OMAR SAMRA
A story of success, The first
Egyptian to climb the mountain Everest
Is an
adventurer, mountaineer, entrepreneur, inspirational speaker and future
astronaut. He is the first Egyptian to climb Mount
Everest, the 7 Summits and ski to both the
Geographic South and North Pole. He is also the first Egyptian to complete the
7 Summits challenge climbing the highest mountain on all 7 continents, he was
chosen to be an astronaut to become the first Egyptian in space sometime in
2016. He also became the first Egyptian to Ski to the Geographic South Pole.
Omar Samra has made it to the North Pole, becoming the first Egyptian and one
of 40 people to accomplish the “Explorer’s Grand Slam” challenge, which include
climbing the highest mountain on every continent, the 7 summits, and skiing to
both the South and North Poles.
Samra
climbed his first snowy mountain in the Swiss Alps at the age of 16. The trip
inspired him and it is then that he decided that he would like to climb Everest
one day. An unrealistic goal at the time. After his Swiss experience, he went
on to trek and climb extensively in the UK, Himalayas, Alps, Andean, Patagonian
and Central American mountain ranges. Other adventures include traversing the
Costa Rican jungle in 3 weeks, cycling across the Atlas Mountains of Morocco,
around Andalusia in Spain and from London to Paris. As a keen traveler, Samra
has been to over 80 countries and published writing about his traveling
experiences in both English and Arabic.
Impossible is nothing with hard work and perseverance. There
are no limits once we put our mind to something. To this end Omar Samra have
endeavored to use Everest travel and other travels and climbing experiences as
a tool to help motivate and inspire people, especially youth, to follow their
dreams and passion.
The first challenges
Omar fell in love with travelling when he was
young. “The first trip I ever took was when I was 16. It was a trip to
Switzerland and it was the first time I had ever seen snow, let alone walk in
it. It was the first time I saw mountains and the first time I climbed a
mountain. It was a very small mountain in the Lausanne area in the Alps,
and I fell in love with the mountains then. The most memorable part for me was
the sense of challenge because when you climb a mountain you do not necessarily
challenge the other climbers or the mountain or the elements, because they are
far stronger than you. It is usually a challenge against yourself; mentally and
physically. It was actually then, after this experience that I decided that I
wanted to climb Everest. At the time, I had no notion of what it meant or how
hard it would be, but I set myself that goal then.”
It took a while before Omar could continue
exploring this new found passion. “My first experience that I funded myself was
after I graduated from university here. I started working in London. I took a
bicycle and cycled from Seville in Spain for about 11 to 12 days all around
Andalusia. It was a trip that inspired me then to decide to do a much longer
trip, which was two years later. It was when I left my job for a whole year and
I travelled for 370 days across Asia and Latin America. That was a trip that I
funded through savings as well.” Omar shared one of his best travel
experiences. It was the only time his face changed and he started to show some
emotion, smiling as he recounted the tale, as if he was reliving it.
After Everest
Samra admits to a feeling of emptiness and
loss after climbing Everest, the feat that made him famous. “After I climbed
Mount Everest there was a period when I was slightly lost. From the age of 16
to 28 I lived in lots of different cities; Cairo, Hong Kong, London, and even
in those cities I would move multiple times. Every time I moved somewhere the
one thing that was common was a photo of Mount Everest in my bedroom. It was
the one thing that was driving me this whole time, so after I climbed the
mountain I felt a sense of void. I had to do a lot of soul-searching; I
realised that I am still passionate about climbing and the message that it
entails. I came up with the idea of climbing the seven summits, which is
climbing the highest mountain in every continent. It is a known concept
in the adventure sphere. It is more challenging than doing Everest, one of the
seven mountains, the other six have different terrains and different
challenges. Out of the seven, I have done six.”
He was supposed to finish the challenge last
year by climbing Mount McKinley in Alaska, but Mother Nature intervened. He
told me the story very calmly, as if he was recounting a film he saw. It felt
like he was removed from it all. “I attempted the Alaska one last year in April
and May 2012, but I did not make it to the top because of severe storms and
weather conditions. We reached the final camp and made an attempt at the
summit, but we got turned back because of really severe winds. This year I am
going back to hopefully finish what I started.”
Inspiring others
Motivational speaking has become a large part
of what Omar does. “[Everest] was a two and a half month climb; there were so
many challenges along the way, accidents and things like that. It was just a
personal dream and I did not think people would be excited about it or that it
would be written about in the media. I was invited by a group of people to
share my experience. At that time, I was not a public speaker and I hated to
stand in front of an audience but I felt honoured that someone would ask me to
come and talk to them about my story, so I went. To my surprise there were 150
to 200 people. It was a nerve-wracking experience, but I sat down and started
telling my story. That day after I finished my talk, I did not leave the room
for the next three hours because people kept coming and asking questions,
speaking to me and sharing their experiences.”
“For weeks and months afterwards, my email
inbox was flooded. One that I remember clearly was a girl who always dreamed of
being a belly dancer and her parents were opposed to this, but then after
hearing the story she realised that she had to commit to her dream and do it no
matter what, because you only live once. I felt the power of telling the story
and I felt that people could relate and that I had a direct impact somehow. People
kept inviting me to talk in different places, and then I decided to stay in
Egypt. I want to reach as many people as possible and share the story because
maybe you can make a difference in people’s lives somehow.”
