Ian Robinson on a near-death experience 8000m up

Ian Robinson, triple-AMA winner and founding director of Robinson Sewell Partners, has reached the pinnacle – not just of broking

IAN ROBINSON is a true adventurer. His travels have taken him from Africa to the Middle East to Greenland. Along the way, he has lived with tribal groups and trekked up some of the world’s highest peaks.

Robinson is pictured here on his climb up Cho Oyu mountain on the China- Nepal border, with jet-stream winds lashing the mountainside high above him. His oxygen supply depleted right near the summit, above the Death Zone at the 8,000-metre mark. “So I was in that territory where getting off the mountain was of the most primal importance at that point in time in terms of self-preservation.”

He was forced to turn back and a slow extraction off the mountain ensued, as he would black out briefly every few steps before regaining consciousness and moving forward again. “I was only 48 metres from the summit, so less than the length of a swimming pool.”

Robinson says climbing isn’t about conquering but creating rich memories – the richest ones often from those peaks that remain unclimbed.



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