Hong Kong chef Richard Ekkebus on mountain climbing to control his weight

When we speak in June, Ekkebus has just returned from a mountaineering expedition: a three-week trip in Ecuador to climb Chimborazo and Cotopaxi. The latter is an active stratovolcano in the Andes, whose peaks are 6,263 meters (20,547 feet) and 5,897 meters (19,733 feet) above sea level respectively.

The chef became interested in mountain climbing after spending too much time in the kitchen tasting his own dishes.

“Like some chefs, I was a bit plumper and bigger at different stages of my career and that has had a major impact on my health,” Ekkebus told the Post.

Reaching mountain peaks seemed like a logical step.

The to-do list for this is long and includes a visit to a specialist UK health facility in London, The Altitude Centre. Tests there would have measured his inhaled and exhaled oxygen and blood lactate concentration levels during maximal exercise to check his fitness for such climbs.

“It’s the sport where you move the slowest, but you need the best fitness and strength to be able to do it,” says Ekkebus.

“People don’t understand that not only is it physically demanding to climb for hours at this altitude, but at a 60-degree incline the oxygen levels are also significantly lower, meaning the body doesn’t function in the same way.”

However, the corona pandemic threw a spanner in the works and Ekkebus no longer focused on climbing Everest, but on climbing lesser-known mountain peaks around the world.

“The south side of Everest from Nepal is better supported, but it’s also much more crowded and the danger on that side is the people,” says Ekkebus. “If you have 400 clients and they’re 400 Sherpas carrying their gear, that’s 800 people up there and that’s too many.

When his interest in Everest ‘waned’, he turned to smaller mountains in Nepal, such as Lobuche (6,119 metres), Imja Tse or Island Peak (6,165 metres) and Baruntse (7,162 metres).

He climbed all three, but did not reach all of them due to adverse conditions and avalanche danger. “Ultimately, the goal is not to reach the summit, but to get home safely to our families,” Ekkebus says.

“I work with very professional operators. Last night we were on the phone with the expedition leader until midnight to discuss how we should prepare ourselves physically. We went through the load we have to carry and the equipment we need. It is very well planned,” he says.

A personal trainer helps Ekkebus prepare for the climbs. Three times a week, they focus on strength and core training. At home, the chef starts by carrying 12 kg on his back on a StairMaster treadmill for 90 minutes a day. Two months before a climb, he carries 20 kg on the machine for two hours every day.

Due to his dedication to his work, the chef has little time to climb, as he must first adapt to the high altitude before he can begin a climb.

At high altitudes, an abundance of red blood cells is needed to carry more oxygen to the muscles. Extra cells thicken the blood, which puts extra strain on the heart to pump blood. Insufficient time to adjust can lead to altitude sickness.

“Normally I have to stay one or two weeks (close to a destination) before climbing to acclimatize at around 1300 meters altitude so my body can produce enough red blood cells,” he explains.

Instead, he sleeps at home the week before he climbs with a hypoxic tent over his bed. A compressor helps simulate the air quality at altitude to stimulate his body to produce the necessary red blood cells while he sleeps.

This means he only has to spend three weeks on the mountain, which is about the amount of time he can spare from working in the kitchen.

He pays a lot of attention to the way he nourishes his body, focusing on low-fat, high-protein foods and good carbs like sweet potatoes, brown rice, quinoa, and vegetables.

“I still have the occasional cheat day, but in two months I’ll be very strict,” he says.

“I will never dine out again and for work I taste the dishes but spit them out because I have to get my body fat percentage down to 18 percent.”

When asked about the disadvantages and dangers of his adventurous lifestyle, he says there are many. Despite his regime, Ekkebus usually loses 5kg to 9kg on each expedition.

In addition, he is at risk of extreme sunburn due to the thin atmosphere and the reflection of the snow, even in his nostrils and on the roof of his mouth.

“There are some really dangerous situations when you’re climbing,” he says. “Sometimes you’re hanging off a cliff at 1,000 meters, and you have to go over ladder bridges that are just a ladder over a chasm to get to the other side.”

Three times he was unable to reach the summit due to dangerous conditions.

“There is a system,” he says, and people have to trust that system.

The “really cool people” from all walks of life he’s met on his climbs – “from an emergency room nurse to a rocket engineer who works for Elon Musk” – add to the appeal for him.

“You’re sitting together in small tents, in winds of -40 degrees Celsius and snow, and you hold on to the tent because the wind is so strong.

“You are already rested in your sleeping bag, because if something goes wrong, we can immediately go back down the mountain – but you just hope that you don’t fly away with the tents.”

Despite the tough conditions and the hard training, for Ekkebus the benefits of mountaineering outweigh the costs.

“There’s a great sense of accomplishment,” he says. “Because you’re in these situations with so much stress and so many things to negotiate, your problem-solving skills get better.

“I used to lose my cool and scream in the kitchen. With this sport, I’ve really come to realize that there are things you can control and things you can’t.”

You can trust this skinny chef. As he climbs mountains, he becomes even better.

“Climbing really helps me become a better person, a better mentor – and probably a better husband and so much more.”