Moving Mountains: How the Dream to Climb the Seven Summits Transformed Into the Charity Global H2O

by James Wilde

How my dream to climb the seven continental summits (Kilimanjaro, Elbrus, Aconcagua, McKinley, Vinson, Everest, Kosciuszko) and Cho Oyu transformed into the quest to bring clean drinking water to those in need in the Northern Province of Uganda. In 2010 I set out to climb Everest from the north side and complete climbing the seven summits (climbing to the highest point of every continent). During my training in the Himalaya, I discovered the water crisis and it changed me. It was then in 2009 when I fell ill with dysentery on Cho Oyu, forcing me to turn back during my attempt to reach the 6th highest peak on the planet. During the time I was sick, I experienced what other people without clean drinking water experience on a regular basis. Upon my return home to Munich, I dedicated my climb of Everest to the water crisis and founded a 501(c)3 entity in the USA. I focused an entire year of my life to reaching the highest point on the planet and creating an all-volunteer organisation with the goal to provide clean drinking water to the people of northern Uganda. What was originally a personal goal turned into a quest to deliver clean drinking water to the thirsty millions of war-stricken northern Uganda. Through this story, the charity, Global H2O was born.

412 pages, Paperback

First published February 5, 2013

About the author

James Wilde is a Man of Mercia. Raised in a world of books, the author studied economic history at university before travelling the world in search of adventure. Unable to forget a childhood encounter - in the pages of a comic - with the great English warrior, Hereward, Wilde returned to the haunted fenlands of Eastern England, Hereward’s ancestral home, where he became convinced that this legendary hero should be the subject of his first novel. Wilde now indulges his love of history and the high life in the home his family have owned for several generations in the heart of a Mercian forest.

Reviews

[Irene · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was pleased to read this well-written and inspirational book. Jamie details his accomplishments and setbacks in joining the 7 Summit Club, where entry is granted only after climbing the highest peak on each continent. His story includes three failed ascent attempts, and one of these failures inspired him to create the charity Global H2O, which provides the basic life necessity of clean water to those living in Uganda.
I never really understood mountaineering as it seems to be such an extreme, dangerous and expensive pastime, but after reading the book, I think I have a better understanding and appreciation of not only the physical challenges, but the mental ones of the sport. And the fact that one has to have a few failures to move forward and those are sometimes the best learning experiences.
Well done, Jamie.