Ain’t no mountain high enough for Annabelle Bond, Hong Kong philanthropist and international adventure seeker
- A passion for adventure and a higher purpose kept her motivated through the extreme challenges of her record-making climbing expeditions
- Being a parent, however, has made the experience of scaling Mount Everest seem easy, says the mother to a teenage daughter
The year was 2004, and Annabelle Bond was more than 7,000 metres above ground, scaling Mount Everest, the Earth’s highest peak. She had just departed the South Col camp near the summit and was crossing over a glacier while battling the elements, from icy air to deafening winds – it was akin to a scene straight out of an action movie. One of her gloves had blown off.
To call that moment her darkest hour would be an understatement.
“I heard two voices in my head,” Bond recalls. “One was telling me I had done enough, and everyone would be so proud I even got this far, so I should just stop. The other voice was pushing me to go on – I only have this one shot.”
She heeded the latter – and clearly louder – internal voice and not only pressed on to reach the summit, but also went on to become the fastest woman climber in the world for scaling the tallest peaks on each of the seven continents in 360 days. The record stood for eight years before being broken.
“I wanted to prove people wrong, but most of all, I had thought about those who were depending on me to get to the top for the charity I was raising money for,” says Bond, whose climb supported The Eve Appeal, a British charity dedicated to the prevention of gynaecological cancers.
I wanted to prove people wrong, but most of all, I had thought about those who were depending on me to get to the top for the charity I was raising money for
In addition to Everest, Bond counts Vinson Massif in Antarctica and Denali in Alaska as her favourite peaks to have scaled. The motivation for these extreme physical challenges comes from her profound love of adventure.
