwi’s to take on adventurous lifestyles.
“Everything has got something in their minds that they’ve always wanted to do, and it’s healthy to act on these things and take concrete steps to make them happen. Often once you’ve taken the first step it’s quite easy; once you’ve committed doors start opening.”
Muir will be speaking in Auckland August 30, Wellington August 31, Dunedin September 1, Christchurch September 2 and Wanaka September 3.
