KATHMANDU: Legendary American climber Mark Pattison has said that hiking from Lukla to Everest Base Camp is always a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

Mark, a motivational speaker and mountaineer, also said he discovered that the people of Nepal were incredible. Mark became the first NFL player to complete the Seven Summits, overcoming snow blindness, burns, a cyclone, COVID at altitude, and running out of oxygen on Everest.

“In 2021, I went to Nepal to climb Mt. Everest to complete my goal to become the 1st NFL Player to climb the Seven Summits,” Mark, who is also the author of a book, ‘Finding Your Summit,’ shared with The Tourism Times.

Guided by renowned American climber Garrett Madison, Mark stood atop the roof of the world at around 7:50 a.m. on May 23, 2021, becoming the first NFL player to complet~e all seven summits and second NFL player to scale Mt Everest.

“What I discovered was the people were incredible, the landscape was breathtaking and the journey from Lukla to Everest Base Camp was a once-in-a-lifetime experience,” Mark shared.

On the same day that Mark reached the summit, Arthur Bennett Muir also became the oldest American to scale Mt. Everest at age 75.

Mark’s Everest climb and personal story became the Emmy Award-winning documentary ‘Searching for the Summit’ .

“I am so blessed to have been able to experience this on Mt. Everest,” Mark, 65, a resident of Seattle, Washington State, said.