“You get the feeling some people think the Aussie spirit of adventure died in the late 80s or early 90s, but I don’t see why that has to be the case,” Henk Morgans says down the phone line.
As part of the three-man team of Sum8, Morgans has had a busy year. Not only did fellow team member Dale Cokley recently become married, but the Sum8 team have also begun receiving media interest for the record-breaking feat they pulled off in August this year – climbing the eight highest peaks in Australia in six days, 21 hours and 30 minutes.
While we covered Sum8’s plans in Wild issue 142 (July/August), for a while it seemed that the only other interest received by the team would arrive via their Facebook page. That was until a story recently appeared on News.com.au, which may turn out to be just the first of many.
Joined by Tom Cramer, Morgans and Cokley are both delighted and a little embarrassed by the sudden attention their story is garnering. As Morgans says: “It’s not like we set out to become famous – and I still don’t think all that much is going to come from this, to be honest.
“We came up with the idea to break the Aussie eight record as a reason for the three of us to spend time together after having been apart for a while. If our aim was to become rich and famous then I guess we would’ve spent all our time practising golf or something.”
Regardless of their motivations, the Brisbane-based men managed to travel over 18,500 kilometres in the time they’d set for themselves, which included a dozen domestic flights and 60 hours of driving on top of the multiple gruelling legs of cycling, skiing, climbing and running involved. The resulting adventure saw Sum8 beat the previous record by more than a full day, at times battling against extreme conditions including sub zero temperatures.
But just because their whirlwind run came off without incident doesn’t mean it all went smoothly. Not only did the men find themselves desperately trying to purchase run-down BMX bicycles from a rubbish tip in order to complete their trip, weather conditions on Mount Ossa also required them to attempt a dangerous overnight ascent in icy conditions.
“We’d been warned that Ossa would be near impossible, as it had snowed right down to 200 metres,” Morgans explains. “We’d arrived at the nearest car park at 9.30pm and had a 42 kilometre round trip journey to the summit and back that we had to complete in under 12 hours. Following the all night ascent, I recall being momentarily stopped in my tracks as the beauty of the Tasmanian wilderness emerged with the arrival of dawn.
“Not only were we contending with deep snow for most of that leg, but trying to rush down a mountain in such conditions places you at more risk of imminent danger. At one point Tom put a foot wrong as we were making our way down from the peak, but luckily managed to perform a self arrest just metres from the edge of a cliff. On another occasion, Dale became airborne as a result of an encounter with black ice, but in applying his ability to stabilise he avoided what could easily have resulted in injury.”
Fortunately for them, the team managed to avoid any serious mishaps, and now with the mainstream media beginning to catch on to their story, Morgans – an arborist by trade – is finding himself in a position to spread a message.
“We didn’t really have a drum to beat when we planned this adventure, but in achieving all we set out to I think we learned something about why it’s important to embrace adventure,” he says. “I don’t think people need to go and put themselves at risk like we did – they don’t even need to go out on big, multi-day treks, but I think getting out and spending time in nature with a friend or two is important for our mental and physical health.
“It also strengthens the bond amongst people in the mountains, the rivers or the outback. It builds trust and helps to maintain healthy relationships. All the distractions of every day home life I see as an invitation to mess up people’s heads. There is simply nothing like getting in the midst of nature and feeling basking in its therapeutic power.”
What’s next for the Morgans, Cokley and Cramer? First, Morgans tells me, they’re still focused on rest and recovery.
“We need to take a breath and spend a few more months going about our every day lives,” he says. “We also have plans as individuals to continue competing in events, training and getting outdoors. However, I can tell you that as a team, Sum8 may be looking at other challenges for 2015. Whether that’s setting ourselves a challenge in New Zealand, Nepal or Europe somewhere, we just don’t know.”