Name: My mind-shifting Everest swim
Uploaded: 2010-07-30T08:55:00Z
Duration: 9 min 28 s
Description: After he swam the North Pole, Lewis Pugh vowed never to take another cold-water dip. Then he heard of Lake Imja in the Himalayas, created by recent glacial melting, and Lake Pumori, a body of water at an altitude of 5300 m on Everest -- and so began a journey that would teach him a radical new way to approach swimming and think about climate change.

After he swam the North Pole, Lewis Pugh vowed never to take another cold-water dip. Then he heard of Lake Imja in the Himalayas, created by recent glacial melting, and Lake Pumori, a body of water at an altitude of 5300 m on Everest -- and so began a journey that would teach him a radical new way to approach swimming and think about climate change.

My mind-shifting Everest swim

True change often demands abandoning old strategies in favor of radical new approaches. A record-setting swim in a glacial lake near Everest nearly ended in disaster until a shift from aggression to humility enabled success. The melting Himalayan glaciers now threaten water supplies for nearly two billion people. Tackling climate change, like climbing Everest, calls for bold, fundamental shifts in mentality and action.