Coronado Mayor Richard Bailey has left his constituents and home behind for the next month, traveling thousands of miles around the world to fulfill a childhood dream.
His honor has spent the past three years preparing to — hopefully — summit Mount Everest. Bailey was inspired to make the trek when he was 12 years old and watched an Everest expedition movie.
"I was just captivated," Bailey said. "I can still remember just walking in the theater and seeing all the imagery. And from that moment, I knew I would just always want to climb it."
In a conference room outside council chambers at Coronado’s City Hall, Bailey showed us some of the gear he will be taking: extreme-weather summit boots, gloves, carabiners, crampons and an ice axe that could save his life as he traverses the steep, often slick terrain at unimaginable heights. He's tested these tools at multiple climbs in preparation for this pinnacle experience.
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Talking about his adventure, Baily speaks with passion about his decades-long dream but acknowledges the extreme danger involved, which is why he waited until the month before departing to tell his mother, knowing she'd fear for his safety.
The desire to ascend the so-called roof of the world outweighs any fear or risk, Baily said. This month's journey to High Asia isn't his first; three years ago he visited Mount Everest, spending time at base camp (a not-too-shabby 17,000-foot elevation itself) to evaluate his desire to prepare for a summiting expedition. He knew then for sure that he was called to the challenge.
The journey to Everest began with a trip to Boston (elevation: 141 feet) for another athletic feat: The 2023 Boston Marathon. On April 17th, he ran the 26.2 miles, then continued east to Katmandu, the capital of Nepal.
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Bailey, who's always been an athlete, is dedicated to fitness, but the preparation for the Everest expedition required exceptional discipline and presented new challenges along the way.
"It's not one of those things you can just wake up one day and say, 'Hey, I'm going to go to the Himalayas,' " Bailey said. "It takes a lot of work to prepare."
The mayor went through a basic training program in the Sierras and climbed mountains in Ecuador and Argentina.
Bailey said his responsibility as a city leader has helped prepare him for what’s ahead as well, and that he's bringing mental fortitude acquired over the years in his role as mayor along with him. As if he didn't have enough on his plate, he plans to join the Coronado City Council meeting from base camp, hoping to set a world record for the highest civic meeting ever conducted.
Bailey will be climbing with a well-known expedition leader, Nimsdai Purja, who gained international fame for his role in the Netflix documentary 14 Peaks. Purja said in an Instagram Post, “I come alive in the death zone.”
Bailey knows Purja to be an adventure-seeker with a tenacious drive, so he wasn’t surprised or emotionally rattled by his statement. It’s perhaps what enticed Bailey to join his team.
"I've never met a better leader than Nims — learning not just mountaineering skills but life skills," Bailey said.
Bailey said he promised his mom that, once he summits Everest, his climbing career will come to an end, but, he said, this won't be his last adventure.
"There's always going to be something else," Bailey said.
