Mandy Moore is hitting the trails this Memorial Day weekend.
Moore is currently partway through a ten-day excursion up Mount Everest, which she has been documenting via Instagram. She said the experience was a personal bucket list item of hers.
“I went into this Everest viewing trek relatively blind,” she wrote on Thursday, sharing photos of herself and her group making their way through Nepali villages around the mountain. “Not unprepared, mind you… but I wanted to venture forward into the unknown with an open mind and heart and as free of expectations as possible.”
Moore is no stranger to challenging hikes in iconic locations — just last month, she made her way through New Zealand’s parks and mountains. Both trips are part of Eddie Bauer’s #WHYIHIKE campaign, which promotes exploring the outdoors.
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But while this is no small feat, Moore clarified that her experience at Everest is nothing like that of seasoned climbers.
“Not to take away from our journey but I felt compelled to explain the difference between our trekking trip to Everest Base Camp vs the experienced and professional mountaineers and alpinists who are CLIMBING Everest,” she wrote on Instagram on Friday. “If all goes well, we will have completed what is only 1/6 of the entire trip for someone who actually climbs (8 weeks total).”
That distinction is crucial as reports of a traffic jam at Everest’s summit — and resulting fatalities — made headlines this week. Good weather enticed climbers from across the world to travel to the highest point on the planet, leading to a backlog of hundreds of climbers during the final stretch of the climb, The New York Times reports. The bottleneck has turned deadly due to lack of oxygen and prolonged exposure to the cold and wind as a result of being forced to stop. As of Saturday, there have been 10 reported deaths related to the human traffic jam, bringing the this year’s fatality count at Everest up to 17 — the worst death toll in decades excluding natural disasters, per the NYT.
Moore won’t be anywhere close to the bottleneck as she wraps up her trek, but she took care to recognize the effort it takes to reach Everest’s peak.
“We stand in awe of the fortitude and training and superhuman strength it takes to attempt a feat like Everest and are deeply honored just to be here and feel the Khumbu vibes,” she wrote.