A Wichita Falls Man Is Now Home After Conquering Mount Everest

A Wichita Falls man has literally reached incredible new heights.

Kevin Brooks is an experienced hiker, and climber who lives in Wichita Falls. Last weekend, he arrived back in the Lone Star State after climbing up to the Mount Everest base camp. In March he starting embarking on a journey with his nephew Heath Lambeth, and two others to climb up to the mountain’s base camp.

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On March 23^rd, the group started in Kathmandu in Nepal. From there they took a helicopter ride to Lukla, where the journey began. Over the next eight days, the group would hike several miles, and climb thousands of feet. On March 31^st the group reached the base camp on Mount Everest, which sits on the Khumba Glacier, right at the foot of the Khumbu Icefalls.

Climbing up to the base camp is no easy challenge, and is not for the faint-hearted. In fact, the base camp is more than 17,000 feet above sea level, making it only 1,500 feet lower than Mount Kilimanjaro. By reaching the base camp, Brooks climbed a little more than 60% of the height of Mount Everest. It’s another 11,300 to reach the top of the mountain's peak which is at 29,029 feet.

After spending nine days in the mountains, Brooks and the others hopped on a helicopter back down the Khumba Glacier to Kathmandu. As they rode in the choppers, Brooks got to see all of the land that he had trekked over the last eight days.

Brooks arrived back in Texas just in time to celebrate Easter with his family. Now that he’s home again, he plans both spending time with his family, and releasing his own novel titled, “The Lost Gospel Of Barabbas”.

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