Title: I am Colin O'Brady - pro endurance athlete at Everest Base Camp - AMA!

Do you think the catered 'tourist' mentality of paying enough money to make the summit is ruining the area physically and culturally?

I just watched 'Sherpa' and about vomited watching the guys bring in steaming hot towels to the dude in the tent. So entitled and disgusting to treat Everest like a 5 star hotel and Sherpa's like paid butlers.

I agree there are certainly people on this mountain who are just paying to tick the box and have little respect for the mountain.

That said the Sherpas want people to climb and trek in the region as it brings more economic prosperity to the region, but like you mentioned probably comes at cultural cost to some extent

Everybody in Portland is really rooting for you! Have you been followin g the Blazers in your down time?

So pumped RIP CITY

So when not doing acclimation hikes what are you doing in your free time?

In base camp I have a bit of down time but every minute I am acclimatizing just by sitting here

A few questions: - How much $$ have you raised so far? - When do you hope to summit Everest and how long does it take to get back down? - Wanna go on a bike ride back in the states?

Hopefully I summit around May 20th, yes lets go for a bike ride for sure...where are you?

After reading Into Thin Air it seems that hiking Everest has been commercialized a lot. Would you agree with this?

Yes for sure. The mountain has become more commercialized over the past 20 years for sure. It used to be only the worlds best climbers tackling this mountain and now there is a robust guided option, but still you have to be quite strong

Hi Colin! Thanks for doing this AMA. I have a couple Qs!

+What songs or poems or sentences or jingles or whatever get stuck in your head while you climb?

+Who do you admire or look up to? Athletically or otherwise.

I actaully don't listen to music much when I climb, but when times are tough I repeat the manta "this too will change" until the tough part gets better

for me Steph Curry has been an inspiration this year in the world of sports

You've climbed 5 of the 7 summits in the last few months? Aren't you exhausted? What's the first thing you'll do once you're finished after Denali?

Take a long nap!

With a background as a profession triathlete, what has been the biggest physical and mental difference to training for high altitude mountaineering and pole expeditions?

There is a lot of similarities, being strong in the mountains requires a lot of the same mental and physical endurace. However being in the elements, like at the North Pole in -40C, requires another level of mental and physical endurance

What made this your passion in life?

Beyond 72 was born with the idea to have a project that pushes me as an elite athlete, but more importantly gives me a platform to inspire the younger generation to live healthy active lives

i follow your instagram, epic photos. are you tired yet?

haha...I am super tired to be honest. I am thrilled to be on Everest, but I am looking forward to the hopefully successful completion of the project as I have been going nonstop for 4 months now

so cool to chat with you live. so this means there's wifi at base camp? that's so crazy! and probably a little strange too.

yes it is crazy to have this level of connectivity on the side of Everest but make it cool that I can share my experience with the world

is your Instagram beyond_72? Are you on snapchat too? how can we follow?

Yes my instagram is @beyond_72 and snapchat beyond_72 and ctobrady

Hey Colin! Fellow mountain lover here! I was wondering, could you tell me exactly how tall Mt. Everest is?

29,029ft!

Have you ever heard of Wim Hof or his breathing techniques for acclimatizing? What do you do to help yourself adjust?

Yeah Wim Hof is a legend...he can hold his breath for so long its amazing!!

What's the window for climbing Denali. Does the season end there like it does on other mountains?

Yes it is too dangerous to climb after the end of June, so I'm hoping I can get over there quickly after I am done here

sandy flipper You are such a big fan...thanks for following along so closely

Your goal is to inspire youth to lead heathy, active lives- how do you feel you connect with children that do not have access to mountains or even to the outdoors? What message can they take away from your journey?

This is not about getting kids to necessarily climb mountains, rather to set goals in their own lives and dream big. A classroom in Portland oregon just sent me a video of all the students saying what their "Everest" was. Its posted on beyond 7/2 Facebook and it shows how varied the goals are of the kids.

How is the season different this year than other years in terms of number of people at base camp?

There are about 70% of the usual number..makes it a bit more safe with less crowds

Do you get scared? How do you face the fear of say, heading into the Icefall?

I am heading into the icefall in a few hours for my first time. I am nervous for sure, but I have to trust my training, and there is a bit of luck involved in getting through as well

Is the route the same through the Icefall as it was pre-2014?

They have moved it more to the middle to avoid the hanging seracs on the left where avalanches have occurred

What was the most unexpected event of your journey so far? I'm sure in traveling so much, you've run into a number of strange situations.

Being abandoned in Russia without my climbing rope and still continuing to climb was very unexpected

What has been your favorite view thus far?

Seeing the summit for the first time was amazing, I will never forget that moment

if i'm correct it's evening on the mountain now. when do you go to sleep at night? is it hard to sleep at base camp?

Yes its 10:20pm It can be hard to sleep at this altitude

How did you get to where you are now? I've always been fascinated at the thought of climbing Everest.

I have always dreamed big..followed my heart

When times are tough, what is your motivation? Do you have a mantra or a song that you think of?

My Mantra is "This too will change" knowing that tough times are limited. I have leadened this from my daily meditation practice, and after being severely burned in a fire and told i may never walk again normally, overcoming that has given me a ton of strength

What oxygen flow rate are you going to use for the summit?

2-3 liters per min

when do you start on oxygen? at what camp?

At camp three on the summit push

23,000ft roughly

do you think you could do it without oxygen?

If I had longer to acclimatize, but with having to do the north pole and come very late in the season it would be really unsafe. maybe another time I will try

What was the hardest mountain you have climbed so far?

I found Mt. Elbrus to be really tough as I climbed it in winter when its normally climbed in summer and the route was very icy and cold

elbrus is in russia? i thought europe's tallest mountain was mt. blanc?

nope Europes tallest is Elbrus in Russia ~18,500ft

do you need ice tools on everest? like is there a vertical wall.

yes and a Jumar to climb in the fixed ropes

Is there a list of times that other adventurers have taken to complete the grand slam?

Any chance you'll add the Barkley Marathons to your list of accomplishments?

Only 2 have done it in under a year. Current record is 6 months 11 days.