Two years on from Cairngorm catastrophe – Kirsty's top of the world!
A Scottish mountaineer rescued from disaster in the Cairngorms two years ago has become only the sixth woman from the country to reach the summit of Mount Everest.
Kirsty Mack, a ski instructor from Bridge of Allan, reached the summit at 8.10am on May 22 and today recalled the day the Strathy reported her off-piste crash which went down in the history books as the first rescue sparked by a smart watch, which triggered the alarm via the United States.
Her dream of conquering the world's highest peak (8848.86m) was compounded by the serious shoulder injury she sustained in the Cairngorms.
The accident brought in its wake a series of surgeries. She rallied heroically but even after significant rest, recovery and rehabilitation Kirsty unfortunately never regained the full use of her dominant arm.
Despite her injury, she continued to spend time in the mountains, summiting the Breithorn and Mont Blanc just two weeks after her second surgery.
"I credit my time in the mountains as hugely beneficial to both my physical and mental recovery," she said.
And now the big one has been accomlished.
"Two years to the day of my ski accident I walked in to Camp 2 on Everest. I think if that was as far as I ever got, I still would have been thrilled."
She reached the peak with her climbing partner Lhakpa Wongchu Sherpa.
This year also marks the 70th anniversary of Mount Everest's first ascent by Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay. Born to the late Tom Mack MBE from Menstrie, a keen mountaineer himself, Kirsty's interest in mountains developed right from childhood when in addition to hill walks with her family in Scotland, she was a member of the Menstrie Scout Group of which her father was an active member for over 70 years.
In addition to ski instructing, Kirsty is also a qualified outdoor instructor. Reaching the top of the world's tallest peak was Kirsty's fifth summit of the ‘Seven Summits’. The 'Seven Summits' are comprised of the highest mountains on each of the seven continents.
She has already scaled Mount Kilimanjaro (Africa), Mount Elbrus (Europe), Denali (North America) and Aconcagua (South America).
Kirsty climbed Mt. Elbrus in Russia, Europe’s tallest mountain, in 2019, 25 years after her dad. Her Denali conquest occurred last July, 41 years after her dad reached the same milestone.
Kirsty spends much of her time in the Alps. She has summited several of the 4000ers and hopes to summit all 82 eventually.
