Carterton's Joe Nawalaniec had often asked himself how well he would do if he attempted to climb a high-altitude mountain.
The Rathkeale College maths teacher and recreational mountaineer had a chance to prove to himself he could do it, and conquered the 6153m mountain Stok Kangri late last year.
High altitude mountainair is thinner and dryer, and Mr Nawalaniec often felt like he had a "plastic bag tied around his head".
After landing in city of Leh, in Ladakh in India, Mr Nawalaniec and partner Vicky Bullmore, could see the mountain ranges from their hotel window. "Straight away I could see the mountain I wanted to climb," he said.
Although he didn't plan to climb the mountain by himself, his partner fell "horribly sick" and was ordered to stay in bed for a week.
In a case of itchy feet, Mr Nawalaniec was granted permission to do so by himself: "She released me like a pigeon."
Mr Nawalaniec then spent four long days climbing the mountain without hiring a guide or a pony, which are generally expected to accompany climbers.
He carried a large pack in the "stinking hot" days, and camped through "freezing cold" nights.
"I felt like a chicken roasting on a spit," he said, explaining the sun would hit walls of the glaciers, magnifying the heat.
Through a winter blizzard on the first night, Mr Nawalaniec kept thinking, "It's better than a good day in the Tararuas.
"There was not another soul on the mountain," he said.
The climb was not an easy one, and he sometimes used all his energy just to take a few steps.
"It was the hardest thing I have ever done." Mr Nawalaniec has often experienced the hardships of wandering around mountains.
He used an "extremely ancient, blunt" ice axe on the climb, which saved him from falling more than once. "It's like something Sir Edmund Hillary left behind."
Mr Nawalaniec said the whole experience was pretty special. "I got to the summit."
