“Whether it is a failure or a success, whatever happens, see you in 2024, at the foot of Mount Everest. » On February 24, 2023, Inoxtag – real name Inès Benazzouz – announced to its nearly 7.5 millionsubscribers on YouTube that he wanted to achieve “something that [il] felt incapable” and which he had “dreamed of for a long time”.
This April 10, the 22-year-old who knew nothing about mountaineering, is preparing to fly to Nepal and climb “the roof of the world”, 8,848 m high, with “only” preparation. a year. He himself admits that this challenge represents “the training of a lifetime” and that it can seem “unconscious”.
His project has effectively “divided” the mountain world, between controversies around ecology, safety, and this “fad” of content creators to want “always more”. Despite the criticism, the gamer is “ready”, according to Mathis Dumas, mountaineer and high mountain guide, who has been with him since the start of this adventure.
““Youtuber + Everest”? Bad idea “
“Originally, I was not in favor of this proposal,” confides the professional. I said to myself “youtuber + Everest”, that’s a bad idea. Then, I met him and I saw that he especially wanted to discover the mountain and not just make his video “climbing”. It was also a challenge for me then. »
Because for Mathis Dumas, Everest was not “a personal or professional objective” and for several reasons. “First of all, because you need a hell of a budget to afford it [rien que le permis coûte 15.000 dollars – Inoxtag a confié que son projet coûtait entre 600.000 et 1,2 million d’euros] but also because it is not the most ethical climb,” he admits.
They will come back down with their excrement
For several years, Everest has suffered from growing popularity and maddening pollution. For a year, the guide offered him a special program, favoring the “local”, with expeditions in the Alps, instead of “going to burn the planet”. The mountaineer specifies that the traffic jams publicized in 2019 correspond to bad weather over several days which leads to a “stand-by”. “Like the 8 a.m. ring road to get to work, everyone set out at the same time towards the same goal,” he says.
Concerning waste, he assures that they will only generate very little and that they will “necessarily leave with it”. Same thing for excrement. “As we eat and drink very little, we will not produce a lot but they will obviously come down with us,” he confirms. He explains that this rule is not unique to Everest. “For several years now, all mountains, and particularly those where there are glaciers, have enforced this rule because it pollutes. »
And the dangers?
But then, how can you prepare an amateur in such a short time? As 20 minutes recalled in June 2023, the season for climbing Everest had been the deadliest for foreigners due to more and more people, with less and less experience.
“I am aware that I have his life in my hands,” says Mathis Dumas. But I prepared him as if I would prepare any client except that we saw each other a lot more. » So, in one year, they made expeditions lasting several days each month, climbing Mont-Blanc, two peaks of the Himalayas to “find out if his body was capable of supporting the altitude and the conditions of the mountains of Asia,” underlines the professional. But also because the permit for Everest is only issued on condition of having reached a summit of more than 7,000 m altitude.
“Inès knows herself now,” says the guide. Today I can say he is ready. He really surprised me in his preparation. The hardest thing now is to rest well, not to get sick before the expedition and to have a little luck with the weather. »
More “anecdotal” than a “sporting challenge”
“Inoxtag can succeed, yes. He is well supported, with someone who knows something about it. Obviously, it remains the mountain, it remains dangerous and there are obviously risks, affirms Charles Dubouloz, mountaineer and accustomed to great exploits. The normal route to Everest, in these conditions [bien entouré, en suivant les cordages et avec de l’oxygène], it is indeed more anecdotal than what we consider to be a sporting achievement. We talk about a challenge when you have to train every minute of your daily life, when mountaineers have put their lives into it for twenty years and risk dying on each climb. Most people don’t know the difference even though it’s absolutely not the same thing. » For him, the mountain is “a constant journey” which cannot be reduced to “a YouTube video”.
He nevertheless recognizes that his project will allow young people to see images of the mountains. “Rather than seeing gaming or entertainment videos, its audience will discover a completely different area and be made aware of its issues. Because ecology begins with becoming aware of your environment. And people like me, who mainly use writing, have difficulty capturing the attention of this public on these subjects. It’s interesting on this point because, who knows, maybe he will inspire dreams and give rise to vocations as high mountain guides thanks to his project? ! »
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This is exactly why Mathis Dumas agreed to accompany him. He saw in Inès Benazzouz’s proposal the opportunity to “touch a lot of people from different backgrounds” by showing a beautiful image of the mountain. “In one year, I really saw him mature. He was raised awareness while being a vector of learning towards his community. He was a player stuck behind the screens with a life at 100 miles an hour in Paris, recalls his coach. Above all, it was necessary to reconnect him with nature and take him towards the wonder that it can produce. The first big challenge for him was to cut everything, stop thinking about future projects and live in the present moment. »
Mathis Dumas, who has become something of a “confidant” after this year of adventures, assures that Inoxtag will thus have, “in all cases, succeeded”. He adds: “Whether he succeeds or not, whether there is bad buzz or not, his project allows strong messages to be sent and we made sure that it was done according to the rules of the art with a beautiful approach behind it. » He concludes: “The moral of this whole story is: ‘Even if it seems unattainable to you, the main thing is to take a step towards your dream.’ »