After sailing around the world in the last Vendée Globe, sailor Maxime Sorel set out to reach the summit of Mount Everest. His goal was achieved with the support of Helly Hansen.
"I've done it! I've completed a Vendée Globe and climbed Everest. It's a lot of happiness and positive feelings." With these words, Maxime Sorel brought his unique project, "Mon Double Everest", to a close: the Everest of the seas (the Vendée Globe) and the ascent of Mount Everest. It's a rare sportsman who performs in both the mountain and the sea worlds. But like a Aurélien Ducroz (another Helly Hansen athlete), who went from freeride ski world champion to Class40 world champion, Maxime Sorel has also managed to tame both worlds.
To achieve this double Everest and become the first man to achieve this goal, Maxime Sorel first took part in the Vendée Globe. This single-handed, non-stop, unassisted round-the-world sailing race is the pinnacle of the discipline. After winning the 2017 Transat Jacques Vabre in a Class 40 with Antoine Carpentier, the sailor from Calais entered the IMOCA 60-foot monohull circuit and thus took part in his first Vendée Globe in 2021. He finished 10th aboard V and B - Mayenne.
No sooner had he arrived in Les Sables d'Olonne than he launched a new sailing project with the construction of a new hydrofoil IMOCA, the V and B - Monbana - Mayenne, and a few months later announced his desire to climb Mount Everest. The "mountain" adventure was launched, and with it a specific preparation in which the sailor invested himself. "We had to turn me into a seasoned mountaineer in a very short space of time," he explains. "The amount of technical clothing you need to be able to climb Everest is impressive. Helly Hansen has given me advice on products that I'm not familiar with as a sailor, such as those in the Montagne range.
"In the South Seas, I had a lot of ski clothes. Helly Hansen's wide range covers all the needs you might have on a round-the-world trip, and their product knowledge is top-notch for us. Every time they advise me, it's just right for my needs. In particular, I've used the Lifa MerinoThe Odin 9 Worlds 2.0 jacket has become an essential part of my wardrobe over the last few weeks spent in the mountains.
From a technical point of view, I did a series of ridge races, ski touring, ice climbing... All these disciplines enabled me to handle the equipment we take with us to Everest. It was a lot of preparation in the mountains, especially on a physical level. In sailing, you always lose legs when you come back from a race at sea lasting several days or weeks. In this case, I had to build up muscle in my lower body to cope with the altitude difference in the Himalayas.
Maxime set off for Kathmandu on April 5, accompanied by fellow mountaineer and journalist Guillaume Vallot and cameraman Julien Ferrandez. Once Camp 2 had been reached, Maxime and his acolytes moved on to Camp 3 and 4. It was finally on the night of May 17-18 that he reached the summit, before finally descending to base camp to validate his achievement. "I did this project to collect donations for the association", he says. Overcoming Cystic Fibrosis "of which I am the national sponsor", he reminded us once he had come down from the roof of the world.
"I'm more tired than at the finish of a Vendée Globe because this climb was very intense in a short space of time. It was harder than I thought it would be. Still, I felt good all the way up, even if a few members of our team dropped off as we went along because they weren't doing so well. When I got to the top, I looked up at the stars and thought I'd never see them so close. I had a big thrill when I saw the summit appear. We had a huge wind with a crazy cold. What emotions! After the summit, it was total chaos with a violent wind. We were in a hurry to get back down, because up there, you can't hold on, you stay frozen. My oxygen tank was almost empty. I didn't have a spare. We had no time to lose.
"I thought a lot about cystic fibrosis patients, especially on the way down. I wanted to descend very quickly and certainly disconnected my oxygen hose. I wasn't feeling well. My head was spinning. I sat down on a rock and asked a guy how much my oxygen tank was. He said zero! A sherpa saw me and picked up my disconnected hose - phew! I started to live again and I thought a lot about the patients even though I had very, very little breathing capacity. I really freaked out."
From now on, the mountaineer will return to his first love, the sea. Maxime Sorel also has a busy schedule ahead of future race dates: the Rolex Fastnet in July, the Defi Azimut in September and the Transat Jacques Vabre in October.
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