How to climb a mountain..
In the beginning of August last year I was with my friend Melina and her kids in the forest in the north of Sweden. There were an abundance of blueberries and we were picking buckets of them, fighting mosquitos and talking about our plans for the rest of the summer.
Melina was going with her dad and siblings to climb Kebnekaise — the highest mountain in Sweden, 2200m. She shared how excited she was, and then suddenly, from nowhere, she looked at me and asked:
— Do you want to join us Marie? It would be fun.
My first answer was no. I'm not fit enough to climb a mountain. Haven't done any training for years.
But later that evening I questioned my answer.
What if I could do it just by telling myself I can? By believing in myself enough. By trusting my body to take me there — one step at a time.
I reached out to Melina and said: I changed my mind. I would love to come.
One week later I was sitting in the backseat of her dad's car on the way to Nikkaluokta. And believe me, I could hear that little voice in my head:
— What are you doing Marie?— You don't seriously think you can climb that mountain?
I'm going to tell you how I quietened that voice. But first — the schedule.
When we arrived, I grabbed my backpack — 12kg of food, clothes, sleeping bag, tent, water bottles — and started walking the 19km towards basecamp. The surroundings were stunning. Sun from a blue sky. After four hours I could hardly feel my feet. It felt like I was carrying a house on my back. We kept walking for another four hours.
Just before sunset we found a perfect spot next to a small river and set up our tents. I was deep asleep before I could ask myself what on earth I was doing there.
We woke up at sunrise, made rich nourishing porridge, and set off towards Kebnekaise. Another 20km, up and down. I knew I needed more than porridge, bars and water to get through this. I needed faith in me.
We left our heavy luggage in the tents and brought only water, nuts and energy bars. While the others took off I gave myself a moment — to pray, to prepare mentally.
And in that moment it came to me. Simple words that took me and Melina all the way to the top.
Thank You — Thank You — Thank You
That's it. I used it as a mantra for 14 hours. And Melina was wise enough to join me.
We slowed down when everyone else was speeding up because of bad weather ahead. After 6-7 hours we met most of them coming back down — they had given up at the first top where the rain and strong wind hit us.
I specifically remember a group of six young guys who had been preparing for six months. Training. The best equipment. The best clothes. So excited and so convinced they would make it.
Only one of them did.
We celebrated together on the top — looking down at Melina's barefoot shoes and my old cheap sneakers.
It's not in the stuff. It's in your mind.
Reaching the top is one thing. Now you have to get yourself back down.
At this point we were wet from our toes to our heads and the wind was getting stronger. We almost flew down from the top. It was dangerous — the mountain is nothing but big rocks and you better not get your foot stuck and fall. The tempo was too high and the price was a very sore knee.
I limped the last four hours back to basecamp.
Thank You — Thank You — Thank You
It took us 14 hours. And I'm so proud of us.
I guess there were many who wondered what we had for breakfast when they met us on the way up — singing Thank You while they turned back with moody faces. I'm not going to pretend it was easy. It was the toughest thing I've ever done. But by focusing on the light, on the good, on everything I was grateful for — I made it all the way to the top.
And to show myself some extra love — I booked the helicopter the next day from basecamp back to the car. My knee refused to walk another meter and I heard it loud and clear.
The same 19km that took us 8 hours to walk on Saturday — the helicopter flew in 8 minutes.
Thank You — Thank You — Thank You 🧡
With Love Queen Marie
PS. What is your Kebnekaise?
