text:
Home/Features/Up close and personal with Mark Inglis
Up close and personal with Mark Inglis
Blast from the past issue 212
adventuremagApril 28, 2020
"Imagine, you are 23 years old, trapped in an ice cave for 14 days by a sub-zero blizzard on the summit of New Zealand's highest peak.
You are starving and freezing to death. You wake up in hospital to find that you have lost both legs below the knees due to frostbite.
What do you do next? If you are Mark Inglis, you climb Mount Everest, of course."
The first ever double amputee to scale Mt Everest says life is for him is all about participation and he believes we are all here to make a difference.
New Zealand's Mark Inglis made history when reached the 'roof of the world' in May, 2006. While many would see this as the 'pinnacle' of achievement, for Inglis, Everest is one of many accomplishments in a life full of conquests.
Born in September 1959, Mark had a passion and love of the outdoors since childhood. In 1979, he began work as a professional search and rescue mountaineer for Aoraki/Mount Cook National Park. In November 1982, Mark and his climbing partner Philip Doole became trapped near the summit of Mt Cook in atrocious weather, a storm that was to last 13-and-a-half days. The resulting stay in the ice cave – now known as Middle Peak Hotel – resulted in both men's legs becoming badly frost bitten. The rescue of the two climbers was a major media event in New Zealand, with the country gripped by the dramatic incident. When rescued, Inglis and Doole were near starved and close to death. Following the rescue, both Mark's legs were amputated below the knee. He was 23 years old.
Adventure Magazine: Mt Cook – at what point did you realize you were in serious trouble?
Mark: Pretty much as soon as we put our head over the summit ridge at about 6pm in the evening. The scale of the storm meant that the only option was to try and fight our way down to Porter Col but within metres, we knew we had to get out of the wind. It really was like an evil thing trying to beat you to death. As we climbed into Middle Peak 'Hotel' we were optimistic that the weather would clear, but with each passing hour the gravity of the situation increased.
Adventure Magazine: Did you ever feel you wanted to give up?
Mark: In some ways – always, but in others, never. It would have been so nice to have been spirited off the mountain, but then reality hits. It won't happen, and everything next is all up to you.
Adventure Magazine: What kept you going?
Mark: Knowledge and faith – Knowledge, as in we were in a unique situation being SAR mountaineers; we had seen, experienced and trained for this, so we could make the decisions that would allow us to survive, despite knowing that we might at least lose a few toes. Faith, in that we knew we would be rescued; it was just a matter of when, not if. Hence our job, our focus, especially after about day five when we recognized there was little likelihood of self rescue, was simply to survive.
As the result of the loss of his legs, Mark was forced to change his career. At the age of 25, he attended Lincoln University and graduated with a BSc Hons 1st Class degree in Biochemistry in 1989. But the sporting arena still beckoned and Mark relished the opportunity to compete at national and international level in Disabled Alpine Skiing, gaining one gold, two silvers and two bronze medals in 1990, 1991 and 1996. Mark also competed at an international level in Disabled Road Cycling, first representing New Zealand at the World Championships in Colorado Springs 1998 and ranked ninth in the World.
In 1999, he was named in the New Zealand team to the Southern Cross Multidisability Games in Sydney, where he collected Bronze, Silver and Gold medals for his efforts. At the 2000 Sydney Paralympic Games, Mark rode to twelfth in the Road Race and a career highlight of Silver in the Kilo (1000m individual time trial), New Zealand's first ever Paralympic Cycling medal and the first medal awarded at those Olympics.
Adventure Magazine: How long was the recovery post-amputation? Is it a continuing process or just something you need to come to terms with?
Mark: It's been staged across the whole of my life since. Post-amputation, by two months you should have legs and be walking. After six months, you are pretty much stable and 'recovered', but it's about eighteen months to two years before your stumps are really settled down enough to explore what is truly possible – and that's far more than anyone thinks.
Adventure Magazine: Mentally, how did this experience affect you? What are some of the challenges?
Mark: On the surface, you keep smiling and pushing the limits, but that masks the real 'day by day', 'hour by hour', hard slog. It's about keeping constantly positive while hitting a multitude of stumbling blocks. I've battled others' perceptions (other amputees and the general community) of what is possible, especially around technology. Artificial limb technology isn't a lot different from the 1960s or 70s – it's really just comfort and material changes. So while my 'normal' walking legs let me do 99% of everything, I love being in that 1% space; hence I've explored design and built specialist legs.
With these massive sporting achievements spurring him on, Mark's focus again turned to his first love, mountaineering. Determined to overcome the 'hiccup' of losing his legs, he returned to Mt. Cook in 2002 and triumphantly reached the summit (3759m) successfully on 7 January of that year, after a previous attempt was thwarted by damage to his stumps. The climb was as much a test for Mark's newly-designed technical climbing legs as a test of himself. The summit assault and its build-up was documented by the film No Mean Feat: The Mark Inglis Story, which won best documentary at the 2003 NZ TV Awards.
On the 27th of September 2004, Mark stood on the summit of Cho Oyu, at 8201m the world's sixth highest mountain, and looked directly across at Everest, only about 650m higher, and knew that he was seeing his next challenge.
In May 2006, Mark set off for the summit in perfect weather, and became the first double amputee to conquer the world's highest peak, Mt Everest. Mark completed his climb on two carbon-fibre artificial legs especially adapted for climbing. Despite snapping one of them early on in the climb, with the help of his climbing colleagues he was able to repair it and continue the ascent. Over 20 years after losing his limbs, he stood on the roof of the world.
Adventure Magazine: Where do you think the 'will to survive' comes from, specifically your own?
Mark: Everyone has it – they just don't know it, or haven't been put in a position to call upon it. Growing up as a mountaineer was by far the biggest factor; it gives you a completely different understanding of what is possible and the consequences of your decisions.
Not one to rest on his laurels, Mark's life continues to be motivated by achievement. He is the author of five books No Mean Feat, Off the Front Foot, To The Max, Legs on Everest and High Tech Legs On Everest. In 2002, he was made an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to persons with disabilities at the Queen's Birthday Honour Awards.
Mark is the founding trustee for Limbs4All Charitable Trust, which is committed to helping some of the 400 million disabled people in the world to express their potential by supporting projects and individuals both within New Zealand and worldwide, and is also an ambassador for Outward Bound amongst various other projects and charities.
Mark is also a highly sought-after leading International Motivator, and has presented to over 200,000 people across the world, encouraging them to embrace challenge and develop the attitude to excel. These talks and tours are an opportunity for Mark to share his experience and philosophy with world leaders.
Adventure Magazine: How do you go from trapped on Mt Cook to motivational speaker?
Mark: I'm just sharing my truth – knowledge is everything, it is the antidote to fear.
This down-to-earth New Zealander consults to top executives, leading discussion on change, challenge and the role of attitude in business. With an undying love of the mountains, Mark still climbs and leads treks to Nepal each year to raise funds and awareness for Limbs4All projects in Nepal and Cambodia. As the only double amputee who has stood on the summit of Mt Everest, who else can truly define the often used saying, "Attitude determines your Altitude".
Adventure Magazine: What does the future hold?
Mark: Probably lucky I don't have a crystal ball, as I love the surprises that life delivers. My path is sharing those things that I treasure; the mountains, climbing, cycling – experiences and places where no other human has been. I'll continue to encourage confidence and attitude, enabling people to step beyond that edge. One thing I have learned, it is very easy to sit back, but essential that you don't.
Read the latest issue of Adventure for free
Lockdown Boredom Buster
Austrian climber inspired to travel to one of the most remote places in the world.
A summer Wave Gallery
BLUEHOUR
ROUNDHILL
DO you want ICE with that?


You and I are going on a delicious, special, cinnamon bun, Valentine's Day, popcorn journey today.
Oh yeah! It's gonna be good.
Firstly, allow me to apologize for the light quality of the pictures, they will not be the greatest because I made this recipe for my fiancé and I when I was with him in Kansas, for a special animé movie date night. Unfortunately, it was later in the day and lighting quality was not great to begin with, and I had left my trusty iphone with it's much better camera, back home in Canada. Needless to say, the recipe will still be fabulous and delicious-promise.
I also want you to know, that it is man approved!
Poppa bear is a plain popcorn purist, I have since converted him to treats of specialty popcorn, like this recipe and even got him into buttered popcorn. Funny thing was that he was not into the sweeter popcorn at first, but when I put the rest of it away in the back of the cupboard, in a ziploc bag, he came a lookin' for it. Turns out he liked it so much that he waxed off the bag over the following two days, I at least managed to get a few handfuls before it vanished.
This recipe uses a mix of ingredients that I decided I was happier with than all the sugar lump recipes I had come across, everywhere else. We still found this sweet, it was just waaaaay toned down, and it allowed the chewiness to be balanced with the crunch and yummy cinnamon bun flavour.
I also added a really nice Lemon Cream Cheese Drizzle, which my PB adored! I was truly surprised by this, as I really only threw it on as an extra, when I got the idea to try this recipe. He asked me where it was the second time he ate it.
You do not have to use it if you don't want to.
This recipe was great for date night, is perfect for Valentine's day, as a gift for wedding favours, to serve at a party, or just for a nice change of pace on family movie night. We watched some old animé that we had started months ago but never got to finish. It's called Fate/stay night, is the second installment in the Fate/zero series, and we really enjoyed it. You should check it out if you have not seen it, but if you are not into the animé scene, then by all means watch what you will. We also really liked SAO aka Sword Art Online.
So, back to cinnamon bun popcorn. This recipe seems like there is a lot but it is really quite simple; as long as you read through the recipe first, make sure you have all the ingredients along with equipment, and do the recipe as it says to. Don't rush it, just make it with love. You and your honeybunz will enjoy it loads.This is really a treat food, and should be eaten as a special celebration item, not too often but just enough to let them know how special they are.
As always, pictures guide you below the recipe.
-Pop popcorn and keep aside in a big bowl, until recipe calls for it.
-Line a cookie tray with parchment paper and set aside.
-In a medium sized pot, on medium temperature, heat and melt together the butter, coconut sugar, corn syrup, and maple syrup, until melted and combined.
-Stir in vanilla, cinnamon, and salt.
-Remove from heat, add in baking soda, stirring well. BE CAREFUL! The baking soda will make the mix bubble and double in size. At this point, I usually transfer this mix to a bowl and allow to cool for 5 minutes, before I continue.
-Add pecans to popcorn bowl and mix, then pour the liquid cinnamon mixture over the popcorn.
-Carefully mix, until well coated and covered. Spread the popcorn mixture evenly on the parchment lined cookie tray.
-Bake for 20-25 minutes, until crisp and golden. DO NOT BURN!
-Remove from oven and allow to cool for 10-15 minutes.
-Transfer to whatever serving container you like or package as a gift*.
*Stores well in ziploc bags in a cool, dry, dark place for several weeks.
(Just remember to chill it for 15 minutes before drizzling it on the finished popcorn, and do not put it on the popcorn before. It will cause it to turn mushy, only drizzle it on just before serving).
-In a bowl beat ingredients together with a beater until smooth and liquidy enough to drizzle, chill in fridge 10-15 minutes or until thickens up. It might be very liquidy at first, the chilling process will thicken it up to the right consistency.
-When popcorn is ready, drizzle over popcorn just before serving.
You can transfer the hot liquid from the pot to a bowl, just to let it cool for about 5 minutes, if you feel more comfortable, handling it for tossing that way.
Drizzle it slowly and evenly, to get a good coat. Be careful as this is basically a cinnamon bun caramel sauce, as such, it can burn. That's why I allow it to cool in a bowl for a bit, not too long, just to take the hot edge off for when I hand toss it.
1 comment on "Celebration Cinnamon Bun Popcorn with Lemon Cream Cheese Drizzle Option"