Everest Short: Ben Ayers

This week, Kenton sits down with expedition doctor Jakob Muehlbacher and asks for his insights into working on Everest. Jakob is back on Everest for the fourth time. He first took the role of expedition doctor in 2023, then combined the role with a summit in 2024, and has continued as doctor in 2025 and 2026. He is fascinated by high-altitude medicine and deals with a whole spectrum of issues from 'easy' gastro distress and coughs and colds, to pulmonary issues often providing remote advice to guides higher up the mountain. Interestingly, Jakob supported the Xenon team last year and he and Kenton have an interesting discussion about the use of hypoxic tents before travelling to altitude. Listen now to hear a medical professional's view of working on Everest.

This week's insight into Everest comes from Benny Lieber, who is a lead guide for Furtenbach Adventures and finds himself at Everest Base Camp with Kenton. Benny is no stranger to the podcast (check out episode 126), but this week he shares his view on all things Everest - the icefall, the route up the mountain, the challenge, the history, the logistics that make it possible and why he keeps coming back. Listen in to hear his perspective on the world's highest mountain.

Whilst Kenton is in Nepal, he always bumps into a host of interesting people. This year, he is recording a series of 'Everest Shorts', in which he asks people about their take on Everest, rather than about themselves. Kenton's first guest is Ben Ayers, who has been living in Nepal since 1998. He is a journalist and filmmaker, and has also been involved in a number of non-profits during his career. Ben has experience working as a porter in the Everest region and he is passionate about telling the stories of all the Nepali workers on the mountain. He runs the Everest Live YouTube channel which provides daily updates throughout the season. Listen in and let us know what you think!

We have another Tales from the Trails for you this week! This time, Kenton travels to West Papua to climb Carstensz Pyramid with 'the twins' who are ticking off their 'seventh summit' on this expedition. Travel to and from Indonesia is severely impacted by the war in Iran and this adds a variety of challenges to the trip. However, they are all surmountable and the trio make it to base camp with only one major drama. Carstensz Pyramid is the lowest of the seven summits at 4,884m and the climb to the top can be done in one push from base camp, but is heavily reliant on good weather. Kenton takes us up the mountain with them, describing the equipment, the route, the weather and the views. Listen now for a taste of a mountaineering expedition, narrated in real time.

Tales from the Trails continues this week and Kenton and his client, Tim, are on the slopes of Aconcagua in Argentina pushing for a summit. Will they be blessed with a good weather window? Will Tim's knee and Kenton's quad hold up against the conditions? Will they choose to take their time or will they try to get up and back quickly? Kenton talks us through all his decisions and takes us, step by step, up this iconic mountain with him. Listen in to get a real flavour of the life of a professional mountain guide.

Tales from the Trails continues this week and Kenton and his client, Tim, are on the slopes of Aconcagua in Argentina pushing for a summit. Will they be blessed with a good weather window? Will Tim's knee and Kenton's quad hold up against the conditions? Will they choose to take their time or will they try to get up and back quickly? Kenton talks us through all his decisions and takes us, step by step, up this iconic mountain with him. Listen in to get a real flavour of the life of a professional mountain guide.

Tales From The Trails (TFTT) is back and this time Kenton is in Argentina. He takes us along on his journey from Mendoza to Aconcagua base camp and beyond, describing the conditions, the terrain, the camps and the people. Kenton has recorded this on his acclimatisation rotation before attempting the summit in a few days time. Aconcagua is known for being very windy and there are a couple of bits of audio in which the wind is quite prominent. We hope you will continue listening as it always drops off after a few seconds. Take it as evidence that this is recorded direct from the mountain!

Today's guest, Matt Cooper, owns a well-known adventure education business based in North Wales called The Mountaineering Company, but you may be surprised to learn that he and Kenton don't spend much time talking about that at all! Instead, Matt tells Kenton about the work he has been doing for the charity, Ukrainian Action. The charity raises funds for vehicles and humanitarian aid to support the Ukrainian civilians who are impacted by the ongoing conflict. Matt volunteered to drive one of the donated vehicles to Ukraine recently and he chose to spend some time in the country at the same time. His stories bring the difficulties of living in a conflict zone into reality and are humbling to hear. Matt also touches on his work with Ogwen Mountain Rescue Team in North Wales and his love of the mountains. Matt is the epitome of giving back and we hope you enjoy the episode. Ukrainian Action - https://www.ukrainianaction.com/ Ogwen Mountain Rescue - https://ogwen-rescue.org.uk/ The Mountaineering Company - https://www.themountaineeringcompany.co.uk/

This week's guest is the unstoppable Lucy Gossage who is a master in the art of squeezing every minute out of life. She works full time as a senior oncologist in the NHS, she is heavily involved in her Move Against Cancer charity, and she runs ultra-marathons in her spare time. Lucy tells Kenton how she fell into triathlon after a drunken dare, and then became a pro-triathlete winning multiple races during her career. Since retiring from triathlon, she has entered her 'adventure era' which has seen her find a new love for ultra running. She won the Montane Winter Spine Race last year and set a FKT (Fastest Known Time) on the South West Coast Path in September. Lucy is hugely passionate about the charity that she helped to set up, Move Against Cancer, and explains to Kenton why it means so much to her. Lucy admits that some of the things she does are 'a bit bonkers' and we think you're going to love hearing about them.

Our first guest in 2026 is Lee Donald, an award winning PT who summited Everest in 2024 and has found a love for the big mountains. Becoming a PT in 2011 helped Lee to overcome an eating disorder, alcohol addiction and depression, and she describes the feeling of standing on Everest as 'from rock bottom to the top of the world'. She trained for Everest in both the Alps and Ecuador, although her training was beset by a series of pitfalls and mistakes that she describes to Kenton. If you have a dream to go to Everest, you are likely to find Lee's story highly relatable, and her enthusiasm will add an extra dose of motivation!