Everest Speaker: Gary Guller speaks to Metrolife about his extraordinary life

Meeting Challenges

Overcoming all hurdles
Sonal Sher
Tuesday, October 05, 2010

Renowned mountaineer Gary Guller speaks to Metrolife about his extraordinary life

Gary Guller is not a man you meet everyday. A world-renowned and record-setting mountaineer, he is as spirited as a young boy. Gary was the leader of the largest ever cross-disability group to reach Mount Everest Base Camp and also the first person with one arm to reach the summit of Mount Everest.

He was in Bangalore recently and spoke to Metrolife about his extraordinary life, challenges of working in an organisation and his future plans. Gary informs that he was a teenager when mountaineering caught his attention. “I was about 13 when a guy showed me pictures of the Himalayas and that was what got me,” he says. “Soon I was into rock climbing and then mountain climbing and later, I organised my first international expedition to Mexico for disabled youth,” he adds. Unfortunately, this was when Gary had an accident and lost his arm. “I was 19 when it happened. I wanted to become an international mountaineer but after the accident, I didn’t think it was possible,” he says.

Explaining his situation further, he says, “I didn’t have anyone I could draw inspiration from, which was difficult for a young man. It sent me into a negative spin,” he says. But he continued, starting from very small levels. “It was like completely starting over. Only thing was I was not a kid anymore but 24-years-old,” he says. Gary says that it is from those times that he draws most of his inspiration.

Gary is also a well-known motivational speaker and says that work-life balance and diversity in the workplace are the biggest challenges he comes across while speaking to people. “Organisations worldwide are very passionate about having a diverse workplace. But in such a scenario, listening is important. You don’t have to agree but if you listen, that’s half the battle won,” he says. “I think the most important thing in the workplace is that people should feel respected when they come in. You could be a grass trimmer but if you feel you are wanted, then you would want to be the best grass trimmer in the world,” he says.

Gary himself leads a very active life playing everything from tennis, racket ball to squash. “My biggest challenge now is to do a half-triathlon, which is a combination of swimming, riding a bicycle and running,” he says. “The swimming part is very uncomfortable. So I want to get over that,” he adds. How does he pick up new things to achieve? “I want to be one of those speakers who can share experiences when I get the opportunity to talk to people. And when I tell them to get out of their comfort zone, I want to have had experienced that. Mountaineering is my comfortable zone. I want to take it to another level and I want to inspire people,” he says.