YouTuber and new mountaineer Ryan Mitchell summited Mount Everest, the highest peak in the world, in mid-May of 2024. The Massachusetts native only began training for the climb back in 2023, starting off by climbing up and down Wachusett Mountain multiple times with a 35-pound backpack.
Several months after reaching the summit of the 29,032 foot mountain, and after moving to Washington state and committing more to learning mountaineering, Ryan has shared that he regrets climbing Everst.
Ryan’s reflection on his summit seems very mature, noting how he doens’t know if he actually had enough experience to go for Everest. Summiting the world’s tallest mountain is undoubtedly a huge achievement and incredibly difficult, but the actually mountaineering difficulty is significantly limited for those who can hire a guide.
He doesn’t regret climbing Everest, so much as he regrets going to Everest with the lack of experience that he had in the world of mountaineering. He points out the Dunning-Kruger effect, an idea that people who lack knowledge on a specific subject lack the ability to recognize their lack of expertise. I’m sure you can think of a moment where that’s happened to you, or to someone you know.
You can watch Mitchell’s summit day video here.
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