PROPOSED PEAK: Julie Lewis on the summit of Island Peak mountain in Nepal with Calin.
Having led over 50 expeditions in over 20 countries around the globe, Julie has trained hundreds of ordinary women and men to achieve the extraordinary, writes Aney Mathew
If she is not on the summit of the Kilimanjaro, she could be leading a group of women crossing a barren desert; but she has certainly not restricted herself to adventures atop mountains or across challenging plains.
You may find her training a group of women to victory in a dragon boat race or encouraging a squad trying their stint at tandem diving or shark-cage diving. There’s no telling, really — you could even bump into her if you’re on an expedition to the Arctic or Antarctic!
Julie Lewis is quite a woman; one, who, is certain that with belief and focused training, anything is possible. Having led over 50 expeditions in over 20 countries around the globe, Julie has trained hundreds of ordinary women and men to achieve the extraordinary in the spirit of adventure and embark on life-changing challenges.
When Julie or ‘Jules’ as she prefers to be called (it rhymes with Joules — the unit of energy, she quickly reminds you) — is not on an adventure of some kind, she is busy giving inspirational speeches, leadership seminars or conducting corporate retreats.
Jules, who hails from Yorkshire in the UK, currently lives in the UAE. She is the founder and CEO of ‘Mountain High’ — the first and only organisation in the UAE to offer people an opportunity to reach new heights personally, professionally and literally through inspirational speaking events, group coaching sessions, workshops, retreats and signature expeditions.
She was in Doha to motivate a group of women for the ‘How Women Work’ conference. In a chat with Community, Jules spoke about some of her adventures and accomplishments.
“I climbed my first mountain, Mount Kota Kinabalu in Borneo at the ‘tender’ age of 40! That was in 2002 and have been climbing mountains ever since. I’ve climbed 19 mountains so far. As a matter of fact, it was on the summit of the Island Peak mountain in Nepal, that her boyfriend Calin proposed to her and, just in case you are curious, she said ‘yes’.
Somehow, as if climbing mountains wasn’t challenging enough, Jules has been on — not one, but several polar expeditions.
So what prompted Jules to go on a glacial voyage? “Pristine wilderness, 360 degrees of snow, ice, water, clear blue skies, fresh air and amazing wildlife. The peace, tranquility and sheer vastness of both the Arctic and Antarctica are such a major contrast to the fast-paced life we lead in the city. Mother nature has created so many heavens on earth; the Arctic and Antarctica are truly two of them!
“In 2007, one of my closest friends Jannike, a Norwegian, and I decided it would be really cool to get a team of women to go to the Svalbard in the Norwegian Arctic circle. We had no trouble finding 16 women keen to join us, so off we went. The trip was so successful that I ran it every year for five years!”
“After the fifth trip to the Arctic, I decided it was time to go all the way south to the Antarctic. So, in 2012, we took the first and only team of breast cancer survivors from the UAE to the ends of the earth for the ultimate polar experience. The aim was to highlight the strength and spirit of women, to show there is life after cancer and breast cancer is not a death sentence.
“This team represented the perfect roving ambassadors and role models for the campaign. It also made modern day adventure history for the UAE and for breast cancer awareness.
“It was such a great success and I’ve had so many people showing interest. So we will run another one in 2015 and this will be open to both men and women.”
Typical of her nature, Jules began 2014 with an adventure; this time it was a Desert Crossing. In January, she led the first and only team of women from the UAE and Asia to make a north to south crossing of the Wahiba Sands in Oman.
It was 115.5 km by foot and took over four and a half days — using GPS for route along, with an Omani Bedouin guide and his three camels. It was organised in association with Outward Bound Oman. “It was quite an experience — living a very simple life, like Bedouins. We are having a film made about it” she explains.
So does her husband accompany her on these expeditions? “Yes, Calin comes on some of the expeditions — this year he will climb the Kilimanjaro with us, after which we both head to Russia to climb Mount Elbrus together. Then depending on his work commitments he might join us for more later this year. We both love being outdoors and have a long bucket list of places to go to and mountains to climb!”
It takes a lot of grit and strength for such remarkable achievements. But the road to such success must be marked by several challenges.
What have been Jules’ most challenging trips so far? “Undoubtedly, our expeditions to Mt. Cho Uye in Tibet and Mt Elbrus in Russia were the most difficult; on both of these mountains we were unable to summit due to bad weather.
“On Cho Uye in Tibet, we had reached 7,000m (our highest so far), but avalanches and heavy snow made it impossible to summit. On Elbrus, last summer we were just 342meters away from the summit and had to turn back — again, due to avalanche risks and really strong winds.
“The guide had to literally, hold me up and keep me locked into him to stop me from being blown off the mountain. It took a lot of mental, emotional and physical energy to get back to the safety of the base-camp. It was not just challenging it was one of my scariest experiences — it’s the first time I felt small and vulnerable on a mountain. The wind was so powerful, the visibility was poor and the snow just keep slipping away from under my feet — SCARY!”
“It had taken six hours of non-stop climbing to get to the point where we had to turn around. I cried with disappointment. Yet it is better to be disappointed than dead! We have booked to go back to Russia this August to finish what we started!” she says with determination.
“Going to the ends of the earth is a must for anyone who yearns for vast open pristine wilderness — it’s so good for the soul! I’m already experiencing withdrawal symptoms for the Arctic and plan on an expedition next year.
“Typically, we run around four expeditions each year and are always on the lookout for something new to do that has never been done by a team. Desert crossing, Kilimanjaro, Tibet and Bhutan are currently slated for this year and I’d love to have people from Qatar join us on any of these adventures”, she says in conclusion.
Expeditions anyone?
Mountain High experiences
Julie Lewis believes, ‘the journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step’. “It was atop my first mountain (on a natural high) that I had the idea for my own company ‘Mountain High’. I wanted more people to experience the feeling of achievement and to be able to feel that joy wherever and whenever!
The very next year – in 2003, I led a team of 17 women to the Everest base camp. It was after this trip, that I finally, had the courage to leave my full time job and start Mountain High with a mission to inspire as many people as possible.”
“I blend my background in sports science, NLP (Neuro linguistic programming), mindfulness, yin yoga and positive psychology to form a balanced integrated personal leadership programme. The aim of my work is based around three core advocates: free your mind, energise your body and nurture your spirit of adventure. I run talks, workshops and retreats that incorporate this philosophy and enable people to explore and learn.
“Meeting so many amazing people from such diverse walks of life is such a rewarding experience. Life begins at the end of your comfort zone! I‘ve learnt so much about myself and others through my travels and plan to keep exploring new places!” affirms Jules.
BELOW:
1) TO THE ENDS OF THE EARTH: Exploring the Svalbard in the Arctic.
2) SILVER LINING: The silver winning breast cancer survivors “Tickled Pink” at the Penang Dragon Boat Festival.