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譯者：陳立山 Solomon, Wheelers

Canadian Toastmaster Climbs Mount Everest 加拿大國際演講會員登上聖母峰

“It’s not the mountain we conquer; it’s ourselves.” – Sir Edmund Hillary
“我們要征服的其實不是山，而是我們自己.” – 愛德蒙•希拉瑞 爵士

By Suzanne Frey  作者  蘇珊•佛瑞

On May 25, 2008, Alan Mallory, a 23-year-old Toastmaster from Barrie, Ontario, Canada, stood on the summit of the world’s highest mountain and thought, “I can’t wait to get down.”
2008年 5月 25日，來自加拿大安大略省貝理市的 23 歲國際演講會會員艾倫•馬洛里，攀上了世界最高峰，此刻的他心裡想的卻是：「讓我趕快下山吧！」 

It was a clear day with an incredible view of the neighboring Himalayan peaks. But the temperature was minus 40 degrees and he was exhausted and cold, mindful of the fact that reaching the summit was only half the battle. He still had to get down safely.
當日天朗氣清，遠眺喜瑪拉雅群峰，躍然在望。艾倫站在零下40度的聖母峰頂，疲寒交襲，他非常清楚登頂只是半程，要能安全下山，才算完成。 

Alan was accompanied on the narrow and steep summit by his father, Dan, and his older brother, Adam, 25. Before heading down, he did what any serious mountaineer would do: He posed for pictures, exposed his bare hands to the cold wind and filmed the view. He also did what most mountaineers would not do: He dug deep into his backpack for his club’s 3-by-4-foot Toastmasters flag, tried to unfurl the large banner in howling winds so the text would be visible, and posed for more photos. (See cover image.)
共同登頂的還有艾倫的父親 - 丹，以及他25歲的兄長 - 亞當。在下山之前，他向所有虔誠的登山者一樣，在峰頂拍照留念，並脫下手套，在刺骨的冷風中拍攝山景。但他也做了件其他登山者不會做的事情：他從背包中取出他深藏的演講會會旗，在強風中試圖展開三乘四呎的旗子，讓旗面的文字清楚可見，再拍下更多的照片。（見本期雜誌封面照片） 

“If only you knew how long we stood there, in the freezing cold at the elevation of a jetliner’s cruising altitude, trying to shoot this banner before the wind furled it again,” chuckled Dan, Alan’s dad. “Most people stay a few minutes on the summit; we must have stayed 40 minutes.”
「那可是噴射客機的航行高度，我們必須正巧抓緊山風吹襲的空隙拍照，不然陣陣強風立即就會捲起會旗，但願你們能夠體會我們在那裡站了多久。」艾倫的父親 - 丹笑著說：「大多數人在那裡只會待個幾分鐘，我們卻停留了四十分鐘。」 

Climbing Mount Everest is an in incredible physical and mental challenge. No rescue is possible at its higher elevations, so climbers must bring emergency gear. Space is limited in a backpack that averages 50 pounds in weight and includes precious oxygen tanks to help with breathing in the thin air. As a result, climbers go to extreme lengths to shave off ounces, including removing labels from clothing and cutting toothbrushes in half. The Port Credit Toastmasters banner took up valuable space and weight in Alan’s pack. Why did he bring it? “It was left in my bag, and on summit day I thought I might as well bring it,” he says with a shrug.
攀登聖母峰對身體及心理，都是個無與倫比的挑戰。在這樣的高海拔下，要指望他人的救援，是不可能的，所以登山者必須自行攜帶急救設備。背包的空間畢竟有限，總共只能裝下約五十磅重的物品，這其中還必須包括輔助呼吸的救命氧氣筒。因此，登山人員必須無所不用其極的減輕自己的負擔：例如將衣服的領標剪掉、牙刷削短一半。而 Port Credit 演講會的會旗，竟然能留在艾倫的背包中，為什麼他非得要帶著它呢？艾倫聳聳肩開玩笑似的說：「我忘了把它拿出來了，攻頂當日，我想乾脆就順便帶它上去好了！」 

The Toastmasters banner must have brought good luck to Alan, his brother and father. They all returned safely to base camp, but not without a scare: Alan had forgotten to turn off his oxygen while at the summit, and as a result ran out of air when he needed it during a crucial point in the descent. He started to panic when after borrowing an oxygen cylinder from a Sherpa, he still couldn’t breathe, and feared the onset of cerebral edema, a potentially fatal condition in which blood leaks into the brain. Too weak to hold onto the rope, he risked falling off the 7,000-foot vertical drop on either side of the ­summit ridge. Fortunately, his dad found that the oxygen valve had been accidentally closed, and when opened, Alan could breathe – and move – again.
這面會旗為艾倫一家三傑帶來了好運，因為他們都平安返回了基地營，但這段回程可是有驚無險。艾倫在登頂時，忘了將氧氣閥鎖緊而漏光了，下山時需要使用氧氣時才發現，雖然他立即向隨行的雪巴人借用氧氣桶，但他還是無法順利呼吸，他開始驚慌，害怕高山症(腦水腫：一種使血液滲入大腦的致命疾病)發作會要了他的命，他虛弱到無法抓緊繩索，差一點就從七千呎高的峰崖墜落，還好他的父親及時發現氧氣閥意外被關上，即時旋開氣閥，艾倫才得以順暢呼吸，並恢復正常的行動力。 

More Family Feats
不遑多讓的家人 
Alan’s younger sister Laura, then a 20-year-old student at the University of Western Ontario, accompanied her father and brothers to Everest and fully intended to join them on the summit. But illness delayed Laura’s summit push. She did reach the summit a day later, making her the youngest Canadian woman ever to summit Mount Everest. In addition, the Mallorys became the first family of four to make it to the top of the world.
艾倫的妹妹蘿拉，20歲，就讀於西安大略大學，此次也陪同她的父兄們來到了喜馬拉雅山，並試圖一起攻頂。可惜她因身體不適，慢了一天才登頂完成，成為登上聖母峰，最年輕的加拿大女性。同時，馬洛里家族也成為第一個登上世界頂峰的四人家庭。 

Alan’s mother, Barbara, had also ventured with her family all the way to Everest base camp, but fell during a training climb and tore her Achilles tendon. She returned home to Barrie, Ontario, where she supported her family by posting blogs on their progress.
艾倫的母親芭芭拉，原本也陪著他們一同出征，來到了基地營，但她在一次攀爬訓練中滑倒，小腿肌腱受傷，只好回到安大略省貝理市的家中療養，並將他們的登山紀錄，整理在部落格中。 

Alan, drawing on his Toastmasters skills, now gives presentations about the Everest experience. He uses the family’s adventure to inspire others to achieve their own goals. Says fellow Port Credit club member and former District Governor Janice Weir, DTM: “Alan’s journey is a perfect metaphor for Toastmasters itself: reaching for the top, scaling new heights, getting out of your comfort zone, and then feeling on top of the world when you achieve your goals.”
艾倫如今以他在演講會習得的技巧，將此次難得的登山經驗，用演講的方式與大眾分享。他以自己的家族探險為例，激勵大家勇於完成自己的夢想。珍妮絲•葳爾是他的會友，也是前任的總會長，傑出會員，她說：「艾倫的經驗，正好彰顯了演講會的價值：追求卓越、競逐顛峰、跨出舒適領域，當你達到目標時，享受這種成功的感覺。」 

At 29,035 feet (8,850 meters) elevation, Mount Everest has long been the object of inexplicable passion for climbers. Since Edmund Hillary first climbed it in 1953, this peak has been the subject of movies and books, as well as the site of many tragedies. Approxi­mately 180 people have died trying to scale its icy slopes. Rock falls, avalanches and crevasses, altitude sickness and weakness brought on by inability to eat, are among many challenges that test climbers’ limits on Everest. Yet they pay approximately $65,000 per person for the opportunity to do so. They endure months of pain­ful acclimatization training – all for a chance to enter what’s commonly known as the “Death Zone” and for a few brief moments stand on top of the world.
高度29035英呎(8850公尺)的聖母峰，長久以來一直都是登山者終極的鍾情所寄。自從愛德蒙•希拉瑞在1953年首度完成此項創舉後，這座山峰就成了許多電影及小說的題材，同時也是許多悲劇的發生地點。大約已有180人，死於攀爬它的冰坡上。落石、雪崩、冰河裂隙、高山症及虛弱造成的進食困難，在在都考驗著聖母峰登山者的極限。他們每人付出約 6,5000美金，忍受數月辛苦的環境適應訓練，全都是為了能夠進入如此一個眾所周知的「死亡區」，然後可以有片刻時間站在世界頂端的機會。 

Why do they do it? It was British mountaineer George Mallory (who reportedly reached the summit of Everest before Edmund Hillary did, but died on the descent), who famously said, “If you have to ask the question, you won’t understand the answer.”
何苦來哉呢？傳說中比愛德蒙•希拉瑞更早登上聖母峰，但死於回程途中的英國登山家喬治•馬洛里說：「如果你問了這個問題，你就無法知道它的答案。」 

For the Mallorys (no relation to George Mallory), it all started with an idea proposed by Alan’s dad over dinner: “Who wants to climb Mount Everest?” While most families would laugh this off, the Mallory family did not. Besides sharing a surname with George Mallory, this family thrives on adrenaline. Instead of lounging on beaches, the Mallorys spent holidays camping and climbing, and trained together for the Everest climb by entering endurance races.
對於這個與喬治•馬洛里完全無關的馬洛里家族來說，這全都肇因於艾倫的父親在一個晚餐上的提議：「有誰想去爬聖母峰嗎？」大多數家庭應該都會對這個提議嗤之以鼻，但馬洛里家可不是如此。除了與喬治•馬洛里同姓之外，這家人心中也有相同強烈的悸動。他們假日不再去海灘消磨時光，而是去登山、野營、一同為了登聖母峰，而參加各種耐力比賽，做行前的準備訓練。 

“We are an ordinary family who had a collective and ­daring dream,” Alan says. “We followed through and we made that dream come true.”
艾倫說：「我們只是個有共同夢想，而且勇於作夢的普通家庭，我們遵循這個夢想的道路，並盡力將其實現」 

As the family contemplated its Everest plans, Alan graduated from Queens University in Kingston, Ontario, and started his job as a mechanical engineer. An athlete and avid outdoors adventure seeker, he was an experienced climber who had already reached the summit of Alaska’s challenging Mount McKinley. To climb Everest, he had to request a leave of absence for two and a half months from his new job. His employer not only granted his request; the company, an engineering company called Hatch, sponsored a portion of the trip.
當馬洛里一家開始籌劃攀登聖母峰時，艾倫才剛從安大略京士頓市的皇后大學畢業不久，並任職機械工程師。他原本就是個愛好戶外冒險的運動員，攀登過阿拉斯加最高的麥肯尼峰，為了完成這次的聖母峰壯舉，他必須向公司請兩個半月的長假，沒想到這家名為Hatch的公司，不但准了他的假，而且還贊助他部分旅費。 

Making Memories...and Conversation
創造回憶  增加話題
In hindsight, was it all worth it? “This experience changed my life,” Alan says. “The memories still make us smile, even while we shake our heads in amazement. It sure gives us something to talk about at the dinner table.”
現在再回頭看，真的值得嗎？艾倫說：「這個經驗徹底改變了我的人生，雖然過程驚險，但每次回想起它，總是令我們欣喜，餐桌上也不再缺乏話題。」 

Alan also acknowledges that the family’s Everest adventure “opened a lot of doors for me.” Having joined a Toastmasters club while still in college, he is the family’s spokesman, fielding requests from all over the world to share their adventure with a wide range of audiences. Complete with extraordinary photos and video clips, Alan’s presentations highlight “how goal-­setting, teamwork and pushing beyond perceived limitations can help audience members achieve their dreams.”
艾倫也認知到這次的聖母峰冒險經驗，為他開啟了許多大門。他從大學時期就加入了演講會，所以順理成章的，成為家中的發言人，來回應世界各地請他們分享登峰經驗的要求。他的演講生動有趣，配合許多驚奇的攝影及短片，強調「如何設定目標、團隊合作、超越極限」來幫助聽眾們實現他們的夢想。 

Alan joined Toastmasters because he felt he needed better communication skills in his future career as an engineer. “I like to try new things, to get involved and get better at what I’m doing,” he says. After graduation, he moved to Mississauga, Ontario, and joined the Port Credit Toastmasters club. A job transfer brought him to his ­current club, To the Point Toastmasters, in Kincardine, Ontario. “Toastmasters skills help you out with everything in life,” he says.
艾倫當初加入演講會，是因為他覺得未來如果身為一位工程師，會需要更佳的溝通能力。他說：「我喜歡嘗試新事物，完全投入，並且將事情做得更好。」畢業後，他搬家到安大略省的米西索加市，加入了Port Credit演講會。後來因為調職，他又轉到了康克丁市的Point演講會，艾倫還說：「演講會所學將讓你一生受用無窮。」 

His employer, Hatch, has hired Alan to speak at many of its corporate events and sponsors several Toastmasters clubs as a result of Alan promoting the benefits of membership.
因為艾倫時常推廣身為演講會會員的好處，艾倫的老闆海屈，已正式聘請他在企業裡不同的活動中演講，並創立了許多分會。 

Past District Governor Weir says Alan is “an excellent and captivating orator. He is ­modest and unpretentious; ­listening to him tell his Everest story is like listening to a friend tell you about his weekend.”
前總會長葳爾讚美艾倫：「是個優秀且深具魅力的演說家，他為人謙虛，又不矯飾做作。聽他的攀登聖母峰故事，就好像聽一位朋友說他如何度週末似的。」 

Would Alan return to Mount Everest or another 8,000-meter peak? He laughs. “No, I’m not going anywhere near there; it’s just too painful.” But he’s grateful for the experience: “I enjoy the challenge of doing something not many people have done.”
艾倫會想再回到聖母峰，或是其他8000公尺以上的高峰嗎？他笑著回答：「不！我不會再去到那附近的任何地點，實在是太痛苦了！」但是他對這個歷程充滿感謝，他還說：「我喜歡挑戰很少人能夠做到的事情。」 

His next challenge? Marriage. Alan tied the knot in August.
那麼他的下一個挑戰是什麼呢？婚姻！艾倫在今年八月結婚了。 

“That’s going to be a harder challenge than climbing Everest.”
他說：「這個挑戰比攀登聖母峰更加困難。」 

You can read more about the Mallory family’s Everest adventure at www.malloryexpedition.com.
從這個網站可以了解馬洛里一家攀登聖母峰的更多故事：www.malloryexpedition.com 

Suzanne Frey is the editor of the Toastmaster magazine and a member of Unimasters Toastmasters club in Lake Forest, California
作者：蘇珊•佛瑞，演講人雜誌的總編輯，也是加州 Lake Forest 市 Unimaster演講會的會員