Snapchatting Mount Everest climbers prepare for this year's summit

Mount Everest Snapchat climbers talk next summit

The thrill seekers who used Snapchat to chronicle their climb of Mount Everest last year are going back to the world’s highest mountain for more. Cory Richards and Adrian Ballinger gave followers a first-hand account of their adventure. Richards made it to the top, but hypothermia forced Ballinger to stop just before the summit.

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Ballinger said leading up to their trip on April 8, he did “a much deeper training with a focus on low-level endurance” and a paleo-ketogenic diet.

“I changed my diet so I’m burning fats and carbohydrates differently to be able to have energy and warmth on the summit, and I think Corey and I were really focused on me having a clear head, not a lot of distractions this season so I can focus,” Ballinger said Thursday on “CBS This Morning.”

While it was a difficult decision to leave Ballinger behind last year, Richards is looking ahead to their upcoming trek.

“It’s like short-term marriages. It’s all of the drama, none of the benefits though. And to be fair, it’s really tragic when your partner turns around. You’ve spend all this time together building this anticipation and then – I mean it is heartbreaking,” Richards said. “So I mean there’s real honest emotion going back and trying to do this together as a team.” 

This time, the duo plans to use Snapchat differently.

“We want to use it more as a viewer directed story-telling tool. So last year it was all about us, and certainly we’re going to keep that fun element of two guys doing on Everest doing this thing. But we also want to talk to the larger issues that are there, and engage the audience and say, ‘What do you want to know?’ and potentially use it as sort of a social hub,” Richards said.

To tag along on their journey, follow EverestNoFilter on Snapchat.

From miles logged to heart rate, track Adrian Ballinger and Cory Richards’ metrics. 

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