Can you briefly tell us a little about yourself?
Yes, my name is Adam Stevenson, I’m 28, and grew up in the small city of Chester in the North West of England. My working background has mainly been in construction, pricing up housing projects.
You’ve just completed ‘The Crown Of Europe’ in record time of just under 6 months, can you tell us how you came up with the idea to attempt this?
I can’t take any credit for the idea. The proposal was first put forward to me by a close friend of mine late last year, and we had originally planned to do the whole challenge together. However, during our first climb for Ireland’s highest peak, he suffered from some back injuries and had to withdraw from the serious mountains. It was a heavy blow for both of us just one country in, but I made the decision to continue on with the project, primarily by myself. In fact, my expectations for finishing the whole thing at this stage weren’t great. It’s a huge undertaking and I didn’t even have any experience in mountaineering, so I had no idea what I was up against.
If someone beat your record by a day, would you attempt it again?
No, I can’t say that I’ll be tempted as it wasn’t just about setting a record for me. I have no doubt that someone in the not too distant future will beat my time as I think it’s still a very achievable target for someone to better. At the end of the day, I started this as a complete novice, and I’m well aware that I’m not the fastest, fittest or have any more ability to do this than a thousand others. For me, it was about the whole travel experience as well as a personal challenge. I saw a huge chunk of Europe and achieving a world record at the end of my travels is kind of like the cherry on top for me. Although I love the thought of being the first person ever to start and finish ‘The Crown of Europe’ project in a single climbing season, that is something that can’t really be overthrown.
Would you rather complete all 48 peaks, or 47 and exchange the last one for a free 5-star holiday in the Maldives?
Complete all 48, without a doubt. I would never feel satisfied with just that one final peak remaining. It would bug the hell out of me. Although a trip to the Maldives sounds exactly what I need right now.
What was your toughest peak of the 48, and why?
I’ve been asked this a lot over my journey, and up until recently, I would always answer with Switzerland’s Dufourspitze. I was convinced that it would remain this way, but I may have inadvertently left the hardest until last. Mount Elbrus in Russia was probably the single most difficult physical and mental challenge I have ever put myself through. Of course, it’s the biggest mountain in Europe, so I wasn’t expecting it to be a walk in the park, but I knew that there wasn’t much technicality to it like some of the other mountains. As I climbed Elbrus late in the season (23rd September), temperatures near the top were around -28°C with the wind-chill factored in. My summit day involved over 10 hours of almost straight inclining, and I ended up doing the final 3 hours alone because my guide had to return with my other team member as he was suffering from altitude sickness. The thin air was a real test for me also. Every step up became increasingly harder, and I was finding myself needing to catch my breath even on the relatively flat sections. It was with no doubt the most rewarding peak of the lot also.
What are the 5 most beautiful peaks that you’ve done?
The great thing about this challenge is that there is such a vast difference in landscapes throughout Europe that all have their own unique beauty. But five that particularly stand out to me above the rest are:
- Zla Kolata – Montenegro
- Duforspitze – Switzerland
- Mont Blanc – France / Italy
- Mount Olympus – Greece
- Kebnekaise – Sweden
If you could skip one peak, what would it be and why?
It would have to be one of those peaks that I just saw as a box-ticking exercise to complete the challenge. I say that as not every country can offer a stunning mountain range, and there are actually quite a few high points that are just within a featureless field. I think that the worst one though was Mahya Dagi in Turkey. So that’s probably the one that I’d choose to skip for a few reasons. Firstly, it’s a bit deceiving as its not the highest mountain of Turkey, but just the highest one within European territory. Secondly, it has a military compound on top so taking photos and walking near it are strictly forbidden. I had been a little nervous about going up it as there was a real risk of getting into trouble. But it still made a memorable experience when we arrived at the top and came face-to-face with about a dozen military officers. We were questioned before assertively told to bugger off. We had driven two days out of our way for that brief moment, and I could probably have lived without that.
Did you like doing the challenge alone, or would you have preferred to have someone with you?
I wasn’t actually alone for the majority of the challenge, I was traveling around with two friends as we went between most of the countries. They would often stay at a place near the mountain as I went up it, but I think we still managed to do over half the highpoints together. As for actually climbing the peaks, I am generally quite happy with my own company in the mountains. It really gives me time to think and take everything in. However, as many people will tell you for safety reasons, it’s probably unwise to do many of these mountains alone. So yes, it would have been great to share the full experience with someone. But being with others can also cause its own pressures on a demanding project like this.
Is there anything you would have done differently?
Yes, of course. In hindsight, it’s always clear what to do. So it’s easy to look back now and review where if I had made different decisions, I could have saved myself time or money. However, saying that overall I think that it’s worked out really well. I’ve learned so much from the experience and I’ve achieved exactly what I wanted to out of it as well as raising some money to a good cause.
Have you thought about what to do next? Do you have any more challenges that you would like to attempt?
Yes, I’ve thought a lot about what I want to do next. This challenge is the first thing I can recall where I’ve truly committed myself and enjoyed, so I’m definitely looking at this as a stepping stone into something new. But I still don’t consider it entirely finished yet. I want to initially work on sharing my journey to help inspire others to take on the European highpoints themselves. Then in terms of other challenges yes, I dream of doing the bigger projects in the mountains for sure. I found that I really enjoyed the technical and climbing parts. So peak-bagging all the 4000m’s in the Alps I see as a great long term goal, but I still have quite a bit of learning to do first.
To learn more about Adam and his adventure, visit his website www.europeanpeaks.com
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