Inverness teenagers who spent summer holidays trekking in Himalayas speak about ‘incredible experience’
Three young men from Inverness have spent some of their summer holidays hiking in the Himalayas.
Kian Mykoliw (19), Ewan Cowan (19) and Duncan Henderson (20) returned to Inverness this week after taking on the mammoth trek.
Over nine days they reached high altitudes while summiting Kang Yatze 2 in India.
With a summit of 20,500ft the group of friends took part in the expedition, which saw them being the youngest in the group of mountaineers.
Speaking about the trip, Kian said: “We went with an expedition company that I have used before.
“This let me expand my skill set and use crampons and other equipment.
“It was definitely challenging with the altitude and the technicality needed to get to the top. It was also just extreme elements for a long period.
“We had support from local guys and we had a team of horses who would carry the load.
“It was an incredible experience and everyone else on the trip was asking why we were doing it and not going to Ibiza!”
This is not the first challenge for Kian, who climbed Kilimanjaro last year at the age of 18.
This time, he was able to be joined by his friends, who also spent time hiking together in Madeira in June.
For Kian, who is a criminology and policing student at Edinburgh Napier, his love of hiking has been inspired by his grandfather and great-uncle.
He said: “My great-uncle did quite a lot of hiking and he had been to the Himalayas.
“I got into hiking in 2019 and did treks with him and my grandad, which allowed me to see parts of Scotland.
“Since I got my car, I just try and spend every weekend doing Munros.
“I feel a lot better and less stressed when I’m up in the mountains.
“It was nice to spend nine days without internet. You forget about the outside world and just walk and eat food.”
For Duncan, this was his first time scaling to such heights and he was able to take part in the adventure thanks to a mountaineering scholarship fund.
He is currently studying law in Glasgow.
Duncan said: “Munros were as far as I had ever gone – 1,400 metres was the highest I’d ever done.
“It was a huge leap to make and I thank the support of the group and our head guide.
“I had to put a lot of stress on myself to make it to the top. I had consistent headaches which I was living with for nine days and it was always a bit worrying.
“I had quite a tough time making it to the top as the altitude seemed to hit me quite hard.
“One day we were walking on ice for 40 minutes before a steeper section which included a 70-degree ice climb up for about 400 metres. It was very difficult and my heart rate was pounding. It felt like my heart was going to pound out of my chest.
“There is a video of me crawling to the cairn. I was absolutely shattered but the sense of achievement was everything.
“There were multiple times I doubted myself and my ability to go all the way, but making it to the top was massive.
“It frames everything else for me, to be able to stick that out so that I face other challenges with mental fortitude.
“It was like proving to myself that I was capable, which helped my own confidence.”
Having never travelled anywhere like India before, it was the cultural experience more than anything that was the standout from the expedition.
Seeing community in action was eye-opening for him and is something he feels we have lost in Scotland.
“The way they live and associate, everything is entirely different,” he explained.
“It was an amazing expedition and it was eye-opening to hear stories from our guides and porters.
“We stayed in camps at different villages. One of these was called Shingo village, which was maybe a week into our trek.
“There were two houses there and they housed different families. They made little toys out of yak wool.
“There was a massive tarp that they hung, which I understood was for collecting water. The region was basically a desert trek with sections of green oasis.
“The sense of community is very strong there and it is not something we have in Western Europe.
“Everyone was always so kind and how they treat people is so different.
“The entire village comes together to eat. I know some friends who don’t even eat with their families.
“Despite all the advancements that we have, richer doesn’t automatically mean richer in other things.
“We’ve moved away from connection and they embrace it.”