Rachel Smith, a medical doctor, aiming to become the first woman with diabetes to summit Mount Vinson in Antarctica
In this episode, we talk to Rachel Smith, a medical doctor, mountaineer, and all-round powerhouse aiming to become the first woman with type 1 diabetes to summit Mount Vinson in Antarctica, later this year.
We hear about the realities of managing diabetes at high altitude, what it was like to summit Kilimanjaro, Lobuche East and Aconcagua, her training and preparation to summit Mount Vinson, and how she’s supporting research to help find a cure for type 1 diabetes.
You might also like:
-
00:00:00 Chris Shirley, Website Developer, Digital Marketing Strategist and Brand Designer at Hiatus.Design (https://www.hiatus.design), website design and brand studio
And welcome to the Tales of Adventure podcast.
00:00:03 Rachel Smith, Doctor and Mountaineer at Type 1 Summit
Personality trait to to go after thing to.
00:00:05 Rachel Smith, Doctor and Mountaineer at Type 1 Summit
Not many people have.
00:00:07
Have done before because.
00:00:08 Rachel Smith, Doctor and Mountaineer at Type 1 Summit
In particular, is one of those places that always seems so far, so most type 1 diabetes is essentially immune condition, which means that my body doesn't produce formally called insulin.
00:00:19 Rachel Smith, Doctor and Mountaineer at Type 1 Summit
And my last big climb was Aconcagua, which was January last year. So see, I want people to kind of look in from your card and see that, you know, anything kind of is possible if you have the right.
00:00:31 Chris Shirley, Website Developer, Digital Marketing Strategist and Brand Designer at Hiatus.Design (https://www.hiatus.design), website design and brand studio
Hi, I'm Chris, your host every month. I'll be interviewing its boring adventures about overcoming hardship taking risk.
00:00:38 Speaker 3
And doing it differently.
00:00:39 Chris Shirley, Website Developer, Digital Marketing Strategist and Brand Designer at Hiatus.Design (https://www.hiatus.design), website design and brand studio
Podcast aims, document and learning. We've got these stand out individuals to where they.
00:00:43 Speaker 3
Are now.
00:00:44 Chris Shirley, Website Developer, Digital Marketing Strategist and Brand Designer at Hiatus.Design (https://www.hiatus.design), website design and brand studio
In this episode, we touched Rachel Smith, medical Doctor, Mountaineer, and around powerhouse, aiming to give the first win with Type 1 diabetes.
00:00:51 Chris Shirley, Website Developer, Digital Marketing Strategist and Brand Designer at Hiatus.Design (https://www.hiatus.design), website design and brand studio
Summit Mount Vincent, Antarctica. Later this year, we hear about the realities of managing diabetes at high altitude. We always like to Summit Kilimanjaro in the Bush east and Aconcagua training and preparation time at Mount Vincent. And how she's supporting research to help find a cure for type 1 diabetes.
00:01:10 Chris Shirley, Website Developer, Digital Marketing Strategist and Brand Designer at Hiatus.Design (https://www.hiatus.design), website design and brand studio
Hey, Rachel. Thanks so much for joining us on the Tales Adventure podcast. It's really great to have you on after all, about your incredible story. How's it? How's Melbourne treating?
00:01:17 Rachel Smith, Doctor and Mountaineer at Type 1 Summit
You today. Yeah. Yeah. Thank you so much for having me on. It's really, really exciting. Melbourne has been great today. It's been nice weather, which I'm sure was a bit of a change from from back home.
00:01:29 Rachel Smith, Doctor and Mountaineer at Type 1 Summit
But yeah, it's been a good thing. Good. I've had the day off, which has been nice.
00:01:33 Chris Shirley, Website Developer, Digital Marketing Strategist and Brand Designer at Hiatus.Design (https://www.hiatus.design), website design and brand studio
What's what's the temperature temperature around in Melbourne right now? It's.
00:01:37 Rachel Smith, Doctor and Mountaineer at Type 1 Summit
It is been it's been about 27° today and I think compare that to the to the UK, we're kind of at the end of October, end of autumn. So it's it's, it's quite nice but definitely a bit weird this year.
00:01:52 Chris Shirley, Website Developer, Digital Marketing Strategist and Brand Designer at Hiatus.Design (https://www.hiatus.design), website design and brand studio
In the in.
00:01:52 Chris Shirley, Website Developer, Digital Marketing Strategist and Brand Designer at Hiatus.Design (https://www.hiatus.design), website design and brand studio
The in the Baltics, that's pretty much.
00:01:55 Chris Shirley, Website Developer, Digital Marketing Strategist and Brand Designer at Hiatus.Design (https://www.hiatus.design), website design and brand studio
Yeah. So, so obviously you're you're kind of experiencing what we've got coming maybe about two or three months time. So it's yeah, it's.
00:02:00 Rachel Smith, Doctor and Mountaineer at Type 1 Summit
Essentially.
00:02:06 Chris Shirley, Website Developer, Digital Marketing Strategist and Brand Designer at Hiatus.Design (https://www.hiatus.design), website design and brand studio
But yeah, I'm gonna say thank you so much for giving up your time to kind of share more about.
00:02:09 Chris Shirley, Website Developer, Digital Marketing Strategist and Brand Designer at Hiatus.Design (https://www.hiatus.design), website design and brand studio
Your incredible expedition.
00:02:11 Chris Shirley, Website Developer, Digital Marketing Strategist and Brand Designer at Hiatus.Design (https://www.hiatus.design), website design and brand studio
When you obviously reached out about it, I was like this is this is absolutely incredible because I've kind of I've done like a little bit of kind of like.
00:02:21 Chris Shirley, Website Developer, Digital Marketing Strategist and Brand Designer at Hiatus.Design (https://www.hiatus.design), website design and brand studio
Biology study, medicine study and then obviously about expeditions and stuff. So when I've heard about your story, I was like.
00:02:26 Chris Shirley, Website Developer, Digital Marketing Strategist and Brand Designer at Hiatus.Design (https://www.hiatus.design), website design and brand studio
This is this is.
00:02:27 Rachel Smith, Doctor and Mountaineer at Type 1 Summit
Fantastic. Thank you so much.
00:02:29 Chris Shirley, Website Developer, Digital Marketing Strategist and Brand Designer at Hiatus.Design (https://www.hiatus.design), website design and brand studio
But.
00:02:30 Chris Shirley, Website Developer, Digital Marketing Strategist and Brand Designer at Hiatus.Design (https://www.hiatus.design), website design and brand studio
Yeah, to get to me the context, can you give us, can you speak an insight into what's drawing you to Antarctica and and mums, Vincent. And what does the expedition represent for you personally?
00:02:40 Rachel Smith, Doctor and Mountaineer at Type 1 Summit
Yeah. So I suppose Antarctica is one of those places that always seems so far so far fetched, almost so few. So few people have had the opportunity or the privilege to go, and I've always been incredibly fascinated, fascinated by.
00:02:56 Speaker 3
That.
00:02:57 Rachel Smith, Doctor and Mountaineer at Type 1 Summit
And I suppose that's probably one of the things that has definitely drawn me to both Antarctica and and Vincent. The fact that so few people have actually been undone it before. I do have a bit of personality trait to to go after things that not many people have.
00:03:11 Rachel Smith, Doctor and Mountaineer at Type 1 Summit
Have done before or or.
00:03:12 Rachel Smith, Doctor and Mountaineer at Type 1 Summit
Choose to do and and I I get a bit of a a thrill from that and like.
00:03:16 Rachel Smith, Doctor and Mountaineer at Type 1 Summit
The challenge that kind of comes with that side of things is.
00:03:19 Rachel Smith, Doctor and Mountaineer at Type 1 Summit
Well, I suppose what drew me to this kind of expedition climbing project this year, it's been it's been over a year, to be honest from when I've kind of first had.
00:03:29 Rachel Smith, Doctor and Mountaineer at Type 1 Summit
The idea to.
00:03:30 Rachel Smith, Doctor and Mountaineer at Type 1 Summit
To know my last big climb was Aconcagua, which was January last year, so about 14-15 months ago.
00:03:39 Rachel Smith, Doctor and Mountaineer at Type 1 Summit
I'm kind of for the first time a lot of friends and family were asking me when it, particularly when it came to the time about my diabetes and how I managed it and which I didn't really expect because it's really something I I cooked well with, but I keep.
00:03:52 Rachel Smith, Doctor and Mountaineer at Type 1 Summit
Personal and so I found that I was talking about it quite a lot and I was getting a lot of positive response and a lot of interest. And so that kind of sparked the idea of, you know, can I do something cool and go somewhere really unique and and also raise a bit of awareness for, you know, type 1 diabetes and not, you know, always perceive it.
00:03:54 Chris Shirley, Website Developer, Digital Marketing Strategist and Brand Designer at Hiatus.Design (https://www.hiatus.design), website design and brand studio
Yeah.
00:04:13 Rachel Smith, Doctor and Mountaineer at Type 1 Summit
In a negative light.
00:04:14 Rachel Smith, Doctor and Mountaineer at Type 1 Summit
And so for me, this challenge kind of represents that and I wanted to represent the the positive things that I've taken from having type 1 diabetes because you know it's not always negative and you know more resilient, determined person, you know as a as a result of that. And see I want people to kind of look in from the outside and say that, you know anything.
00:04:34 Rachel Smith, Doctor and Mountaineer at Type 1 Summit
Know it's possible if you have the right mindset.
00:04:37 Chris Shirley, Website Developer, Digital Marketing Strategist and Brand Designer at Hiatus.Design (https://www.hiatus.design), website design and brand studio
Yeah. And I guess in in some ways, if you compare it to, I can count you are, it's almost I guess that the next step up, isn't it not not physically height wise, but it's more remote, it's more, more extreme, more difficult to get there and it's obviously when you're that presents another level of kind of risk and challenge and and difficulty in the in in organising it, doesn't it?
00:04:53 Rachel Smith, Doctor and Mountaineer at Type 1 Summit
Yeah.
00:04:56 Rachel Smith, Doctor and Mountaineer at Type 1 Summit
Yeah, 100%. It's like, yeah, like you said, the altitude isn't as is is about 2000 metres less, but yeah, all those other challenges will be definitely a massive step up and something I'm gonna need to, you know, plan for more than I did from my last plan which which I like is kind of like a progression as well.
00:05:13 Chris Shirley, Website Developer, Digital Marketing Strategist and Brand Designer at Hiatus.Design (https://www.hiatus.design), website design and brand studio
Yeah, yeah, brilliant. Well, fantastic. I mean, so, so just kind of jumping back into the diabetes. You're diagnosed before your third birthday. How's growing up with the condition shape the way you approach around sneering, I guess, probably physical challenges are more of a general sense as well.
00:05:30 Rachel Smith, Doctor and Mountaineer at Type 1 Summit
Yeah, yeah. And just for for anyone doesn't doesn't really know what type of diabetes it might just break it down just ever so slightly and just have a bit more of an understanding. So type 1 diabetes is essentially an auto immune condition, which means that my body doesn't produce a hormone.
00:05:37 Speaker 3
Please please Sir.
00:05:46 Rachel Smith, Doctor and Mountaineer at Type 1 Summit
Insulin and and we all need insulin to, you know, use the glucose in our blood to, you know, have, you know, have energy. And so there's so many different things that you know can affect that from you know what food you eat, sleep, stress exercise and so yeah, it's kind of very changing dynamic condition to manage.
00:06:06 Rachel Smith, Doctor and Mountaineer at Type 1 Summit
And in terms of then applying that to challenges and to mountaineering and probably one of the biggest things that ship me is the.
00:06:16 Rachel Smith, Doctor and Mountaineer at Type 1 Summit
The fact that you have with type 1 diabetes, you have to almost problem solve ahead of time. Yeah. And and your brain is constantly working in the background to, you know, kind of think if I do this, then what's that gonna lead to? If that leads to that, then what's gonna lead to? So you're kind of constantly thinking and yeah, like I said, problem solving, you know, a good bit ahead of time. So we need.
00:06:36 Rachel Smith, Doctor and Mountaineer at Type 1 Summit
Transfer that to the mountains and you know bigger challenges. And I'm always thinking ahead to be like how can I mitigate this risk? How can I stay safe, you know, kind of planning for multiple eventualities. So when you get into these situations, you know, there's not much that I haven't thought of, which I do think is probably one of the main.
00:06:55 Rachel Smith, Doctor and Mountaineer at Type 1 Summit
Benefits from it and definitely shape my mindset towards, yeah, any kind of big challenge and ultimately it's helped me be successful and on the ones that I've that I've ones that I've done and and there is that element of you know when you do reach the top of a mountain, it feels that little bit sweeter knowing that you've had that kind of extra complexity on top of it, which I.
00:07:12 Speaker 3
Yes.
00:07:14 Rachel Smith, Doctor and Mountaineer at Type 1 Summit
Do quite like as well.
00:07:16 Chris Shirley, Website Developer, Digital Marketing Strategist and Brand Designer at Hiatus.Design (https://www.hiatus.design), website design and brand studio
Yeah, 100%. And and I think as well it's it's important. Obviously you'll be reluctant to mention this, but it's inspirational to other Type 1 diabetes and type 2 diabetes sufferers as well because it then it kind of expands their their perception of what is possible in terms of you know well I can do this on a on a.
00:07:36 Chris Shirley, Website Developer, Digital Marketing Strategist and Brand Designer at Hiatus.Design (https://www.hiatus.design), website design and brand studio
And a regular base and just have to put some more extra layer of complexity into thinking.
00:07:41 Chris Shirley, Website Developer, Digital Marketing Strategist and Brand Designer at Hiatus.Design (https://www.hiatus.design), website design and brand studio
What goes? What happens if this happens? Like there's an avalanche or this? This thing happens or we get we get an extra day or an extra weathered in for like a week on base camp or camp two or three, whatever. Then it's but it it can be tackled. So I think that's what's really. That's what's the what's really incredible about your story is that you're, you're like, well.
00:08:01 Chris Shirley, Website Developer, Digital Marketing Strategist and Brand Designer at Hiatus.Design (https://www.hiatus.design), website design and brand studio
We can we can tackle this. You just have to to work that a little bit harder at it so.
00:08:05 Rachel Smith, Doctor and Mountaineer at Type 1 Summit
Yeah. Yeah. And that that's kind of it. It's just that, yeah, shipping that mindset to solve it just to.
00:08:10 Rachel Smith, Doctor and Mountaineer at Type 1 Summit
Let yourself kind of think in in that way, and you know every problem has a solution is something I like to live by. So yeah, I just I find it quite transferable to the to the mountains for sure.
00:08:22 Chris Shirley, Website Developer, Digital Marketing Strategist and Brand Designer at Hiatus.Design (https://www.hiatus.design), website design and brand studio
100% yeah, but what about kind of physical challenges in general? Because obviously if you look at your?
00:08:27 Chris Shirley, Website Developer, Digital Marketing Strategist and Brand Designer at Hiatus.Design (https://www.hiatus.design), website design and brand studio
Your social media, your.
00:08:28 Chris Shirley, Website Developer, Digital Marketing Strategist and Brand Designer at Hiatus.Design (https://www.hiatus.design), website design and brand studio
You're obviously a like a, a fantastic runner and you do like high rocks challenges. I want to say, you know, how do you, how do you kind of?
00:08:42 Chris Shirley, Website Developer, Digital Marketing Strategist and Brand Designer at Hiatus.Design (https://www.hiatus.design), website design and brand studio
Do you tackle it in those everyday kind of physical challenges as well?
00:08:45 Speaker 3
So.
00:08:45 Rachel Smith, Doctor and Mountaineer at Type 1 Summit
Yeah, to be honest, it is.
00:08:47 Rachel Smith, Doctor and Mountaineer at Type 1 Summit
It is pretty similar.
00:08:48 Rachel Smith, Doctor and Mountaineer at Type 1 Summit
In, in the sense that every when I you know when I'm thinking about going for a run, going to the gym, you know doing a doing an event and you're just kind of asking yourself kind of all the same questions and again preparing for any any eventuality like what is my blood sugar at the minute.
00:09:06 Rachel Smith, Doctor and Mountaineer at Type 1 Summit
What is this type of exercise going to do to my blood sugar? Like weight based stuff tends to make it go up. Cardio stuff make tends to make it go down.
00:09:14 Rachel Smith, Doctor and Mountaineer at Type 1 Summit
If it go if blood sugars go low, do I have enough like sugar on me to to mitigate that? How's it going to affect the rest of my day? How am I going to feel and so a lot of it comes from trying to how tackle it is. Yeah, it's. But yeah, again preparing ahead of time and.
00:09:30 Rachel Smith, Doctor and Mountaineer at Type 1 Summit
And also just.
00:09:31 Rachel Smith, Doctor and Mountaineer at Type 1 Summit
Being I think being kind to yourself is also really important.
00:09:34 Rachel Smith, Doctor and Mountaineer at Type 1 Summit
At the end of the day, like you're just human, you're never going to get it perfect 100% of the time. And so I've like, over time, I've definitely learned that, you know, when it doesn't go so well, that it's not the end of the world and tomorrow's a new day. So I think probably one of the big things.
00:09:47
Yeah.
00:09:48 Chris Shirley, Website Developer, Digital Marketing Strategist and Brand Designer at Hiatus.Design (https://www.hiatus.design), website design and brand studio
Yeah, and and it's such it's such an important message as well, isn't being being kind to yourself is because it's it's really important to have that kind of really ambitious edge to to push yourself into to new levels and new territories and stuff. But I certainly found when I've when I've overcooked it too much, you know, being humbled, you know, especially in the mountains as well it's it's.
00:10:06 Chris Shirley, Website Developer, Digital Marketing Strategist and Brand Designer at Hiatus.Design (https://www.hiatus.design), website design and brand studio
You know, humbling and pretty.
00:10:07 Chris Shirley, Website Developer, Digital Marketing Strategist and Brand Designer at Hiatus.Design (https://www.hiatus.design), website design and brand studio
Probably providently is that you're like, why do I, when I make that decision, why do I take that risk? Yeah. So I'm. I'm. I'm totally in agreement with you on on that last one is is like you know giving yourself.
00:10:19
Like.
00:10:20 Chris Shirley, Website Developer, Digital Marketing Strategist and Brand Designer at Hiatus.Design (https://www.hiatus.design), website design and brand studio
You know, less pressure to kind of perform in that space.
00:10:23 Chris Shirley, Website Developer, Digital Marketing Strategist and Brand Designer at Hiatus.Design (https://www.hiatus.design), website design and brand studio
So.
00:10:23 Rachel Smith, Doctor and Mountaineer at Type 1 Summit
Yeah.
00:10:24 Chris Shirley, Website Developer, Digital Marketing Strategist and Brand Designer at Hiatus.Design (https://www.hiatus.design), website design and brand studio
Yeah. Brilliant stuff. I mean, it doesn't belong to my next question. So you were the first child in North Ireland to use an insulin pump in in the early 2000s and.
00:10:34 Chris Shirley, Website Developer, Digital Marketing Strategist and Brand Designer at Hiatus.Design (https://www.hiatus.design), website design and brand studio
I guess do you know what that shift meant for you? And and in your family and obviously, how open at those new possibilities?
00:10:40 Rachel Smith, Doctor and Mountaineer at Type 1 Summit
Yeah. So I was. I was diagnosed back in, in 2000, so it was just before my, my third birthday. So I have some big vague memories, but of the kind of off the back of all of the of this project and and speaking about everything a little bit more.
00:10:54 Rachel Smith, Doctor and Mountaineer at Type 1 Summit
Had a few more conversations with my parents about what it was actually like in in the early days, and it's fascinating to see how far everything has has come since then. And it was a year after my diagnosis that I was put on the insulin pump. So for that first year, I was on what's called a fixed.
00:11:14 Rachel Smith, Doctor and Mountaineer at Type 1 Summit
Daily injection regimen and which is a fixed amount of insulin for a fixed amount of food at certain times of the day.
00:11:23 Rachel Smith, Doctor and Mountaineer at Type 1 Summit
And so, you know, for a three-year old child who's starting school and going to parties, it's obviously an extremely restrictive lifestyle. Yeah. And other parents definitely talk about how they were definitely worried about how that restrictive lifestyle would influence me and all those kind of primitive primitive years, which is something I've.
00:11:42 Rachel Smith, Doctor and Mountaineer at Type 1 Summit
We really learned to appreciate kind of as I've gotten that bit, gotten that bit older.
00:11:47 Rachel Smith, Doctor and Mountaineer at Type 1 Summit
And it's interesting how the pump came home again on the pump actually came about. My dad absolutely loves, loves the golf, and they were watching one of the the famous golfers, Scott for Plank playing in. I'm gonna say the masters, but I'm not too sure. And he had he had an insulin pump so that.
00:12:07 Rachel Smith, Doctor and Mountaineer at Type 1 Summit
And it sparked them to do a bit of research, and they actually brought like and based on a lot of case studies, actually brought a case forward to the local hospital and to see if they would put me on the insulin pump and they breathe. And that's kind of how it it it came to light. And and yes, the pumps honestly changed, like has definitely changed my.
00:12:24 Rachel Smith, Doctor and Mountaineer at Type 1 Summit
Life and it offers a much more like flexible lifestyle. You know you can offer, you know, find your own mix of insulin, you can be more flexible with your insulin regime. And ultimate law makes like getting to sport from from an early age. And I don't really have any memories from when I was younger of my childhood being any different to anyone else's, which I suppose is the main goal when it comes.
00:12:44 Rachel Smith, Doctor and Mountaineer at Type 1 Summit
Some things like this. So yeah, yeah, 100% an absolute life changer. And I've now been on it for 24 years. And yeah, my, it's my norm.
00:12:45
Yes.
00:12:55 Chris Shirley, Website Developer, Digital Marketing Strategist and Brand Designer at Hiatus.Design (https://www.hiatus.design), website design and brand studio
Yeah, I mean it's it's, it's, it's fantastic because it's I guess it always came at the right time because I I guess you then you weren't then restricted by the the those daily injections and I guess it what it allowed you to was was kind of open up your your perspective more broadly in those formative years where you could say well I you know.
00:13:14 Chris Shirley, Website Developer, Digital Marketing Strategist and Brand Designer at Hiatus.Design (https://www.hiatus.design), website design and brand studio
I can't. There's nothing that I can't do now without.
00:13:17 Chris Shirley, Website Developer, Digital Marketing Strategist and Brand Designer at Hiatus.Design (https://www.hiatus.design), website design and brand studio
Bit of you know, prior planning. Yeah. So I I guess it's probably your your success now is almost as a as a result as partially as a result of those kind of early innovations. Yeah in it. So sorry it's not your your success now isn't entirely on it obviously it's it's slightly slightly.
00:13:36 Chris Shirley, Website Developer, Digital Marketing Strategist and Brand Designer at Hiatus.Design (https://www.hiatus.design), website design and brand studio
Influenced by her.
00:13:37 Rachel Smith, Doctor and Mountaineer at Type 1 Summit
Yes.
00:13:37 Chris Shirley, Website Developer, Digital Marketing Strategist and Brand Designer at Hiatus.Design (https://www.hiatus.design), website design and brand studio
There, there's wins. I guess in the early days, obviously you know the.
00:13:40 Chris Shirley, Website Developer, Digital Marketing Strategist and Brand Designer at Hiatus.Design (https://www.hiatus.design), website design and brand studio
The incredible hard.
00:13:41 Chris Shirley, Website Developer, Digital Marketing Strategist and Brand Designer at Hiatus.Design (https://www.hiatus.design), website design and brand studio
Working you've been doing on the mountains, obviously in medicine and you know, moving across the world.
00:13:46 Chris Shirley, Website Developer, Digital Marketing Strategist and Brand Designer at Hiatus.Design (https://www.hiatus.design), website design and brand studio
Is obviously you.
00:13:47 Chris Shirley, Website Developer, Digital Marketing Strategist and Brand Designer at Hiatus.Design (https://www.hiatus.design), website design and brand studio
Know an entirely huge part of that? So so I don't want to.
00:13:51 Chris Shirley, Website Developer, Digital Marketing Strategist and Brand Designer at Hiatus.Design (https://www.hiatus.design), website design and brand studio
Downplay any of it.
00:13:52
No.
00:13:54 Rachel Smith, Doctor and Mountaineer at Type 1 Summit
And but yeah, no, I do. I completely agree. And it's definitely being it definitely influenced like all these, you know, like I said, every single thing.
00:14:02 Rachel Smith, Doctor and Mountaineer at Type 1 Summit
Influence the next influences the next. Yeah, yeah, 100% is definitely contributed to what I'm doing today without I don't.
00:14:10
Yeah.
00:14:12 Chris Shirley, Website Developer, Digital Marketing Strategist and Brand Designer at Hiatus.Design (https://www.hiatus.design), website design and brand studio
Well, and thank you so much for sharing all this. This is obviously it really. It really helps paint the picture of the nuance of, you know, of your of your expeditions in your projects now. So I think people have got the context as to, you know, you're you're not, you're not working in like the same kind of the same difficulty you're working with extra limitations and difficulties there, a lot of other Mountaineers.
00:14:31 Chris Shirley, Website Developer, Digital Marketing Strategist and Brand Designer at Hiatus.Design (https://www.hiatus.design), website design and brand studio
You know? Yeah, it it's it's it makes it the story more. It's more fascinating.
00:14:37 Chris Shirley, Website Developer, Digital Marketing Strategist and Brand Designer at Hiatus.Design (https://www.hiatus.design), website design and brand studio
I mean, I guess it gets into the question of kind of like I don't know how high altitude influence people differently. Does it have any tangible difference on your blood sugar levels and and the kind of adjustments you've got to make on exhibitions? I I you know the. OK, go away. You're moving towards a a much lower oxygen.
00:14:56 Chris Shirley, Website Developer, Digital Marketing Strategist and Brand Designer at Hiatus.Design (https://www.hiatus.design), website design and brand studio
Saturation of the the atmosphere around you. I think I'm I guess.
00:15:00
You.
00:15:00 Chris Shirley, Website Developer, Digital Marketing Strategist and Brand Designer at Hiatus.Design (https://www.hiatus.design), website design and brand studio
Is it 30% less on Aconcagua summit at at at a broad guess I'd, I'd say.
00:15:06 Rachel Smith, Doctor and Mountaineer at Type 1 Summit
Yeah, fortier.
00:15:06 Chris Shirley, Website Developer, Digital Marketing Strategist and Brand Designer at Hiatus.Design (https://www.hiatus.design), website design and brand studio
Does that include different blood sugar levels?
00:15:08 Rachel Smith, Doctor and Mountaineer at Type 1 Summit
And yeah, it does, and I've this is probably one of the questions I have got asked the most over the last couple.
00:15:15 Rachel Smith, Doctor and Mountaineer at Type 1 Summit
Of years and.
00:15:16 Rachel Smith, Doctor and Mountaineer at Type 1 Summit
Also, probably simultaneously one of the one of the ones that I actually find really difficult to.
00:15:21 Rachel Smith, Doctor and Mountaineer at Type 1 Summit
Sir, I think because diabetes is so multifactorial and like, like I said, there's so many things that influence it day-to-day. And so when even when you go from your day-to-day life to then being on a three-week expedition, you know, so many things look different in the mountains from what you're eating to sleep to everything else. So altitude is one of many.
00:15:42 Rachel Smith, Doctor and Mountaineer at Type 1 Summit
Factors that can kind of play into how the how sugars, high blood sugars react, and so it's very hard to isolate, say like just aptitude is causing a certain outcome.
00:15:53 Rachel Smith, Doctor and Mountaineer at Type 1 Summit
And yeah, but I have, so I definitely thought about a lot. There definitely has been some general general trends that I've noticed over the last kind of few big clients that have done that at the lower altitudes, especially when you're kind of doing multiple back-to-back days and the oxygen saturation isn't as low I.
00:16:12 Rachel Smith, Doctor and Mountaineer at Type 1 Summit
Mind that my body becomes a little bit more insulin sensitive and what that means is you need need less insulin for set amount of sent amount of.
00:16:20 Rachel Smith, Doctor and Mountaineer at Type 1 Summit
Hybrids and which can predispose to, to hypoglycemia. And so again on the Martins is just kind of that constant adaptability trying to eat similar things everyday and and also it's a it's a good bit safer obviously you know less risk of frostbite and harsh winds. So you can take my, I can take my phone out and check my blood levels.
00:16:41 Rachel Smith, Doctor and Mountaineer at Type 1 Summit
A lot easier than I can at the at the higher altitude and make those changes.
00:16:46 Rachel Smith, Doctor and Mountaineer at Type 1 Summit
On on kind of when you're when I on the flip side when I approach like 5006 thousand metres plus and you know the oxygen levels get noticeably a little bit less and inevitably put that bit of extra stress on the body and and cause the release of the more adrenaline, more cortisol. I do find that.
00:17:06 Rachel Smith, Doctor and Mountaineer at Type 1 Summit
Things just tend to to creep up a little bit more, kind of as a stress response in those situations, especially on like the the kind of the summit.
00:17:17 Rachel Smith, Doctor and Mountaineer at Type 1 Summit
That is not something that is, I don't think all that bad. I actually would prefer them to be that little bit higher because like low blood sugar, hypoglycemia is definitely more dangerous and wins in general, but especially especially as.
00:17:31 Rachel Smith, Doctor and Mountaineer at Type 1 Summit
You get higher.
00:17:31 Rachel Smith, Doctor and Mountaineer at Type 1 Summit
Up. And so letting them a little bit higher is something that I actually don't really.
00:17:35 Rachel Smith, Doctor and Mountaineer at Type 1 Summit
Don't really mind doing too much, but yeah, in terms of how I how I cope with it, it's just it's that constant being able to check in adapt, make little changes every every day and yeah, it comes back to if something doesn't work you.
00:17:50 Rachel Smith, Doctor and Mountaineer at Type 1 Summit
Know you try again tomorrow.
00:17:52 Chris Shirley, Website Developer, Digital Marketing Strategist and Brand Designer at Hiatus.Design (https://www.hiatus.design), website design and brand studio
Yeah, yeah, we have the complete antithesis to summit fever and which I think is is is actually brilliant. But I thinking as well as it also makes you into like a really small.
00:18:02 Chris Shirley, Website Developer, Digital Marketing Strategist and Brand Designer at Hiatus.Design (https://www.hiatus.design), website design and brand studio
Select Group of.
00:18:03 Chris Shirley, Website Developer, Digital Marketing Strategist and Brand Designer at Hiatus.Design (https://www.hiatus.design), website design and brand studio
You know of people who actually can contribute to to things like space medicine in the future. You know, where you where you're thinking about the remoteness and the the impacts of obviously.
00:18:12 Chris Shirley, Website Developer, Digital Marketing Strategist and Brand Designer at Hiatus.Design (https://www.hiatus.design), website design and brand studio
My altitude restricted diet.
00:18:16 Chris Shirley, Website Developer, Digital Marketing Strategist and Brand Designer at Hiatus.Design (https://www.hiatus.design), website design and brand studio
You know, prolonged cold, that sort of stuff and and how it affects the body and then but then also for kind of like much longer space travel, which is kind of something that's obviously we see we're hearing more about in in general media in the next kind of like 20 years as mission to Mars going from the US and China and stuff. So and I think it it it's really it's it's absolutely fascinating when you think about how this sort of stuff now.
00:18:31
Yeah.
00:18:37 Chris Shirley, Website Developer, Digital Marketing Strategist and Brand Designer at Hiatus.Design (https://www.hiatus.design), website design and brand studio
How it translates into kind of other industries. And so I mean, it's great, it's a great privilege for us to be building the website at the moment, but I can't wait to to check back in on it and like.
00:18:45 Rachel Smith, Doctor and Mountaineer at Type 1 Summit
Yes.
00:18:47 Chris Shirley, Website Developer, Digital Marketing Strategist and Brand Designer at Hiatus.Design (https://www.hiatus.design), website design and brand studio
Kind of read.
00:18:48 Chris Shirley, Website Developer, Digital Marketing Strategist and Brand Designer at Hiatus.Design (https://www.hiatus.design), website design and brand studio
All the you know, all the all the downvotes. Unless you know the the things which you which you which you experience in these kind of places and.
00:18:54 Chris Shirley, Website Developer, Digital Marketing Strategist and Brand Designer at Hiatus.Design (https://www.hiatus.design), website design and brand studio
And then see, you know, connect up and we we do projects with kind of all kind of companies but you know connecting up space companies you know with with yourself would just be like an absolute like a a real win for us. So yeah, it's good.
00:19:08 Rachel Smith, Doctor and Mountaineer at Type 1 Summit
No, very exciting.
00:19:09 Rachel Smith, Doctor and Mountaineer at Type 1 Summit
Time to be to be in the industry for sure.
00:19:13 Chris Shirley, Website Developer, Digital Marketing Strategist and Brand Designer at Hiatus.Design (https://www.hiatus.design), website design and brand studio
So please get into my next question. Like what would go into the planning of like a client like Vincent from a diabetes management perspective? I mean, what can you give us talk talk us through that?
00:19:25 Rachel Smith, Doctor and Mountaineer at Type 1 Summit
Yeah, yeah, there is. There is multiple kind of points to it. So I'll just kind of break it down and probably the the main one of the main things is supplies and backups of absolutely everything back up insulin pump, backup insulin pens back up you know.
00:19:32
Yeah.
00:19:45 Rachel Smith, Doctor and Mountaineer at Type 1 Summit
Conditions that changes and I'm making sure that I have enough to store that equipment and that even some of the.
00:19:54 Rachel Smith, Doctor and Mountaineer at Type 1 Summit
Kitchen at different points on the climb. So last year I stored some stuff and base camp and then even some stuff and camp one and then brought a lot of stuff with me and just just.
00:20:05 Rachel Smith, Doctor and Mountaineer at Type 1 Summit
In case.
00:20:09 Rachel Smith, Doctor and Mountaineer at Type 1 Summit
Have to forward plan quite a bit and I kind of think of, you know, what does a certain challenge like what, what are the biggest risks to type 1 diabetes that that it poses obviously with the the cold and the harsh environment of Antarctica and that's you know insulin.
00:20:28 Rachel Smith, Doctor and Mountaineer at Type 1 Summit
It eventually freezes. It becomes essentially infect.
00:20:30 Rachel Smith, Doctor and Mountaineer at Type 1 Summit
Active and so ensuring that insulin doesn't freeze will be one of the biggest things I'll be planning for ahead of time. How I've done that previously is again splitting up my supply into multiple different multiple different containers and I use temperature cooling packs or kind of cases.
00:20:31
Yeah.
00:20:50 Rachel Smith, Doctor and Mountaineer at Type 1 Summit
They keep they keep the insulin within a like it's kind of a tight, tighter temperature range to what it freezing or even becoming too hot. And then just things like making sure it's stored in jackets and sleeping bags at night. So plan and dipping it up also between teams is a is the team members is a.
00:21:06 Rachel Smith, Doctor and Mountaineer at Type 1 Summit
Big thing as well.
00:21:08 Rachel Smith, Doctor and Mountaineer at Type 1 Summit
And educating team members ahead of time, let them know like what type of diabetes is, what like signs and symptoms to to look out for and. And like I said, also in some cases giving them some of my Internet as well just to kind of store store as a backup training is also.
00:21:28 Rachel Smith, Doctor and Mountaineer at Type 1 Summit
It's also quite a big one because getting used to how your body or my body training like you know, adapts.
00:21:32 Rachel Smith, Doctor and Mountaineer at Type 1 Summit
And copes with.
00:21:33 Rachel Smith, Doctor and Mountaineer at Type 1 Summit
Exercise, especially as I.
00:21:35 Rachel Smith, Doctor and Mountaineer at Type 1 Summit
Build up the intensity over the next over the next few months how your body copes on here does translate to how it's going to cope up there. Yeah, to next to an extent as well. And so being very in tune and very familiar with how my body is kind of.
00:21:48 Rachel Smith, Doctor and Mountaineer at Type 1 Summit
Dealing with that, the best of the time. It's good. Yeah, it's just trusting the body and as well. Yeah, there's a. There's probably some of some of the main things that that are coming to mind at the minute.
00:22:01 Chris Shirley, Website Developer, Digital Marketing Strategist and Brand Designer at Hiatus.Design (https://www.hiatus.design), website design and brand studio
Yeah, it's it's interesting because they're not comparing it to kind of media production, but so we've been out on on mountains and cold places with media teams and essentially batch battery management is one of the hardest things cause if you move a battery like a camera battery out exposed, it will drain it within you know like 10 minutes or so and so.
00:22:21 Chris Shirley, Website Developer, Digital Marketing Strategist and Brand Designer at Hiatus.Design (https://www.hiatus.design), website design and brand studio
And I obviously appreciate we're not talking about camera batteries, but there's a very similar approach to imagine to to managing camera batteries and you keep them close to your close your body temperature, so they freeze and then that way you prolong the.
00:22:34 Chris Shirley, Website Developer, Digital Marketing Strategist and Brand Designer at Hiatus.Design (https://www.hiatus.design), website design and brand studio
Their their life for for when you're later onto the expedition, you obviously want to shoot those really incredible scenes. So yeah, it's.
00:22:41 Chris Shirley, Website Developer, Digital Marketing Strategist and Brand Designer at Hiatus.Design (https://www.hiatus.design), website design and brand studio
It sounds like there's some real kind of similarity between kind of media production here and and the same.
00:22:46 Chris Shirley, Website Developer, Digital Marketing Strategist and Brand Designer at Hiatus.Design (https://www.hiatus.design), website design and brand studio
Sort of thing.
00:22:47 Rachel Smith, Doctor and Mountaineer at Type 1 Summit
Yeah, yeah.
00:22:47 Chris Shirley, Website Developer, Digital Marketing Strategist and Brand Designer at Hiatus.Design (https://www.hiatus.design), website design and brand studio
The same thing.
00:22:50 Chris Shirley, Website Developer, Digital Marketing Strategist and Brand Designer at Hiatus.Design (https://www.hiatus.design), website design and brand studio
And again like I can come back to it when it massively inspiring because it's it's then also getting this kind of knowledge out to other people who can then kind of open up their perspective for for doing in the future as well.
00:23:02 Chris Shirley, Website Developer, Digital Marketing Strategist and Brand Designer at Hiatus.Design (https://www.hiatus.design), website design and brand studio
So.
00:23:03 Rachel Smith, Doctor and Mountaineer at Type 1 Summit
Yeah, I think that's a big thing. They're definitely.
00:23:05 Rachel Smith, Doctor and Mountaineer at Type 1 Summit
A big thing.
00:23:05 Rachel Smith, Doctor and Mountaineer at Type 1 Summit
Because I think there's generally, it's hard to.
00:23:10 Rachel Smith, Doctor and Mountaineer at Type 1 Summit
It's such an invisible illness or what do you call it unless it's it's an invisible condition and that you know you walk around it and and no one would really know kind.
00:23:19 Rachel Smith, Doctor and Mountaineer at Type 1 Summit
Of.
00:23:20 Rachel Smith, Doctor and Mountaineer at Type 1 Summit
That you have it or like maybe that you're struggling with it on certain on certain days. So again, just getting getting a bit more speaking out about it and getting a little bit more.
00:23:29 Rachel Smith, Doctor and Mountaineer at Type 1 Summit
Awareness for it is also something I want to achieve from from this expedition for sure.
00:23:35 Chris Shirley, Website Developer, Digital Marketing Strategist and Brand Designer at Hiatus.Design (https://www.hiatus.design), website design and brand studio
Yeah, 100% obviously engineering is all about teamwork, isn't it? You know, you, when you when you, when you, when you climb, you don't climb as individual, you climb as part of the you know as part at least of a two person rope team if not you know kind of three or four. So it's in everyone's interest to understand how to how to manage it and then obviously what the the unique needs for.
00:23:48 Speaker 3
Yes.
00:23:55 Chris Shirley, Website Developer, Digital Marketing Strategist and Brand Designer at Hiatus.Design (https://www.hiatus.design), website design and brand studio
So yeah, you know it's it's, it's really troubling, I guess is by the the the quick way of of saying but yeah.
00:23:57 Rachel Smith, Doctor and Mountaineer at Type 1 Summit
Absolutely.
00:24:04 Rachel Smith, Doctor and Mountaineer at Type 1 Summit
Yeah. No, absolutely, absolutely.
00:24:04
OK.
00:24:06 Chris Shirley, Website Developer, Digital Marketing Strategist and Brand Designer at Hiatus.Design (https://www.hiatus.design), website design and brand studio
Great stuff. Well, I mean, you're you're looking at your planning resume it. It is incredible. Like you've done Kilimanjaro in the Bush East Aconcagua and part of my pronunciation costumes. Are you good enough? Good enough which?
00:24:27 Chris Shirley, Website Developer, Digital Marketing Strategist and Brand Designer at Hiatus.Design (https://www.hiatus.design), website design and brand studio
Which one tells you the most of?
00:24:28 Rachel Smith, Doctor and Mountaineer at Type 1 Summit
Mine and they've they definitely presented their own challenges for for a variety of of reasons.
00:24:35 Rachel Smith, Doctor and Mountaineer at Type 1 Summit
And and, but I'd say the clear answer probably has to be equal cargo and and for for a, for a number of reasons. And it was. It's the longest expedition I've done. And and also well, it's also been it's also the highest altitude just below 7000 metres. And so I think it was my first.
00:24:56 Rachel Smith, Doctor and Mountaineer at Type 1 Summit
Proper experience of what a of what you know and altitude sickness kind of felt like. And the headaches, the, the nausea, the not wanting to eat, few vomits here and there.
00:25:08 Rachel Smith, Doctor and Mountaineer at Type 1 Summit
So having to cope with that and kind of add that as an additional thing to to deal with as you're also you know physically and mentally preparing to to some of the.
00:25:17 Rachel Smith, Doctor and Mountaineer at Type 1 Summit
Mount and was was.
00:25:18 Rachel Smith, Doctor and Mountaineer at Type 1 Summit
Tough.
00:25:18 Rachel Smith, Doctor and Mountaineer at Type 1 Summit
But something that you kind of just kind of go on with cause most people.
00:25:22 Rachel Smith, Doctor and Mountaineer at Type 1 Summit
Experience to an extent.
00:25:26 Rachel Smith, Doctor and Mountaineer at Type 1 Summit
I had actually from a diabetes point of view. I had actually had a insulin pump failure about one week into the.
00:25:32 Rachel Smith, Doctor and Mountaineer at Type 1 Summit
Expedition and which through me, because that's never. That's never happened before. And although I, like I said, I had the like.
00:25:40 Rachel Smith, Doctor and Mountaineer at Type 1 Summit
You know I.
00:25:40 Rachel Smith, Doctor and Mountaineer at Type 1 Summit
Had the backup so like physically or, you know, equipment wise it wasn't an issue, but it definitely knocked me mentally aside for for a couple of days cause kind of a bit of a bit of.
00:25:51 Rachel Smith, Doctor and Mountaineer at Type 1 Summit
A reality check.
00:25:52 Rachel Smith, Doctor and Mountaineer at Type 1 Summit
And and, you know, had to kind of work a little bit harder to, you know kind of deal with that for those couple days then you know bring bring myself back to be able to focus on the focus on the summit and but it it was it was that fine in the end.
00:26:06 Rachel Smith, Doctor and Mountaineer at Type 1 Summit
And then also the summer night itself ended up in, I think 21 hours left, Camp 3 around 11:00 PM, somebody about 12 hours later and then the team made the decision to just go straight back down to to base camp. So we went on in about 3000 metres, so.
00:26:25 Rachel Smith, Doctor and Mountaineer at Type 1 Summit
Will be like 2021 or day.
00:26:29 Rachel Smith, Doctor and Mountaineer at Type 1 Summit
Which was which was, which was insane. And definitely on reflection, quite crazy. But glad we did it and then got back down to Mendoza in Argentina and I flew to the other side of the world to.
00:26:43 Rachel Smith, Doctor and Mountaineer at Type 1 Summit
Start a job and so.
00:26:48
I don't make it.
00:26:48 Speaker 3
Easy for that. Happy. That's that's. Yeah, that that's that's that's great. That's that's how it works.
00:26:58 Speaker 3
I mean, yeah, that's.
00:27:00 Chris Shirley, Website Developer, Digital Marketing Strategist and Brand Designer at Hiatus.Design (https://www.hiatus.design), website design and brand studio
Have they have the the insulin?
00:27:01 Chris Shirley, Website Developer, Digital Marketing Strategist and Brand Designer at Hiatus.Design (https://www.hiatus.design), website design and brand studio
Pump failure, you know, is a.
00:27:03 Chris Shirley, Website Developer, Digital Marketing Strategist and Brand Designer at Hiatus.Design (https://www.hiatus.design), website design and brand studio
He you know, I think it would. It would knock anyone, you know, because it's your lifeline. But I'm just going to kind of bring out another point there and kind of acute mountain sickness. If you. If people haven't experienced it. I I've got it. I've had it once on the side of a mountain in Co Vistan, where it it literally just came on complete unexpected. I've done.
00:27:23 Chris Shirley, Website Developer, Digital Marketing Strategist and Brand Designer at Hiatus.Design (https://www.hiatus.design), website design and brand studio
I've done, you know, kind of a firm afternoon kind of before this and this is on this is about 4000 metres on the side of England peak in the central, in central Kurdistan and it just it just came on without any warning and kind of.
00:27:34 Chris Shirley, Website Developer, Digital Marketing Strategist and Brand Designer at Hiatus.Design (https://www.hiatus.design), website design and brand studio
Woke.
00:27:35 Chris Shirley, Website Developer, Digital Marketing Strategist and Brand Designer at Hiatus.Design (https://www.hiatus.design), website design and brand studio
Up on another night.
00:27:36 Chris Shirley, Website Developer, Digital Marketing Strategist and Brand Designer at Hiatus.Design (https://www.hiatus.design), website design and brand studio
Like and just vomited everything.
00:27:38 Chris Shirley, Website Developer, Digital Marketing Strategist and Brand Designer at Hiatus.Design (https://www.hiatus.design), website design and brand studio
But you know, obviously if you if you then combine that with with type 1 diabetes it it's an extra level of complexity to manage, isn't it because it's like you've obviously been far off your blood sugar levels. And then if it keeps you know.
00:27:46 Speaker 3
Yes.
00:27:51 Chris Shirley, Website Developer, Digital Marketing Strategist and Brand Designer at Hiatus.Design (https://www.hiatus.design), website design and brand studio
If you don't recover.
00:27:51 Chris Shirley, Website Developer, Digital Marketing Strategist and Brand Designer at Hiatus.Design (https://www.hiatus.design), website design and brand studio
From AMS very quickly which which can also happen as well is that can then throw off a lot of things into kill to say or just.
00:27:58 Chris Shirley, Website Developer, Digital Marketing Strategist and Brand Designer at Hiatus.Design (https://www.hiatus.design), website design and brand studio
You use that as a an example to kind of bring out the complexity of the of what you're what you're battling against as well, like up against so.
00:28:06 Rachel Smith, Doctor and Mountaineer at Type 1 Summit
Yeah, that was definitely. That was definitely a big thing on the on on only on the summit night, but it definitely added, yeah, again, an extra layer of of complexity because you're kind of dealing with the.
00:28:17 Rachel Smith, Doctor and Mountaineer at Type 1 Summit
The hypoxia, the low oxygen levels and really, really feel the effects of that. You got a bit of a headache and then a couple of omits and having to manage food intake and insulin dosing on on the side of that, so it.
00:28:29 Rachel Smith, Doctor and Mountaineer at Type 1 Summit
Definitely.
00:28:30 Rachel Smith, Doctor and Mountaineer at Type 1 Summit
Was very but was very challenging and but I made it in the end thankfully.
00:28:37 Chris Shirley, Website Developer, Digital Marketing Strategist and Brand Designer at Hiatus.Design (https://www.hiatus.design), website design and brand studio
That that's. You know, I'm so glad we record this podcast and bring out this lovely complexity because I guess some people want to look at it and go, Oh yeah, it's just it's just.
00:28:45 Chris Shirley, Website Developer, Digital Marketing Strategist and Brand Designer at Hiatus.Design (https://www.hiatus.design), website design and brand studio
Yeah, up and down. There's, you know, see some people that. Yeah. Incredible. And it does give me to my next question. So obviously your doctor and and you're gonna be a part time to help fund the the Vincent Expedition.
00:28:48 Rachel Smith, Doctor and Mountaineer at Type 1 Summit
Yeah.
00:29:00 Chris Shirley, Website Developer, Digital Marketing Strategist and Brand Designer at Hiatus.Design (https://www.hiatus.design), website design and brand studio
I guess how how are you balancing all the training? Like funding the expedition, the, the, You know, recovery, they're getting out there?
00:29:08 Chris Shirley, Website Developer, Digital Marketing Strategist and Brand Designer at Hiatus.Design (https://www.hiatus.design), website design and brand studio
How? How are you? How you doing that? And it it's it seems incredible.
00:29:14 Rachel Smith, Doctor and Mountaineer at Type 1 Summit
Yeah. So I.
00:29:15 Rachel Smith, Doctor and Mountaineer at Type 1 Summit
Decided around the end of last year, so like October, November 2024 that in order to actually make something this big a success and you know do it to the best of my ability and.
00:29:28 Rachel Smith, Doctor and Mountaineer at Type 1 Summit
I was just gonna have to. I was gonna have to to cut down my horse. You know, medicine is. I love it. I absolutely do love working as a doctor, but it's an incredibly demanding, demanding job. And there's no way I'd be able to work a full time roster and also be able to give the time and energy that I need to this this year.
00:29:42 Rachel Smith, Doctor and Mountaineer at Type 1 Summit
So yeah, that was a decision I made. It made a few months ago, which I'm glad I'm glad I have with with that extra time I'm I'm you know, often in my training training 5-6 days a week at the minute I'm putting a lot of you know effort into working on the project trying to get some funds to.
00:30:03 Rachel Smith, Doctor and Mountaineer at Type 1 Summit
Whether I'm looking for some sponsors this year as well, so a lot of time and efforts going into to that that as well and then any downtime I have which is not too often these days and trying to recover it and and switch it off but wouldn't happen any other way.
00:30:23 Chris Shirley, Website Developer, Digital Marketing Strategist and Brand Designer at Hiatus.Design (https://www.hiatus.design), website design and brand studio
Looking at social media, you can see just how many like plates are spinning. Obviously with the expedition obviously work with training for it, managing the condition well, I think Kevin.
00:30:33 Chris Shirley, Website Developer, Digital Marketing Strategist and Brand Designer at Hiatus.Design (https://www.hiatus.design), website design and brand studio
You know it it it's one of those projects. That's it. It's so good. I mean, it's such a unique story. I mean, I I I kind of think back to my days in the BBC and I know that the the documentary teams in Natural History in this and all the you know, minus nights for example, if you're in touch a few times about getting kind of inspirational stories. So I'm never gonna push your story towards the end because I think it's something which I.
00:30:55 Chris Shirley, Website Developer, Digital Marketing Strategist and Brand Designer at Hiatus.Design (https://www.hiatus.design), website design and brand studio
I'd love to.
00:30:56 Chris Shirley, Website Developer, Digital Marketing Strategist and Brand Designer at Hiatus.Design (https://www.hiatus.design), website design and brand studio
See, you know, across BBC National News, but newspapers, BBC World Service and and stuff like that. But I guess you'll you'll be documenting your journey on your websites and for your social media. And I guess it's what what's how? How's that? How's that? How's that gonna work in terms of you?
00:31:16 Chris Shirley, Website Developer, Digital Marketing Strategist and Brand Designer at Hiatus.Design (https://www.hiatus.design), website design and brand studio
You you write about it on your blog, you.
00:31:19 Chris Shirley, Website Developer, Digital Marketing Strategist and Brand Designer at Hiatus.Design (https://www.hiatus.design), website design and brand studio
The posting updates on social media. What's how's that? How's that going to work?
00:31:24 Rachel Smith, Doctor and Mountaineer at Type 1 Summit
Yeah, so I've put quite a bit of effort over the last few months into getting the social media and website, which are kindly designing all all together and to kind of get get to this point. And I'm working with a a videographer in Melbourne who's been incredible and putting some very good stuff.
00:31:43 Rachel Smith, Doctor and Mountaineer at Type 1 Summit
Together. And so, yeah, sharing stuff on, on social media across a variety of of platforms and updating people with the blog. And yeah, keeping the websites up-to-date, we'll, you know, be a huge part of of.
00:31:57 Rachel Smith, Doctor and Mountaineer at Type 1 Summit
My time and documenting the expedition and training this year, which is exciting, which I I I enjoy that, yeah.
00:32:06 Chris Shirley, Website Developer, Digital Marketing Strategist and Brand Designer at Hiatus.Design (https://www.hiatus.design), website design and brand studio
Well, there's, there's you're. You're getting ready for our expedition. It feels like it feels like a a full time job on top of a a job as well.
00:32:14 Chris Shirley, Website Developer, Digital Marketing Strategist and Brand Designer at Hiatus.Design (https://www.hiatus.design), website design and brand studio
Yeah, like a whole. Like he's got the big time out from like, places that doesn't really exist. But yeah, I was gonna. I was gonna say was I I think you're yours. You've got your incredible story is something which I think a lot of organisations and and companies should get behind and we want to get behind because I I I think it will.
00:32:34 Chris Shirley, Website Developer, Digital Marketing Strategist and Brand Designer at Hiatus.Design (https://www.hiatus.design), website design and brand studio
The incredibly newsworthy because it it's it's such a a complex and nuanced story, which you're you're really pushing to get out into the world. So you know, I'm so glad that we're we're kind of working together on this and helping, helping with that. And I'm I'm going to literally just bombast all this kind of all this. All these these videos and.
00:32:39
Hey.
00:32:55 Chris Shirley, Website Developer, Digital Marketing Strategist and Brand Designer at Hiatus.Design (https://www.hiatus.design), website design and brand studio
Out to my network as much as possible and and yeah, but you know, to your your video phone you made that really cool video few days ago.
00:33:01 Chris Shirley, Website Developer, Digital Marketing Strategist and Brand Designer at Hiatus.Design (https://www.hiatus.design), website design and brand studio
Which is. Yeah, that.
00:33:03 Rachel Smith, Doctor and Mountaineer at Type 1 Summit
It is.
00:33:04 Chris Shirley, Website Developer, Digital Marketing Strategist and Brand Designer at Hiatus.Design (https://www.hiatus.design), website design and brand studio
I I I take my hat off for that to wait for you.
00:33:08 Rachel Smith, Doctor and Mountaineer at Type 1 Summit
Yeah, like thank you so much. And and I I think a big a big thing for me when I've kind of been you know getting getting all you guys on board and has been that feeling of getting a bit of a team and that is you know people kind of believe in what I'm doing and.
00:33:24 Rachel Smith, Doctor and Mountaineer at Type 1 Summit
Gonna get behind it, which I do not take for granted at all has been so, so nice. And it's so appreciated. So it really does. It goes a long way.
00:33:32 Chris Shirley, Website Developer, Digital Marketing Strategist and Brand Designer at Hiatus.Design (https://www.hiatus.design), website design and brand studio
Yeah, 900 and I like to. I like to think of this as like a like an F1 pit team. You know, when like, you're out there racing and like, like, I mean, and you think about the, you know, like going first, like, being, you know, getting out there in front of everyone else and then you like, roll into the pit stop and, you know, we'll just come along there, you know, just put, we'll put.
00:33:49 Rachel Smith, Doctor and Mountaineer at Type 1 Summit
I like that analogy.
00:33:52 Chris Shirley, Website Developer, Digital Marketing Strategist and Brand Designer at Hiatus.Design (https://www.hiatus.design), website design and brand studio
You know that's what's it like to fall for it or I guess I guess obviously you obviously busy things. I'll just, I'll just fire for the last few questions.
00:33:57 Rachel Smith, Doctor and Mountaineer at Type 1 Summit
Yeah.
00:34:01 Rachel Smith, Doctor and Mountaineer at Type 1 Summit
I think it works fine. It feels.
00:34:02 Rachel Smith, Doctor and Mountaineer at Type 1 Summit
Nice.
00:34:11 Chris Shirley, Website Developer, Digital Marketing Strategist and Brand Designer at Hiatus.Design (https://www.hiatus.design), website design and brand studio
So I can let you go.
00:34:12 Chris Shirley, Website Developer, Digital Marketing Strategist and Brand Designer at Hiatus.Design (https://www.hiatus.design), website design and brand studio
On, I guess what do?
00:34:14 Chris Shirley, Website Developer, Digital Marketing Strategist and Brand Designer at Hiatus.Design (https://www.hiatus.design), website design and brand studio
You say to other people with kind of similar similar conditions who are who are doing big but holding themselves back. What? You know what? What we would mind shift that would help them move.
00:34:23 Chris Shirley, Website Developer, Digital Marketing Strategist and Brand Designer at Hiatus.Design (https://www.hiatus.design), website design and brand studio
Forward do you think?
00:34:25 Rachel Smith, Doctor and Mountaineer at Type 1 Summit
Yeah, I think.
00:34:25 Rachel Smith, Doctor and Mountaineer at Type 1 Summit
It's like with any chronic condition, whether it's type 1 diabetes or or something else. And I think appreciating and understanding that it is incredibly difficult and it's OK to admit that and quite often is it 2024 seven job with no rest days, no, no days off. So like having those days.
00:34:44 Rachel Smith, Doctor and Mountaineer at Type 1 Summit
You feel a bit more fed up is is is absolutely normal.
00:34:48 Rachel Smith, Doctor and Mountaineer at Type 1 Summit
And however, I think a big thing for me over the last number of years especially has been trying to kind of flip that mindset a little bit and being like kind of changing it from this is difficult to, OK, yes. But what have I achieved or how have I improved it as a result of having?
00:35:09 Rachel Smith, Doctor and Mountaineer at Type 1 Summit
That additional stress, and you know, I'm definitely more resilient, more adaptable, more more determined, which definitely feeds into, you know, why I'm taking on on how I'm taking.
00:35:20 Rachel Smith, Doctor and Mountaineer at Type 1 Summit
On projects such as.
00:35:21 Rachel Smith, Doctor and Mountaineer at Type 1 Summit
This and.
00:35:24 Rachel Smith, Doctor and Mountaineer at Type 1 Summit
I'm one of the key phrases I keep, like telling myself over time is to kind of tie that together is like let type 1 diabetes be your strength and and again you can you can transfer that to to many different situations. You know people have looked at different things going on and which sometimes easier. Easier said than done. But yeah I'm just trying to reframe.
00:35:44 Rachel Smith, Doctor and Mountaineer at Type 1 Summit
The negatives to positives and using that to kind of push the message behind fencing and in this expedition because you know it, it does come down to if you really want it, you know and you have the right mindset, you you can achieve everything.
00:35:58 Rachel Smith, Doctor and Mountaineer at Type 1 Summit
Just need to just need to.
00:35:59 Rachel Smith, Doctor and Mountaineer at Type 1 Summit
It.
00:36:00 Chris Shirley, Website Developer, Digital Marketing Strategist and Brand Designer at Hiatus.Design (https://www.hiatus.design), website design and brand studio
100% yeah, no, I understand. I agree. Right. I've got an answer to a question now which surprised and it's what I always like to to kind of.
00:36:11 Chris Shirley, Website Developer, Digital Marketing Strategist and Brand Designer at Hiatus.Design (https://www.hiatus.design), website design and brand studio
Keep keep the.
00:36:13 Chris Shirley, Website Developer, Digital Marketing Strategist and Brand Designer at Hiatus.Design (https://www.hiatus.design), website design and brand studio
Feel free not to answer it. What's what's next? What's gonna be after to Vincent?
00:36:18 Chris Shirley, Website Developer, Digital Marketing Strategist and Brand Designer at Hiatus.Design (https://www.hiatus.design), website design and brand studio
You think you can change it?
00:36:20
The.
00:36:22 Rachel Smith, Doctor and Mountaineer at Type 1 Summit
And the Gold Star question.
00:36:25 Rachel Smith, Doctor and Mountaineer at Type 1 Summit
And I've tried to be honest, I've tried not.
00:36:27 Rachel Smith, Doctor and Mountaineer at Type 1 Summit
To think too.
00:36:28 Rachel Smith, Doctor and Mountaineer at Type 1 Summit
Far ahead, because this has obviously been a huge goal and and one that's, you know, requiring a lot of dedication and time and then OK and in an ideal world, if everything goes to plan and and and it goes well and.
00:36:37
Yeah.
00:36:45 Rachel Smith, Doctor and Mountaineer at Type 1 Summit
You know that that have a successful summit in in December and I would like to go and complete some of the the the remaining of the 7th.
00:36:55 Chris Shirley, Website Developer, Digital Marketing Strategist and Brand Designer at Hiatus.Design (https://www.hiatus.design), website design and brand studio
Searching.
00:36:55 Rachel Smith, Doctor and Mountaineer at Type 1 Summit
Earliest, earliest, earliest give him a shot and see and see what I can do. And I absolutely love mountaineering and I love the chat, the unique challenge that it possesses, and the the way it makes me feel. I feel like it's something I don't get from any other aspect of of my life.
00:37:09 Rachel Smith, Doctor and Mountaineer at Type 1 Summit
No matter how.
00:37:10 Rachel Smith, Doctor and Mountaineer at Type 1 Summit
Far how hard I try and so.
00:37:12 Rachel Smith, Doctor and Mountaineer at Type 1 Summit
I think.
00:37:12 Rachel Smith, Doctor and Mountaineer at Type 1 Summit
It's something that I'll climb.
00:37:14 Rachel Smith, Doctor and Mountaineer at Type 1 Summit
Might as well something be something that I'm that I'm.
00:37:16 Rachel Smith, Doctor and Mountaineer at Type 1 Summit
Always going to.
00:37:16 Rachel Smith, Doctor and Mountaineer at Type 1 Summit
Chase. And so we'll leave it for there.
00:37:20 Rachel Smith, Doctor and Mountaineer at Type 1 Summit
And we'll see what happens.
00:37:20 Speaker 3
Yes.
00:37:22 Speaker 3
But you, you.
00:37:23 Chris Shirley, Website Developer, Digital Marketing Strategist and Brand Designer at Hiatus.Design (https://www.hiatus.design), website design and brand studio
You actually mailed it there, like the the community is is one of the things which I I I kind of I found after the military and I left the I left the elite parts of the British military and then found.
00:37:32 Chris Shirley, Website Developer, Digital Marketing Strategist and Brand Designer at Hiatus.Design (https://www.hiatus.design), website design and brand studio
The my my Lord empty is a Mountaineer, and because it was a similar sort of mindset is you're going to hang out in shamis or you know the Italian Altra example and you've just got that buzz around all the towns where literally just got Mountaineers walking in and out and, you know, comparing notes and and just gives those they're drinking, drinking beer and eating.
00:37:54 Chris Shirley, Website Developer, Digital Marketing Strategist and Brand Designer at Hiatus.Design (https://www.hiatus.design), website design and brand studio
In the out you know it's it's intoxicating because they're they're literally they were saying, well, can we do this without oxygen? Can we do it this route? Can we do this? You know, try it on this way to get around this. You know, this this particular problem say on.
00:38:03 Rachel Smith, Doctor and Mountaineer at Type 1 Summit
Yes.
00:38:06 Chris Shirley, Website Developer, Digital Marketing Strategist and Brand Designer at Hiatus.Design (https://www.hiatus.design), website design and brand studio
On the mountain. So yeah, I know exactly what you're what you're saying there is. It's such an intoxicating sport, isn't it? It always pulled.
00:38:13 Rachel Smith, Doctor and Mountaineer at Type 1 Summit
It is it is it does. It doesn't matter how hard you try, not for it.
00:38:13 Chris Shirley, Website Developer, Digital Marketing Strategist and Brand Designer at Hiatus.Design (https://www.hiatus.design), website design and brand studio
You back? Yeah.
00:38:16 Chris Shirley, Website Developer, Digital Marketing Strategist and Brand Designer at Hiatus.Design (https://www.hiatus.design), website design and brand studio
Not to. Yeah, I should let you get on anyway because I know it's it's it's close to to 10 over in Melbourne right now, isn't it? So thank you so much for your time again, Michael. And yeah, we'll we'll, we'll speak to you soon.
00:38:29 Rachel Smith, Doctor and Mountaineer at Type 1 Summit
Yeah. No, thank you so much, Sir.
00:38:32 Rachel Smith, Doctor and Mountaineer at Type 1 Summit
Yeah. No, thanks so much for having me today. I really appreciate it and it's been good fun.
00:38:38 Chris Shirley, Website Developer, Digital Marketing Strategist and Brand Designer at Hiatus.Design (https://www.hiatus.design), website design and brand studio
It's really great talking to Rachel and hearing about her incredible projects change now to brand.
00:38:41 Chris Shirley, Website Developer, Digital Marketing Strategist and Brand Designer at Hiatus.Design (https://www.hiatus.design), website design and brand studio
Type 1 diabetes.
00:38:42 Chris Shirley, Website Developer, Digital Marketing Strategist and Brand Designer at Hiatus.Design (https://www.hiatus.design), website design and brand studio
If you want to hear more about her work, take a look at the show that's below and we'll see you next time.
In episode 10, I talk to Alice Morrison, an international author, explorer, and adventurer, known for her writing about her travels to and experiences in remote, challenging, and sandy locations in the Middle East and North Africa.
Often highlighted as the ‘Indiana Jones for girls’, she is the author of "Walking with Nomads", and "Dodging Elephants," which detail her journey through the Sahara Desert.