DUBAI EVEREST CLIMBER HAYES AIMS FOR NORTH, SOUTH POLES

A British Business Group member is aiming to join one of the world’s most exclusive clubs by walking to the North and South Poles to follow up his successful ascent of Mount Everest earlier this year.
Adrian Hayes, who climbed the world’s highest mountain in May, wants to join an elite group of around only 20 people to have conquered the ‘three poles of the Earth’.
He hopes to undertake an expedition to the North Pole in March next year and follow up with a mission to the South Pole in November.
Adrian, a regional sales director with Airbus in Dubai, relived his conquest of Everest at an event staged by the British Business Group (BBG), Dubai and Northern Emirates.
The former Gurkha officer and Special Forces soldier in the British army showed spectacular photographs and video footage chronicling his climb to the top of the 8,848m mountain. Adrian, who was part of an 11-strong team, was only the second Gulf-based climber to reach the summit.
“Conquering Everest was a lifelong dream for me,” he said. “I was absolutely determined to do it and it took three years of serious planning, including training, acquiring equipment and securing sponsorship. The day I reached the summit was an unbelievable and magical experience. “
“We were up there for one hour and twenty minutes and it felt like we were the last human beings on the planet. I could only really relax and appreciate my achievement when we got back down to Base Camp as most fatal accidents on Everest happen on the descent.”
An audience of BBG members and their guests at The Fairmont Dubai heard Adrian share some of his more unusual training methods. These included running up and down the stairs of the Twin Towers building on Dubai Creek, and sleeping in an oxygen tent for a month before the expedition.
His presentation was part of a year-round programme of networking events, breakfast meetings, business lunches and special interest group events organised by the British Business Group.
He said the worst part of his climb was spending 11 hours without oxygen in the so-called ‘Death Zone’ on top of Everest when his oxygen mask failed.
“For the last three hours of the climb I was slowing down and not keeping up with the others but didn’t know why,” he said. “I had to do the whole descent without oxygen. I found it hard to put one foot in front of the other and the temptation to fall asleep was overwhelming. It was a sobering experience and I have never dug so deep in my life.”
Adrian has been a Dubai resident for the last 10 years and a BBG member for three. He is leaving his current job with Airbus at the end of the year to concentrate on his life coaching and motivational speaking businesses. “I think it’s important to keep setting myself new goals and push myself to the limit,” he said.
The BBG was set up in 1987 to encourage the development of British business in the UAE and undertakes a wide range of activities from communicating with decision makers and testing British goods to sharing best business practice.
Since its inception the BBG has undergone huge growth and now has more than 850 members and a reputation as one of the largest and most active business groups in the Gulf.