For years, Seb Audy has visualized achieving the 鈥楨xplorer鈥檚 Grand Slam.鈥� Also known as the quest includes scaling the world鈥檚 highest seven mountain peaks and reaching the North and South poles.
To say it鈥檚 difficult is an understatement, Audy said. But the Chevy Chase, Maryland, resident has a strategy.
鈥淭here鈥檚 a simple equation. You need to have a vision,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hen you need to have a strategy and a plan. And then execute with discipline and consistency.鈥�
Fewer than 70 people worldwide have achieved the Grand Slam. Audy has already climbed the mountains, from Everest to Vinson. Last year, he braved bone-chilling temperatures to reach the South Pole on skis.
The last leg in his adventure goal, a ski expedition to the North Pole, has been canceled three years in a row. He plans to try again in April.
鈥淚t鈥檚 very disappointing,鈥� said Audy, who lives and trains in Maryland. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a little bit like if you鈥檙e an Olympic athlete and two weeks before the Olympics, you鈥檙e being told, 鈥榦h, not this year.鈥� I just brush it off and keep going.鈥�
His grueling training schedule is nonstop, which he designed to mimic the harsh, frigid conditions of the North Pole. He created a body harness that allowed him to pull a makeshift sled weighed down weights, simulating his food, equipment and ski gear.
鈥淚 came up with the idea of using that same gear but replacing the sled with big pickup tires for hours and hours,鈥� he said. 鈥淵ou have to be very, very creative.鈥�
During his training regimen, the extreme athlete trains while monitoring his body temperature. Explorers who perspire in the frigid conditions can quickly lose the ability to keep warm.
鈥淚n the polar regions we say, 鈥榠f you sweat, you die,鈥� he told 草莓传媒. 鈥淵ou really have to be mindful of your body temperature.鈥�
In addition to attaining the Explorer鈥檚 Grand Slam, the Quebec native said his goal has a mission to bring attention to climate change. The former World Bank alum uses his expeditions to raise capital for climate victims.
鈥淚 wanted to leverage my expeditions to raise awareness,鈥� said Audy. 鈥淭his is to benefit people that are in poverty and impacted the most by climate change and are contributing the least to the problem, to be honest.鈥�
