Local business owner and adventurer Frank Fumich has run over 150 marathons, at least one per continent.
The Virginia man has reached the South Pole, biked across the United States and competed in dozens of ultramarathons while raising money for charity. But last month’s feat was the pinnacle of Fumich’s career: reaching the top of Mount Everest while carrying a very precious gift with him.
“I did take like 60 seconds and look around and appreciate where I was standing, and that, 0.001% of humans ever get to see with their own eyes, but mostly I was just thinking, ‘OK, now I need to get down,’” Fumich told WTOP.
The trip to the top of the world’s tallest peak is decades in the making for Fumich. He climbed to the top of Mount Kilimanjaro around 22 years ago and the idea started, and he began to work toward this goal ever since.
Fresh from his descent, he said, “I’d say literally and figuratively say it ranks at the top.”
Fumich endured hours of running, strength training and wearing out his home treadmill with a 40-pound pack. He also incorporated balance training and hiked the Shenandoah Valley half a dozen times with full gear.
He also completed what is called a flash expedition to the top, which requires a shorter amount of time on the mountain to get acclimated to the altitude. This is achieved by an altitude tent that Fumich slept in every night for two months before he traveled to Nepal.
“You turn up the machine and it simulates higher and higher altitude, and you know it’s pretty miserable because you’re kind of choking and gasping in your sleep,” Fumich said.
“You’re training hard here and normally, you’re looking forward to going to sleep, but I was kind of dreading going to sleep because that was harder than even the training.”
Fumich and the group he joined to climb the mountain initially planned to go up the north side of Everest, but the Chinese government closed that side to any international traveler and they had to pivot to travel up the southern side in Nepal.
The climb is a waiting game, waiting for the right conditions to make the ascent.
Fumich said there was a lot of sitting around “trying to stay mentally in the game.”
There is a tiny window of only a few days to a week in late May before monsoon season begins.
Eventually, their window arrived and they had to make it to the top of Everest and back down in five-and-a-half days.
Arguably, the most treacherous part of their journey is at the beginning on the Khumbu Icefall, a moving glacier with deep crevasses that can only be crossed via ladders that are roped together. One crevasse required five ladders to be latched together.
“If you’re in the wrong spot at the wrong time and one of those things collapses, it could be devastating,” Fumich said.
The toughest part of the journey for Fumich and most climbers is the sheer altitude. One camp, located at above 26,000 feet, is what’s referred to as the “Death Zone.”
“That is definitely where you are dying,” he said. “Humans are just not made to be at that altitude. We obviously use supplemental oxygen, but even with the oxygen, I was amazed.”
“We literally walked past dead bodies, which is super sobering, and we also saw a guy pass away, which was really sobering,” Fumich said.
“It’s a reminder when you see one of those people, none of them plan to not come back. No one thinks that you’re going to be the one that doesn’t come back, but it happens every year.”
A guardian angel
When Fumich finally reached the top of the mountain, there was not much time to spare. He recorded videos to friends and loved ones and took in the view, but also laid to rest the ashes of a 13-year-old girl.
Lilly Toxavidis, the daughter of one of Fumich’s closest friends, died of cancer in 2019. Fumich was in the hospital room as she drew her last breath, and her father gave Fumich some of her ashes to spread as he adventures across the world, helping to keep her memory alive.
The vial that Fumich carried to the top of Mount Everest held the last of Lilly’s ashes.
“It’s a nice way to end all my adventures and my experience with her ashes, to put them on top of the world,” he said.
During this adventure, in particular, he viewed Lilly as a “guardian angel.”
“She’s kind of looking over me on these adventures. I feel privileged to be able to do it,” Fumich said.
Helping hands
This achievement is, of course, never done alone, Fumich said he could not have gotten to the top without his sherpas, Dawa and Passang, who helped carry oxygen, gear and even attached their crampons to his boots when it was too cold for him to take off his gloves.
He also climbed the mountain with three friends from across the world, joining the group of 10 on this particular expedition. He said the challenges they faced together formed bonds that can only be forged under shared hardship.
“When we all made it to base camp and sort of recounted our stories — we’re eight grown men that were bawling like children,” Fumich said. “It was super emotional, and those guys are my brothers.”
The 58-year-old said this would be his first and last time summiting the tallest mountain in the world.
“How do you top Mount Everest? I saved the best or hardest for last, and I’m feeling pretty satisfied,” Fumich said.
He said that this feat is a lesson for anyone who wishes to put themselves to the test and see what they are capable of.
“I always say you never find anything about yourself sitting on the couch,” Fumich said.
“I’m not talented, I’m not a fast runner, but I just basically refuse to quit, and everybody has that in them. I think you know it’d be great if sometimes people would go out there and see what they’re made of. … They’d be really surprised to find out.”
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