He teaches golf lessons for both adults and children at the “OZO” golf club in Mīlgrāvi. He was also a professional golfer at one time, but realized that he can give more to the golf world as a coach than as a professional player. At one time, he trained both already talented and wealthy businessmen in China, Indonesia, Germany and other parts of the world until he came to Latvia.
He speaks highly of the “OZO” golf club course – he says it is world-class, but Latvia’s climate is not the most appreciative of this sport. Namely, from the end of October to the beginning of April, you can forget about golf training on an open course. So these few “down” months are like a toothache for the very active Justin Griffith – he has to think about how to spend the free days that are spent on the golf course during the season. So, for example, last fall, he decided to teach sports lessons at the school in Riga where his children study.
Anyway, out of the blue, Justin Griffiths got the idea to find out more about the various golf records and came to the conclusion that no one has ever played golf (more precisely, hit a golf ball with a club) on the world’s highest mountain, Mount Everest. This fact remained a fact in his mind for a while, until one day he was contacted by his friends who invited him to go to New Zealand to watch a cricket match. “I talked to my wife, she told me to safely go “to clear my head”. I became interested in a possible flight, and it turns out that the most profitable flights from Latvia to New Zealand are not across Asia, but through America and across the Pacific Ocean, and this is connected with the war in Ukraine – Russia has closed its Trans-Siberian airspace to western airlines,” he says. Griffiths, “I would love to fly to New Zealand, but that trip would be too long, but I remembered Everest. First, as a golfer, I was intrigued to become the first person to play golf on Everest. Secondly, a trip to Asia also seemed like a good alternative to New Zealand.”
Three days and in Nepal
Justin Griffiths became obsessed with the idea of golf and Everest, so he quickly arranged everything to fulfill his goal. “The trip to Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal, lasted three days. At first, the flight Riga – Istanbul. Then from Istanbul and Kuwait, from where I already flew to my destination – Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal,” says Justin Griffiths.
The flights went off without a hitch and Griffiths successfully reached Kathmandu, from where he was scheduled to fly to Tenzing-Hilary Airport in Lukla – the closest airport to Everest in the Himalayas.
“This airport is an extremely important transportation point for all those who want to climb Everest. There is no other transport to Lukla at all – the alternative is a donkey or your own feet,” says Griffiths, revealing that it is not the case that the weather conditions are favorable for flying in the Himalayas all the time. “It’s like when the crew of the plane is given permission to fly, then everyone jumps on the plane and flies, because the window of favorable weather conditions may end.”
Justin admits that he was generally lucky with the weather conditions both during the flight and during the climb – the sun was shining all the time, which is not typical for Nepal in February.
Everest base camp – in 5 days
Interestingly, Justin Griffiths went to Everest in the off-season, which means that guide services were completely free. On reaching Lukla, Justin Griffiths found his guide who would accompany him on the way from Lukla to Everest Base Camp, 5364 meters above sea level, where Griffiths had decided to realize his goal.
There are several routes from Lukla to the Everest base camp – it is a very popular route among those who want to climb the mountains, besides, not everyone wants and not everyone can afford to do the last stage – from the Everest base camp to the top of the mountain.
The routes vary in difficulty and also the distance to cover from Lukla to Everest Base Camp. Griffiths chose a 7-day route that would allow him to reach his destination.
Talking about the climb itself, Griffiths honestly admits that he did not think it would be so difficult and complicated, and if he had to do it again, he would think twice about whether he wanted to experience the same difficulties. “I am quite athletic and initially I thought that climbing the Himalayas would not be a problem for me. I have also once climbed the highest mountain in Africa, Kilimanjaro, which seemed easy to me today. The Himalayas are much, much more difficult. I read that only about 50% of all those who start the journey to the Everest base camp reach their destination. Someone’s fitness fails, someone gets altitude sickness,” says Griffiths about the climb, “but it’s worth it when you see Everest. It is so majestic!”
He reveals that when climbing to the Everest base camp, in addition to physical exertion, the most emotionally difficult thing was that the road led up and down, because there are no straight paths to the destination in nature. “You climb 200 meters up, and then 100 meters down, then up again and down again. Its physical exertion is serious and sometimes you have to force yourself to continue the journey,” Griffiths tells about the walk.
During the trip, Griffith spent the night with a guide in local Nepali villages where, according to him, life still goes on as it did many hundreds of years ago. “They have their own speed of life up there in the mountains,” Griffiths says of what he saw.
Since he was the only climber in the guide group, the ascent to the Everest base camp went quite smoothly for both of them – within the planned 7 days, the destination was reached in five days.
Setting a record
After a sleepless night at Everest Base Camp, the morning came when Justin Griffiths was ready to realize his goal. “The nights are extremely cold up there in the mountains. At night, at Everest Base Camp, the temperature dropped to -15-20 degrees, and there was no real sleep,” says Griffiths, “in the morning, when I was finally ready to play golf, I was stiff and frozen.”
Griffiths had taken a golf club and only three golf balls from Riga to Everest. “That’s what I expected. As far as I hit, so will it be,” says Griffiths about his plan. The balls were orange to make them easier to spot in the snow.
After preparing a miniature stick, placing the orange ball on it, Griffiths made the first shot. “The cold weather had taken its toll, it’s harder to hit the ball in the cold,” recalls Griffiths. One by one, the three balls were hit and their distance was measured with a range finder. It turned out that the second shot was the most successful – the ball flew 276 meters. “This is definitely not my furthest and best shot, but given the harsh conditions and the cold, I’m satisfied,” Griffiths is happy about what he did.
Application for Guinness World Records
Having properly documented everything, Griffith sent what he had done to the Guinness World Records organization so that the record would be officially recognized and included in the prestigious Guinness Book of Records.
“There is no answer yet, obviously the record is properly evaluated before it is included in the record book, but I know for sure that no one before me has played golf in the Everest Base Camp and in the mountains at an altitude of 5364 meters,” Justin Griffiths is happy, “I think I am the first !”
Greetings to Latvia from the Hillary Bridge
After reaching the goal, the way down began, back to Lukla, which was already significantly easier, because in general you had to climb down, not up. “When we were climbing down with the guide, we met a couple of groups of tourists who, with red cheeks and panting, climbed up to the Everest base camp. Asked how far to climb to one point or another. I answered honestly and saw that my answer did not inspire enthusiasm in the people I met,” recalls Griffiths, “but, yes, that climb is not an easy one.”
Climbing down to Lukla, having reached the bridge named after the legendary mountaineer Edmund Hillary, Justin Griffiths also recorded a video greeting to Latvia.
It is more than 130 meters long bridge, decorated with the characteristic Nepalese fabrics of different colors. It is a cable-stayed bridge 125 meters above the gorge and often sways in strong winds. The bridge is the last to cross to reach the hillside town of Namche Bazaar, known as the ‘Gateway to Everest’.
Demonstrating the impressive gorge spanned by a rope bridge, Griffiths greets us all and encourages us, if the opportunity arises in life, to someday go to the Himalayas to attempt at least Everest Base Camp, which is more than an impressive adventure.