Will his next hit be called “I took a pill on Everest”? US singer Mike Posner has announced in a video (see below) that he wants to climb Mount Everest this spring. The 33-year-old let it be known that he had been preparing for his project for 18 months. The idea came to him when he crossed the USA on foot in 2019. After the death of his father, he “felt trapped under the weight of my own life,” Mike says. “I wanted to find out who I was when I wasn’t a Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter.” His song “I Took a Pill in Ibiza” had made it to number one on the charts in several European countries and was nominated for Best Song of the Year at the 2017 Grammy Awards.
For six months and three days, Posner trekked 2,851 kilometers across the U.S., from the East Coast to the West Coast. Along the way, he was also bitten by a rattlesnake. “When I crossed the Rocky Mountains, I had a good idea what I wanted to do next,” says the singer: to climb Mount Everest, the highest mountain on earth. A PR stunt? No, says Jon Kedrowski, who has been training the musician and wants to accompany him to the 8,849-meter-high summit.
Kedrowski: “Mike is completely ready”
For Kedrowski it is the fifth expedition to Everest. In 2012 he reached the summit climbing on the south side of the mountain (with breathing mask). In 2015, he returned to the highest mountain on earth, but after the devastating earthquake in Nepal, the season was canceled. In 2018, Kedrowski reached an altitude of 8,500 meters on the north side of Everest – without bottled oxygen –, and in 2019 (with breathing mask) he climbed up to 8,700 meters. In fall 2019, Kedrowski scaled Manaslu, it was his first eight-thousander summit success without bottled oxygen.
“After traveling around the world together climbing dozens of mountains and all the types of real situations Mike will face on Everest – we have prepared and trained – and drilled and fine tuned everything,” the 41-year-old American wrote on Instagram. “I wouldn’t let Mike go unless he was completely ready.”
Crowdfunding for NGO in Detroit
Posner has also breathed thin air. So Mike traveled to Ecuador twice and climbed several volcanoes there, including Chimborazo (6,263 meters) and Cotopaxi (5,897 meters). At the turn of the year, he accompanied Kedrowski to K2 Base Camp at 5,150 meters – and sang his hit song “I took a pill in Ibiza” there in the tent with the winter climbers.
Mike also wants to climb Mount Everest for a good cause. In memory of his father, who worked as a criminal defense attorney in Detroit for 40 years, Posner is crowdfunding to raise money for the “Detroit Justice Center“. The NGO works to ensure that all people, regardless of color, background or sexual orientation, are treated equally in the justice system and in the economy. Within the first three days, more than $150,000 in donations had already been received.
“I love this life,” says Mike about mountaineering , even though he only discovered it for himself a year and a half ago. And he adds: “We put a lot of false summits in front of ourselves in life. Don’t settle. Don’t make up a false finish line. Keep going.” With Mount Everest, he has set the finish line for himself right at the highest point on earth. Hubris instead of humility? Maybe he will return with the ultimate Everest song. But then without a pill, please.
