Climber shares tales of surviving on Twix

Chris Warner has reached the summit of a mountain higher than 19,000 feet more than 100 times. He has climbed Mount Everest three times, as well as Mount Shivling in the Himalayas in 1989.

He also is the founder and director of Earth Treks, Inc., a company that currently runs two climbing centers and provides climbing instruction.

Last night in Huntsman Hall, Warner gave a presentation about incorporating passion into the workplace.

"I've never been to business school, never even taken a business class," he said.

Nonetheless, Warner talked about how valuable experience and hardship can be when facing an industry that is increasingly profit-driven.

"Two crazy friends and I decided that [Shivling] would be the best place for us to go on our first Himalayan expedition," he said.

This decision turned what appeared to be a challenging experience into a near-deadly one.

For the first few days, "we had to go through a gully that constantly dropped two- to three-ton glaciers and created massive avalanches," he said, "so we went as fast as we could and used no ropes."

Later, the group couldn't find places to sleep since there were no surfaces wide enough to lie on.

"We slept on the widest ridge, which was four feet wide, and had to shovel snow out of our sleeping bags," he added.

By the third day, they had no means of melting snow into water because one man had accidentally kicked their only pot off the mountain. This left nothing to eat, either, since everything they had was dehydrated and required boiling water.

"We survived on one Twix bar a day and half a cup of water," he said -- water that they had to melt using a sheet of tin foil.

He also took a 500-foot fall on the sixth day while rappeling and nearly died.

"We were all scared out of our frickin' minds, starving and tired," he said.

This experience led to the start of his business success.

"Every time we were confronted with a challenge, we found the strength [to survive], and ... I wondered what allowed us to be successful," Warner said. "Couldn't you install this strength into any group of people?"

Warner has a different outlook on business than many, saying that "I need to have the lifestyle I want, not money. You need to find your own currency."

Attendees were fascinated by his experiences, asking about his inspirations, the travel industry and how he balances his personal life with traveling.

"We wanted to show that you could take personal interest and make it into a reality, make it profitable while doing what you truly want to do," said Olivia Ahn, a Wharton MBA and the president of the Travel and Hospitality Club.

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