Room for a view: The sight from the summit of Mount Glencairn in New Zealand's Southern Alps that made Miguel Samper recognize what it is to be a climber. Mount Cook can be seen in the distance. This photo is from Samper's book of photographs, called Two Years Abroad.
A mountaineer is born after a scramble up a peak Down Under
By Gary Fallesen
When Miguel Samper scrambled to the top of Mount Glencairn in the Southern Alps of New Zealand, he was breathing hard, sweating heavily, and bleeding a little. It had been a long day and a difficult climb for someone who, prior to going to New Zealand in 2004 for an extended (read: 22-month) backpacking trip, had experienced only walks in county and state parks in the United States.
Now he was up high Down Under.
And he couldn’t believe his eyes.
“The view of endless snow-covered mountains was pretty much the best in New Zealand – and I saw tons of amazing things in New Zealand,” said Samper, who became a member of Climbing For Christ in 2006, shortly after returning from his travels through Oceania and Asia.
“It’s not at all difficult to understand why people climb mountains and risk the dangers that come with it when you see views like that. Enjoying that kind of moment in a place like that, without another soul to be found for miles, in total peace, is something everyone should experience at least once.”
After the 24-year-old Samper graduated from Rochester Institute of Technology in November 2003, he decided to go to New Zealand for a year on a work-holiday. But New Zealand was only the start.
“I overheard this girl talking about doing this trek up to Everest Base Camp,” Samper said. “I had no idea you could do that just as a person with no technical ability.”
Samper decided to go to Nepal to check it out.
“That was easily one of the most amazing things I have done,” he said about the week-long hike up to 18,000 feet on the world’s tallest mountain. “Seeing Everest was stunning.”
From there he began a six-month odyssey through China, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, and Thailand. He then spent four months circumnavigating Australia. For the most part he traveled alone and he traveled on foot.
“There’s just so much out there to see and do,” Samper said, explaining his desire to travel. “It’s hard for me to believe there are people out there who are content to stay in one place.”
Samper, who returned home in time for Christmas 2005, has a book of photos chronicling his trip. It is called Two Years Abroad and available online. (CLICK HERE for a link to his site.)
He was surprised he did not encounter many Americans his age while he was overseas.
“In Germany, England, Canada, Australia, Israel – it’s what you do,” Samper said. “It’s encouraged in those countries.
“Here, we’re programmed to go from high school to college to work. It’s not encouraged (to travel).”
College debt and social self-centeredness might contribute to this, Samper reasons.
Samper, whose parents are originally from Columbia, credits his “travel bug” to his mother and father. Not only did they support his adventure, they planted the seeds. “We went to London, Rome, summer vacation to Columbia,” Miguel said, recalling his formative years.
His father teaches at RIT, where Miguel earned a Bachelor’s degree in informational technology.
Samper knew he wanted to travel after graduating from college. He considered Australia and Ireland, but both countries had only four-month working-visa programs. That’s when he discovered New Zealand and it’s year-long visa. He’d seen the Lord of the Rings films and was captivated by the scenery.
He planned to work nine months and travel three months.
“I thought I was going to settle down when I got there,” Samper said. “I was going to travel around for two weeks and have a look, but I traveled around for four months.”
He stopped only long enough to make some money doing agricultural work, which is common among backpackers Down Under. Samper pruned trees and packed kiwi fruits.
He ended up working three months and traveling nine months. “Completely opposite of what I planned. My money was going further than I thought it would,” said Samper, who left home with $10,000 that he had saved while working during college.
“I was hiking. There were minimal costs.”
Samper took advantage of the hut system in New Zealand, a set-up of roughly 1,000 inexpensive places to sleep that he wishes we had in U.S. National Parks.
He recalled a sleepless night in a mouse-infested hut the night before his first personal ascent on 2,500-meter (8,200-foot) Mount Glencairn.
“I left the hut, which was on the valley floor, at about 8 a.m. and it took about an hour of walking up the valley to get to the base of the mountain,” Samper said. “From there I picked up a trail that climbed 500 meters to a tiny two-person hut basically right at the treeline (about 1,200 meters). After the hut there was no trail so I had to find my own way up to the top. It was a tough 1,300-meter climb.”
About 100 meters below the summit, he dislodged a large rock while trying to pull himself up. “I was nearly knocked off my feet when I deflected the rock away from me,” he said, describing what he called “one of the scariest moments of my travels.”
After that, he reached the summit – bleeding slightly from “about seven cuts from the rock incident” and standing on shaky legs.
“The danger, sweat, adrenaline, and even the tiny bit of blood lost made it so rewarding to get to the top, though,” Samper said. “And what a tremendous payoff.”
He had a breathtaking view. It was a climbing epiphany.
Samper returned to the hut that night a climber. In his journal, after the 11-hour roundtrip to the summit of Glencairn and back to the mice, he wrote: “Walking around like Frankenstein’s monster.” He had the joyfully tired legs of a mountaineer.
“It was a great day,” Samper recalled. “One of the best.”
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