Growing up, Anoush Pal dreamt of conquering the ‘Seven Summits’, the tallest mountain peak on each of the seven continents. Now she is on a mission to achieve that goal, as well as raise funds to help raise mental health awareness in Cayman.
Pal, a businesswoman and founder of Cayman ABA – a centre dedicated to supporting children with autism – has already conquered the summits of Aconcagua, Vinson, and Kilimanjaro. Now she is leaving on 28 May to ascend “the big one”, Denali in Alaska.
Denali, at nearly 6,200 meters, is the highest peak in North America and one of the world’s highest summits.
The Seven Summits comprise Mount Everest, Mount Kilimanjaro, Denali, Aconcagua, Vinson, Mount Elbrus and Mount Kosciuszko.
Ascending all seven peaks has become a common challenge for adventure climbers around the world.
Pal said she wants, through the summit challenge, to “continue to inspire people … especially teenagers … to get out of their comfort zones and challenge themselves”.
“I’m a therapist, and I find that the best way to help people grow and change is to inspire them to seek out challenges and discomfort. Through adversity and uncertainty, so much growth happens,” Pal told the Cayman Compass on Wednesday ahead of her latest trek.
Pal recently co-founded a local non-profit with therapist Sutton Burke called Cayman Mindcare, which she will be fundraising for through her summit challenge.
She has set a fundraising target of $50,000 over the next year.
Pal said the non-profit was created with the aim of assisting people who have exhausted their health insurance and don’t qualify for fundraising elsewhere to get accessible mental health services.
The organisation, she said, is seeking to help first responders and frontline workers, people with substance abuse issues and severe mental illness, as well as people over the age of 30.
“Additionally, we will be funding research and advocating for improved mental health treatments in the Cayman Islands. I am really passionate about mental health, and want to raise awareness and funds to help make it accessible for people in Cayman,” she said.
Childhood mission materialised
Pal said she spent her childhood outdoors, and got into glacier mountaineering when she was 16, after taking an Outward Bound summer course in Alaska.
“I read a book, around that time, called ‘Climbing the Seven Summits’ and I dreamed of doing it one day. During the COVID-19 lockdown here in Cayman, I stumbled across an old childhood journal, and found the entries where I wrote all about my dreams to stand on the highest peak of each continent, and I decided to go for it, to honor the dreams of my childhood self,” Pal said.
The journey, she said, is not just about climbing mountains.
“It’s about pushing beyond perceived limits and exploring potential growth in the face of uncertainty and adversity. My experiences in the harsh yet awe-inspiring environments of the world’s highest peaks have taught me invaluable lessons about resilience and perseverance—lessons I am eager to share with the Cayman community, especially our young people,” she said.
The training, she said, was very intense, requiring two to three hours of endurance and functional strength training a day for six days a week.
“I worked with Jakob Atkinson and Baylee Saltmarsh, two incredibly experienced athletics coaches at Palm Heights Athletics, who have gotten me to where I am today,” she said. “To give you an idea, picture me on the stairmaster for 3 hours with my fully packed backpack (65 pounds) and hiking boots … not the normal gym routine, but it’s what I need to do.”
Pal said she has also been sleeping in a hypoxic tent in her home for the last several weeks as she prepares to climb Denali.
“This is a ‘pre-acclimitization’ program that I’m doing to get exposure to altitude whilst living at sea level. There’s a generator that reduces the oxygen content within the tent to whatever I set it to, and this helps my body adjust to altitude. Currently, I’m sleeping at 13,000 feet [4,000 meters],” she said.
In July, she will also be attempting to climb Mont Blanc, the highest peak in the Western Alps with 4,808 meters of elevation.
Pal documents her training journey and climbs on her Instagram page @anoush.pal.
She said a link for donations will go live soon on the Cayman Mindcare website so the public can contribute to the fundraising effort.
Related Videos
