It was those words, scrawled in a book by his grandmother, that prompted Queenstown carpenter Lewis Latham (36) to tackle the biggest mountain in the world.
Latham and his older brother, Aussie-based Karl, set off this coming Monday to trek to Everest Base Camp in Nepal.
“It’s -20C there at the moment, so I’ll definitely be ready for winter when I get back,” he says.
They’re doing it to raise money for those suffering from pancreatic cancer, the disease that killed their mother.
She died a decade ago on April 29 – the same date their grandmother passed away last year.
When Latham rediscovered a book his grandmother had given to him in 2005, he saw the message she’d written inside and decided to give the challenge a go.
“I’d always wanted to go to Mount Everest,” he says. “It’s the biggest mountain on the planet, the challenge of it is a massive thing for me.”
While the altitude may prove tough, the self-confessed “CrossFit addict” says he tries to keep pretty fit. “But this’ll be something completely different, out of my comfort zone.”
In another special twist, the pair are expected to arrive at the base camp on April 29. Karl will also celebrate his 40th birthday while they’re there. The pair have already raised more than $12,000.
Anyone wanting to donate to the cause can check out their fundraising page at https://www.gofundme.com/everest-for-julie-and-june
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