Tym Glaser, Associate Editor - Sport

Hyde conquers Kilimanjaro: Story on Pages B4-5. - Peta-Gaye Clachar/Staff Photographer

THE SEVEN SUMMITS

The tallest mountains of the seven continents

Africa (Tanzania): Kilimanjaro - 5,895 metres

North America (Alaska): Mt McKinley or Denali - 6,194 metres

Europe (Russia): Mt Elbrus - 5,642 metres

South America (Argentina/Chile): Aconcagua - 6,962 metres

* Oceania (Papua, Indonesia): Carstensz Pyramid - 4,884 metres

Antarctica: Mt Vinson - 4,897 metres

Asia (Nepal): Mt Everest - 8,850 metres * The highest peak on the continent of Australia is Mt Kosciuszko - 2,228 metres

WHEN MANY folk reach the landmark age of 40, it's time to slow down a little and start fighting that middle-age spread and various rising crises.

For Adam Hyde, who may be better known to some as Royal Palm Estate's Richard Blackburn, nearing 40 has been something of an epiphany and he has set himself the lofty goal of climbing the highest mountain on each of the world's continents.

His dream - or nightmare, depending on your perspective of great heights and freezing temperature - began last month when he conquered the first of the 'Seven Summits', Africa's Kilimanjaro.

To do list

Next on the list is Europe's Mt Elbrus in July, and looming somewhere on the horizon is the daddy of 'em all: Everest.

However, in true mountaineer fashion, Hyde is just taking it one step at a time and is philosophical about his new passion.

"It's a very personal sport," the experienced caver said of the risky pastime he stumbled upon while on a trip to the Pyrenees in France to check out a cave in the early '90s.

"It's a challenge - you have a goal, you know where you are going and it's you against the mountain. You are competing against yourself, time, the altitude and even some other teams," he said.

"The cliché is 'because the mountain is there', but I just find myself getting so consumed reaching the top and it's a journey. Each night when you are in your tent, you are not sleeping, you are worrying 'Am I going to make it?', 'Do I have the guts to do it?', 'Is there going to be a rockfall or an avalanche?', 'Am I going to get sick?' and 'Am I going to quit?' - that's the toughest one.

"The majority of it is mental. You endure this pain, but it's like a pleasure pain. I am basically a masochist on a mountain because I suffer, but it is worth it.

"It really gives you a perspective of what's important in life," the married father of a five-year-old boy said.

Although super fit, age is no great ally of Hyde's and, cost and time permitting, the managing director of Pear Tree Press in New Kingston hopes to beat two of the summits a year on a remarkably tight schedule.

However, the fundamental 'Why?' remains.

"I am 39 now and I'll be 40 soon. I get such a high from climbing. Getting to the top of Kilimanjaro, I thought I could do anything," he said. "I want someone to be proud of me and I want to leave my mark in Jamaica."

Hyde added: "I want to be known as a pioneering mountaineer."