#43 Climbing to the top, ft. Christopher Chan

In this episode of the Unsubscribed! Podcast, Knak Head of Finance Christopher Chan talks about his passion for hiking and rock climbing, and a recent expedition to Baffin Island.

One month into his Knak career, Chris got a call from a buddy in New Zealand with the offer of a once in a lifetime opportunity to climb the largest island mountain in Canada. Named after British explorer William Baffin, who found it whilst looking for the Northwest passage in 1616, Baffin Island is best known for its big wall climbing, multi-day, multi-pitch routes. Just before an important finance meeting, Chris asked Pierce if he could go. There were two conditions: come back, and don’t let the house burn down.

Chris’s passion for climbing started at university, and quickly grew from bouldering through top-roping to lead climbing. It was the latter really which propelled Chris’s interest, following crack systems and making them safe by using additional climbing equipment. Even with a decade’s climbing experience, the sheer scale of Baffin Island’s mountains, ranging from 1200 to 1500 meters in height, made Chris feel like it was his first time at the gym. Needless to say that climbing on Baffin Island is not for beginners, especially as should you get stuck, help will always be a long-time coming.

40 days of hiking and climbing in the wilderness takes mental and physical preparation. When it comes to food and hygiene, there’s no alternative than to accept a sharp drop in standards. Meal-time consists of dehydrated food, but it’s amazing how much better food can taste when you’ve been walking for 10 days. Walking was made all the harder by each person having to carry around 160 pounds of food, and equipment.

Hear the full story by catching Chris in conversation with Pierce Ujjainwalla.

Follow Christopher Chan on LinkedIn.