Mount Everest may be Maxime Chaya’s latest conquest but his list of accomplishments may be just as high. He has climbed the highest peak on each of the seven continents. He has reached the summit of Everest, and he completed an unassisted and unsupported trek from the coast of Antarctica to the Geographic South Pole. His next challenge will be to do the same in the North Pole. If he is successful he will be the first Lebanese, the first Arab, the first Middle Easterner and only amongst a handful of men to have ever accomplished such a feat.
Yet Max is no superman. In fact he did not even get into climbing until he was 40-years-old. Born in 1961 in Beirut, he was raised in Lebanon until his family had to take refuge from the war in 1975. He pursued his education overseas in Greece, France, Canada and the United Kingdom where he graduated from the London School of Economics.
Always a keen sportsman, Chaya seemed to excel in all sports disciplines and he was never one to shy away from a fresh challenge. In 1999, while visiting Kenya to take part in an international mountain-bike stage race he was approached by one of the organisers who asked him if he was interested in climbing Mount Kilimanjaro in nearby Tanzania. Unfortunately, though Max was later to lead the race by over 11 minutes with victory all but assured, he had an unlucky fall, broke his collar bone resulting in a DNF – did not finish. Significantly, the seed had been sown. One year later, upon reaching the summit of Kilimanjaro, he had found his calling.
Challenge after challenge he has returned successfully yet he does not take solace from his victories. Rather like an actor who uses his craft to exorcise his demons, Max has never done anything for the record books. Rather he is searching within himself, finding where his limits lie. Though a sought-after figure with more accolades than many could dream of, he has an articulate sense of self and he retains an unassuming nature that is starkly at odds with the hero status he has attained.
Nicolas Shammas Who is Maxime Chaya?
Maxime Chaya He is a simple man of Lebanese origin who grew up in times of war and consequently found himself unable to channel his energies. Perhaps if I had been raised during times of peace, or born of a different nationality, I might have been a professional athlete or such.
How would you introduce yourself: a summiteer, an adventurer, an explorer?
I like the name adventurer or explorer but my business card says Corporate Ambassador for Banque Audi.
What does that mean?
Well it means that I serve as the official representative of this company. I represent the same brand values as the bank. I am a human representation of the bank’s key slogan “Grow beyond your potential.” It’s funny because after I graduated I spent one year training in a bank in New York. I would look out from the window and I knew the outdoors was where I wanted to be. Years later I am back in a suit and tie sitting in a bank but this time I have returned back on my own terms.
How long have you been supported by Banque Audi?
Since 2003. Banque Audi was the only company that had the vision and courage to embark with me on this ambitious project and I will be forever indebted to the bank’s decision maker, who prefers to remain anonymous.
How did it feel when you reached your very first summit on Mount Kilimanjaro?
It is indescribable. I have felt all sorts of different feelings of happiness but this was a totally different feeling. But you must remember that getting there is only half the journey and you cannot allow yourself to celebrate once at the peak because most accidents happen on the way down, so you need to stay alert and focused.
How do you stay motivated faced with such daunting tasks?
It is amazing how much depth of character you can find within yourself if only you care to take a look.
Are there moments during your expeditions when you feel that you won’t make it?
Not really, you must constantly keep a look out and constantly re-evaluate the situation. You must always observe and tolerate change. Sometimes it’s just not the right time. When I was training for Everest I was climbing Gasherbrun Mountain [in Pakistan] and I had a feeling that something was not right. I decided to turn around and head back. There was another group that continued and one of them perished that night.
What is one of the worst memories you have from your challenges?
The challenges are always great. When I started out on my way up Everest I was with a big group but I did not stay with them I made my own pace and broke ahead. Upon the return leg, I came across a climber from another party who was still alive but on his last moments of life; his legs appeared to be frozen to the knees, his arms to the elbows. He was unconscious I was badly affected because there was nothing that could be done.
How would you like to be remembered?
I would like to be remembered for following Gibran Khalil Gibran’s famous quote, “Ask not what your country can do for you rather ask what you can do for your country.”
What is the most important lesson you have ever learned?
You know the mountain teaches you many lessons and it is a hard thing to choose one but probably the most important lesson is that if you believe, you can achieve.
What are some of the other lessons?
You learn that all problems by definition have a solution. You also learn to keep tidy and clean and to stay humble.
As a hero to so many, who do you look up to?
I would say [Tour de France champion] Lance Armstrong. He had to overcome such hardship and adversity yet he became a record-breaking champion in spite of it all.
What is your biggest fear?
I am never fearful when in nature. I believe nature is much kinder than people think. I fear men, especially men who act without premeditation. For example, nature will warn you before it brings a storm, you can see the clouds forming. Yet sometimes men can do the most barbaric acts with little to no warning – this I fear.
What impact have your achievements had on the Middle East in general?
I hope I can help people become a little less selfless, to stop them from thinking about profiting for their own gains and most importantly not to underestimate their abilities.
When you get to the North Pole and return thus completing the three summit challenge, what will you do then?
This is a very good question, I don’t know but there will always remain challenges. You know when I returned from Everest I met with many dignitaries here in Lebanon and one of them, a politician that I’m sure you know, asked me, “What’s next Max, are you going to go to the Moon as well?” Well, while this might be beyond my means, perhaps a spaceflight may be in order.
What do you do for a sense of peace?
I shall show you. Here is a picture of me two days ago sitting atop the mountain of Sannine [in Lebanon]. That is real peace. I had climbed the mountain with back-country skis and here I was sitting at the summit and I remained there, in peace, for about an hour. Then when I was ready to go back, I peeled off the skins from the skis and skied my way down.
How would you define luxury?
You know I spent two months living in a tent. Just to drink a glass of water, I must cut off some ice, boil it and then I can drink. So for me I don’t care about frivolous living. I don’t even fly Business Class. When I receive a Business Class ticket I exchange it for an Economy one and I give the remainder to my favourite charity. But if truth-be-told luxury is being able to forego certain things. It is the ability to do what you want and when you want, that is true luxury.
Three words to describe you would be?
I shall give you three digits instead. 1-0-0. 100 per cent. I believe that if you are in a race and you come last but you give a 100 per cent effort then you can go home with your head held high. But if you come first and you only gave 99 per cent then you will always wonder how much better you could have done. Essentially I am a perfectionist.
How does it feel to be such an inspiration to others?
I have yet to experience something more rewarding than inspiring others. I doubt I ever will. You cannot imagine the thrill it gives me to see the faces of the school kids when I lecture. They light up and I want to tell them that they can aspire to the seemingly impossible. There is an Everest for each one of us.
What do you think it is about the challenges you face that create such inspiration for others?
You really should ask this to the people that have been inspired. But perhaps it is the fact that I have been to places that man is not welcome and yet I have returned to tell the tale. It is essentially the fact that I have surmounted the insurmountable.
So few people have ever been to the highest point on Earth can you tell us a little about how hard it was to climb Everest?
Certainly the summit push on Everest is very tough. All in all it took two months but you spend a lot of days resting and doing what they call climb-high-sleep-low. This involves climbing up to a camp leaving some stuff, then coming back down. This helps reduce the load you must carry but more importantly it helps your body acclimatise otherwise you can suffer from hypoxia which is a shortage of oxygen in the blood.
Can you give us more details of the summit push?
Yes, initially you have to prepare both yourself and the camps and then you go back to ABC which is the Advanced Base Camp. Once there you rest and then comes the summit push. This necessitates going to Camp 1 then sleeping, Camp 2-sleep, Camp 3-sleep, Camp 4-sleep and then there’s the final leg. Each of the stages of the summit push is extremely tough but the hardest is Camp 4 to the summit which is totally consuming.
How did it compare to trekking to the South Pole?
Probably the South Pole was even tougher for the simple fact that in Antarctica I had to exert so much effort every day for 47 days, and there were only two rest days. It is a day-in day-out effort. Each day you must pack your whole life up into a sled and then after skiing for nine hours in the harshest of conditions, you must get it all out again and set up camp all over again. In that sense and also for the fact that I had not put on enough weight before leaving for the South Pole, it really took its toll on me.
Thomas Edison said, “Genius is one per cent inspiration and 99 per cent perspiration.” How would you describe achievement on a grand scale?
I was once asked what percentage of my success can be attributed to mental strength and what percentage can be attributed to physical strength. And I can honestly say that it is one per cent physical and 99 per cent mental strength. Overcoming the obstacles in your mind is the only way to achieve whatever it is you want to achieve.
The Eskimos apparently have over 200 words for snow. Do you think you have encountered all these types?
Only 200! [laughs]. You know I have hundreds of photos of natural snow sculptures that the wind creates from snow. But yes certainly there are several types of snow and you must learn to recognise and respect them if you want to come back alive. I don’t know if I have seen all 200 yet but if anyone has encountered a lot of types of snow it’s me!
Do you consider yourself to be a hero?
I don’t, no. I am definitely seen as one in my country but I don’t like to be in the public eye, I prefer to keep a low profile. I feel it takes more than what Max Chaya has done in his life to be a hero.
What keeps you going?
I think back to all the hours of training and preparation that I have endured and I ask myself “Have you really given 100 per cent, is there nothing left to give? Can you not walk another day? Can you not climb to another camp?” If the answer is yes, I do it.
What if the answer is no?
Funnily enough I have never encountered that problem. But if I had given my 100 per cent and I could no longer continue I would give up, go back and recalculate. Something would have to be readjusted. Maybe I need to train more or prepare more. I just need to change something in order to make it work.
Do you think it takes a special kind of vision to accomplish such extreme challenges as the ones you set yourself?
Without vision you cannot achieve anything in life. Your vision must be to achieve a specific goal and without a goal you are going nowhere slowly.
