Michael on Everest's summit

Michael Woods, 36, from Liverpool, is a profoundly Deaf British mountaineer with a passion for the outdoors and a mission that goes far beyond reaching summits. Through mountaineering, Michael wants to break down barriers and challenge perceptions of what Deaf people are capable of achieving. His journey has taken him to some of the highest and most demanding places on Earth, driven by a belief that being Deaf should never limit the size of someone's ambitions.

Michael set himself the long-term goal of completing the Seven Summits, the highest mountain on each continent. In just 12 months, he completed four of them: Kilimanjaro, Elbrus, Aconcagua and, most recently, Everest. On 21 May 2026, Michael reached the summit of Everest becoming the first Deaf British and Deaf European mountaineer to stand on the highest point on Earth.

Communication breakdown

Reaching the summit was an extraordinary achievement, but what happened afterwards became the most serious and frightening experience of Michael's mountaineering career. During the expedition, he spent more than 48 hours above 8,000m in the Death Zone, and during his descent from the summit a communication breakdown near the Hillary Step left him alone at extreme altitude without supplemental oxygen for more than three hours.

The situation developed after the cameraman who had been documenting Michael's Everest expedition suffered from snow blindness and needed to descend urgently. Michael's Sherpa went to support him, with the understanding that another Sherpa would take over responsibility for descending with Michael. Unfortunately, the replacement Sherpa followed the wrong climber, leaving Michael behind without him knowing that the arrangements had changed.

At normal altitude, a misunderstanding like this might be easily corrected. At more than 8,000m, it can become life-threatening. For Michael, being profoundly Deaf added another layer of difficulty. He relies heavily on lip-reading, facial expressions and visual communication, but on Everest everyone was wearing oxygen masks that covered their mouths and faces. Thick expedition mittens also made detailed hand gestures extremely difficult. Michael could not hear what was being said, could not lip-read through an oxygen mask and had no clear way of understanding that his Sherpa arrangement had changed.

Lip-reading is difficult on Everest

Losing consciousness

Believing his Sherpa would return, Michael waited near the Hillary Step. As time passed, his supplemental oxygen ran out and his condition deteriorated. Eventually, exhausted and without oxygen, he lay down and blacked out. He does not know exactly how long he was unconscious, but when he woke again the scene around him was completely different. Earlier, Everest had been incredibly busy, with long queues of climbers moving towards and away from the summit. When Michael opened his eyes again, the mountain around him was empty.

For a period, Michael genuinely believed that he might die there. Then his thoughts turned to his two children waiting for him at home. Realising the seriousness of his situation, he forced himself back onto his feet and went into survival mode. With nobody immediately around him to help, he began descending Everest alone, knowing that getting to a lower altitude as quickly as possible was his best chance of surviving. At approximately 8,400–8,500m, he eventually reunited with his Sherpa and was able to continue the descent towards Camp 4.

Keeping warm

Throughout the expedition and those critical hours high on Everest, Michael was wearing the PHD Omega Down Suit. In conditions where maintaining body temperature can quickly become a matter of survival, the suit provided vital protection from the extreme cold. This became particularly important while Michael was lying still near the Hillary Step, when he was no longer generating the same body heat he would have produced while climbing. Despite being exposed at extreme altitude, without supplemental oxygen and barely moving for hours, Michael remained protected from the freezing conditions.

For Michael, the Omega Down Suit therefore carries a very different meaning after Everest. It was not simply equipment that helped him climb the world's highest mountain; it was equipment he relied upon during the most dangerous hours of his life. In an environment where several things had gone badly wrong, staying warm was one thing he did not have to fight against.

Michael (and his suit) on tour

What's next?

Michael eventually made it safely back down Everest and returned home to Liverpool, knowing how fortunate he was to be alive. The experience has not stopped his ambitions. If anything, it has strengthened the reason behind them. Three of the Seven Summits remain — Denali, Puncak Jaya and Vinson — while K2, the world's second-highest mountain, is also firmly part of his future plans. Beyond those goals, Michael hopes to take on an even greater challenge by pursuing the fourteen 8,000m peaks.

Since returning from Everest, his story has also reached far beyond mountaineering. Michael now has more than 40 Everest Summiteer talks booked across the UK and internationally, including events in the USA, Australia, Lithuania, Spain, Italy and Poland. Through these talks, he shares not only the achievement of reaching the summit, but the setbacks, sacrifices, risks and determination behind the journey.

At the heart of everything Michael does is his family and the Deaf community. He wants to continue challenging the barriers and assumptions that Deaf people still face, while being a role model for his children, particularly his son Joseph, who is also profoundly Deaf. Michael wants his son to grow up seeing what is possible rather than being told what is not.

Everest was once a goal that seemed almost impossible. Michael reached its summit, survived an extraordinary situation on the descent and came home with an even stronger determination to continue pushing boundaries. With more of the Seven Summits still ahead, K2 on the horizon and the fourteen 8,000m peaks forming part of his long-term ambition, his journey is far from finished.

For Michael, every mountain represents another opportunity to break a barrier, change a perception and show the next generation of Deaf people that their ambitions do not need to have limits.