Climber Annabelle Bond
Annabelle Bond is the fastest woman to climb the seven summits - the tallest peaks on each continent - and the daughter of HSBC head Sir John Bond. More than a “Bond girl,” she raises money for women who suffer from ovarian cancer. She tells Victor Chau why she loves Hong Kong, and what fuels her climbs to peaks the world round.
My motto is to set goals for myself every year. That’s how I perform best.
No woman had climbed the world's highest seven summits within a year, so I decided I would do it.
I had a tumor in my uterus. It was removed one month before I set off for Mount Everest.
I started working for Eve Appeal, a fund that promotes the prevention and treatment of ovarian cancer. I met Lone vagn-Jensen, the woman to whom the charity is dedicated, twice before she passed away.
Raising the money was almost as difficult as climbing all the mountains.
When I was in London, I contacted every single airline, insurance, bank and cosmetics company. I harassed everyone I sat with at dinner. I asked them, “Do you know that I’m doing this expedition?” Nobody wanted to sit next to me. I got rejection after rejection. It was very demoralizing.