An Armenian man who has climbed Mount Everest is now set for a new super challenge ahead, according to The961.
Armenian who climbed Mt. Everest training to row boat from France to Lebanon
STEPANAKERT, MARCH 28, ARTSAKHPRESS: Ara Khatchadourian, 55, is training to row a boat from Marseille in France to Beirut, Lebanon.
The task would require him to cross 1,903 nautical miles (3,524 km) through the Mediterranean Sea.
Khatchadourian is a world-renowned athlete and mountaineer. He discovered his passion for mountain-climbing by chance when one of his friends challenged him to a trip to the Swiss Mont Blanc.
At that time, Khatchadourian had no mountaineering experience at all but was in great physical condition due to his regular marathon races. Nonetheless, he took up his friend's offer and embraced the challenge. After only three days of developing proper skills, Khatchadourian ascended the mountain.
That extreme experience got him to catch a whiff of the thrill. Since then, there has been nothing that could stop him.
In 2015, he commemorated the centennial of Armenian Genocide by climbing Mount Everest.
In 2018, Khatchadourian ran a tri-continent marathon from Marseille to Yerevan.
Born to Armenian parents in Beirut in 1964, Khatchadourian was forced to leave Lebanon during the Lebanese Civil War and take refuge in France at the age of 19.
Not one to forget his roots, however, Khatchadourian has become a motivational speaker in schools across France, Lebanon, and Armenia. He travels around, inspiring young people to conquer what they deem being unconquerable.
“I always tell people [that] everyone has their own Everest,” Khatchadourian says. “It could be summiting the tallest mountain in the world or getting the job you always wanted. It will take hard work and perseverance to conquer such things, but it is the greatest feeling in the world when you succeed and reach the summit of greatness. So I ask them, what is your Everest?”
