A Camden mountaineering enthusiast is determined to conquer the Seven Summits as he continues to recover from a horrifying ordeal nine years ago.
In 2008, Peter Goodall who lives in Camden Town, was the victim of an attempted murder and robbery in South Africa.
The terrifying incident had a huge mental affect leaving him with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Mr Goodall, 43, says that his interpretation of the world was slowly evolving, seeing it as a place of danger and leaving him with feelings of deep mistrust.
In 2015, he reached severe anxiety levels and turned to high altitude as a way of escape.
Mr Goodall, a product manager whilst he isn’t scaling these huge peaks, is now preparing to conquer his third summit as he attempts to climb Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania on September 16.
The climber scaled his first summit in January 2016 when he climbed the Aconcagua, in Argentina. He followed that up with a trek up Mount Elbrus, in Russia, last month.
He said: “Elbrus was certainly a lot more challenging although it took me and my friends 13 hours,” The climb up Europe’s tallest mountain usually takes around 18 hours on average.
“With Aconcagua, it was all about just getting it done. I try not to look at the mountain or how far I still have to go,” he added.
Mr Goodall has previous experience climbing Mont Blanc twice and visiting the Himalayas in 2012. Once he has climbed Kilimanjaro, he plans to conquer Denali, Vinson, the Carstensz Pyramid, and Mount Everest.
“Everest is certainly the most challenging from a mental perspective,” he said.
To prepare for climbing these vast peaks Mr Goodall undergoes a rigorous training regime.
He runs 30 to 40 miles a week and in preparation for Elbrus, he would run two hours on a treadmill with a 30kg back pack.
These trips are all self-funded by Mr Goodall, but he is hoping to receive sponsorship for his further adventures, which he aims to complete by 2020.
He is also attempting to raise money for the NSPCC and Mind, a mental health charity.
For more on Mr Goodall’s mission and to sponsor him visit www.2andh.com
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