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A Williamston resident, who also works for a company handling the inspection of highway 17 from Washington to Williamston, has made the improbable Mount Everest climb.

Brian Leggett, 59, started going on runs to stay in shape. When he first started, he could barely run 100 yards without going out of breath. He kept running more each day, until he could run around 10 miles a day. Leggett picked up backpacking and hiking the Appalachian Mountains and Mountain to Sea Trail.

Leggett’s cousin runs a trekking company based out of Nashville, Tennessee. The company held a presentation in West Jefferson about the Everest trek and Leggett decided he would attend. “With all the running I was doing, I figured this would be something I would like to try.” Leggett said.

Leggett’s family, however, was skeptical of the idea except for his wife who attended the presentation with him and knew he was serious. Leggett booked the trip with Highland Expedition which allowed him to sleep at Everest Base Camp and on March 30, he departed for his journey.

Leggett arrived in Kathmandu on April 1, exploring for a few days before taking a four- and half-hour van ride to Ramechhap Airport where they took the 15-minute flight to Lukla, and the expedition began.

Leggett was in a group of 10 for the first three days until he and a couple from Australia (Hannah and Norman), decided to take the toughest route so they could see the Gokyo Lake, the highest freshwater lake in the world.

The journey did not come without struggles. Every day the morning would be clear and then in the afternoon it would snow a good four to five inches. Leggett, after three days of travel, realized he had a chest cold due to the constant change of elevation, reduced oxygen levels, and the further he climbed the worse it got.

Leggett stressed the climb was just as hard physically on him as it was mentally. “It hurt to breathe and every step I took was a challenge. I listened to Christian music and thought of my new granddaughter and that helped give me the strength to move on,” Leggett said. “After 10-11 days, I thought to myself ‘is the day ever going to come?’” He also was not a big fan of the food and did not have a big appetite with him eating a lot of pre-packed snickers bars.

On the last day of the expedition, Hannah became very sick, and she and Norman had to be picked up by helicopter. That left Leggett and his guide, Horizon Rai to finish the journey. Rai had been checking Leggett’s oxygen levels and heart rate the entire journey making sure Leggett was still good to keep going.

On day 14, Leggett finally made it to the top of Everest Base Camp. “I was so relieved to be at the top but so tired also,” Leggett said. “When I arrived back in Raleigh, I was so hungry and deprived of around 30 hours of sleep.”
Leggett, while feeling accomplished, wanted to give credit where credit was due, saying he could not have done this without the help of his guide, the help of other sherpas guides, and porters who carried the gear to Base Camp. His advice for people considering taking the trek: prepare.

“You need to be physically and mentally in shape. The average person cannot do this,” Legget said. “There will be times when you feel you won’t make it, and in those times, you must stay strong and motivated to finish the climb.”