The sociology behind conquering Everest

Mountains contribute significantly to the material culture of Oman. However, the Omani society hardly explores these mountains through hiking or climbing them due to the extremely hot climate and lack of awareness among the citizens in participating in such adventures. Nevertheless, a 37 year-old Omani has succeeded in putting Oman for the first time in the mountaineering records. Khalid Al-Siyabi, a general director of IT in the Ministry of Education has reached the summit of the World’s highest mountain, Everest, at 8848 meters above sea level. On the 10th of July 2011, I was honored to interview this motivational personality to feature him in my first book “The Ultimate Wellness Inspiration.”

Here is what we talked about:

Training for Everest:

Khalid’s concept to be well-prepared for this extraordinary challenge was to incorporate physical and mental training. For his physical training, Khalid was running between an hour to three, cycling, climbing and swimming everyday. Regarding his mental training, he invented a technique called “ The Extra Mile.”, which is whenever his mind starts to send the “I can’t do it” signals, for instance in the last 5 minutes of his run, he increases an extra 5 minute as a punishment for his complaining brain. This helps him to achieve his adventurous goals no matter how hard it gets.



Climbing Everest:

There are multiple norms that Khalid followed to start his journey. First, he had his full gear in check which includes climbing boots, linear socks, technical clothing, wool hat, ski goggles, gloves, harness, sleeping bag, compass, water purifier, cameras, walkie-talkies, satellite phones, first-aid kit and sundries. The functionalist theory was obviously applied during the expedition as Khalid was accompanied by 19 fellow climbers coming from Argentina, the US, Canada, the UK, Ireland, Turkey, Finland and Australia. The age range was about 35 to 60, and there were 3 women in the team – 2 Canadians and one from Finland. There were 36 Sherpa who guided them throughout the expedition. Despite the differences of the culture of all the participants in the adventure, Mount Everest united this diverse subculture.

Khalid took 60 days to reach the top and seven days to go down. Khalid explained to me why it takes so much time going up; it is the acclimatization process. In order to go to a higher level our bodies need to get adapted to the new tough circumstances, so the climbers take it gradually by spending an hour in the new level then come back down to the original base camp. This gives their bodies a chance to make more red blood cells and gives a chance to the person to recognize his capabilities in going further or not.


When Khalid reached the peak, he was really angry for celebrating his semi-achievement on his own as many of his fellow climbers reached the summit at different times and three of them died trying. This explains how solidarity is important for one to stay happy with life. So in order to remain positive, Khalid planted the Omani flag on the summit as a symbol of patriotism and pride for his country.

However, thirty minutes later Khalid noticed a vicious avalanche making its way to the top and it would take Khalid around 6 hours to make his descent. So he decided to wrap his 9 liter bag pack around his waist, sit on it and slide downwards as the fastest way to maybe escape the disaster and with his great faith in God and focused state of mind, he arrived down safely.


His winning formula

The non-material culture embraces some components that emphasize the reason Khalid is able to accomplish such spectacular goals. His strong self-belief has empowered him to stay committed and motivated to endure his brutal training because the outcome is valuable. To be honored by a lot of key people in Oman and be recognized as a symbol of inspiration to all the rising Omanis, made Khalid feel fulfilled and encouraged to give more for his country. He also volunteers in motivational speaking in schools across Oman. After the mind-enriching interview I had, Khalid showed me on his laptop one of the inspiring presentations he had done during his motivational speeches. Not only was I astonished by the photos and videos of his thrilling undertakings, I was also on the edge of my seat ready to conquer my fears and take my life more seriously. And four magic phrases I learned from this fantastic personality were Don’t Complain, Be Positive, Commitment and Trust. With such optimistic mindset, we can all climb Everest!!


Khalid and I among friends hiking in Oman