08/05/2026

FRIDAY | MAY 8, 2026

LYFE 23 Australian eyes sea-to-Everest record A MONG the hundreds of climbers hoping to scale Everest this season, 27-year old Australian Oliver Foran o Climber embarks on inspiring journey to raise funds for youth mental health, honour late mum “I didn’t know how to process it... Life on the outside looked pretty good, but inside I was just emptier than ever,” he said. The unresolved grief reached a breaking point seven years later. Foran said he had “made up my mind that that was it” – but a call to a friend proved life-saving.

8,849m peak. “I always wanted to climb Mount Everest, but I wanted to do it in a special way,” Foran told AFP by telephone on a break from his long hike upwards to Everest Base Camp and then to the highest place on Earth. It is also a deeply personal journey, with Foran raising funds for youth mental health. The former real estate agent climbed his first major mountain, Nepal’s 6,189m Island Peak, in 2024. He then summited 6,812m Ama Dablam last year. He hopes Everest will be his first 8,000m mountain. He has been training – cycling, exercising and working on his breathing – for the past six months to build endurance for the altitude. ‘Unique’ The sea-to-summit is a rare feat, first completed by another Australian, Tim Macartney-Snape, in 1990. Macartney Snape spent three months walking from sea level to the Everest summit and it was his documentary that sparked the idea for Foran. The current record is held by South Korean climber Kim Chang-ho, who walked and then kayaked the Ganges river, cycled to Nepal and then trekked up to the base camp in 2013, five years before his death on another mountain. Foran aims to slash a week off that record and reach the summit in 60 days. 34-year-old Swiss graphic designer, told AFP. He agreed to “play along” with the concept even though he had already seen the exhibition. This time, he said, the visitors in their swimming costumes become“a kind of artwork within the museum”. Sat on a green towel on a bench and browsing the exhibition catalogue, he had on his stripey swimming trunks – and the audio guide headphones. Walking around the museum in a swimsuit was “difficult at first” because only a minority of visitors were doing likewise. But in the end, “it’s fun”, he said, adding it felt a bit like a day “by the pool” – especially since the weather was hot. Knowing smiles In the museum garden, visitors sunbathed on the lawn or by a pond bordered by water lilies and rushes. “It’s a rather unusual experience,” said Lionnel, who was wearing a colourful sequinned bikini. “You’re always looking”left and right to see if there are other visitors in swimwear, said the 53-year-old, who works in human resources. “If there are, it’s cool. We exchange a quick glance, a knowing smile. It’s really nice,” he added, while admitting overall “it might be a little distracting” when it comes to concentrating on the paintings. Those wishing to switch into

“I made the decision then that... if I ever got the opportunity to stop somebody else from getting to that point or to give them another way, I would,” he said. ‘Inspiration’ That commitment underlines his Everest expedition. Foran is partnering with Australian organisation Youturn with a target to raise A$200,000 (RM567,392) to build a youth mental health support centre back home. Aaron Minton, Youturn director, said it would be a “youth-focused mental health and well-being hub”. Foran hopes his journey can offer awareness and inspiration, sharing the good parts and the struggles of his journey through his social media. “What’s really motivating me is, hopefully, having an inspiration on some of these younger people – that might be a little bit stuck with where they are right now in their lives. Also, I’m doing it for my mum, because she can’t, and I want to make her proud,” he said. As he continues his ascent, an unexpected source of comfort that accompanies him is the Madonna song Like a Prayer . “My mum used to listen to it. And it now holds a special place in my heart. So that’s what I’m going to be whistling to myself when I’m walking up to the summit,” he said.

began his journey far away, cycling and then walking all the way from the sea. Foran is seeking to break the 67 day “sea-to-summit” record, first pedalling 1,150km from the warm waves of the Bay of Bengal in India to Nepal and now trekking to the icy

Foran is seeking to break the 67-day ‘sea-to-summit’ record, having pedalled 1,150km from the Bay of Bengal in India to Nepal.

Nepal in the first 16 days, navigating sweltering hot plains before steep, relentless hills. He said he is driven by “something bigger” than himself – the memory of his teenage grief when his mother died of brain cancer.

facilities and options to summit Everest in a record time now, but he is using only his own human power. That is big,” said Gelje Sherpa, his lead guide and expedition organiser at Aga Adventures. Foran cycled across India and

Foran (right) trekking in Hurhure Pass at Makalu Barun National Park in Nepal.

“It is a challenging task and a unique one. There are so many Immersive art: Visitors in bikinis dive into Swiss museum

A Swiss museum made a splash recently by inviting in the public in their swimwear to enjoy Paul Cezanne’s iconic paintings of people bathing. At the Fondation Beyeler outside Basel, a young woman in a black swimsuit with a towel draped over her shoulder sat gazing at one artwork, while to her right, a shirtless man in orange trunks perused the brush strokes. “It’s quite absurd” and “daring” as an idea, but “I like it”, Julien Rondez, a

bathing gear can do so in a changing room. To encourage museum-goers to get into the spirit of things, those arriving in swimming costumes can avoid the 25 Swiss francs (RM127) entry fee. Some visitors even donned swimming caps while others were walking around barefoot. Laurence Gainet, a gallery owner who came from Dijon in France to see the exhibition, had not heard about the contemporary and modern art museum’s “Day of the Bathers”. “At first, it’s surprising – you wonder

Visitors wearing swimsuits sit on a bench as they look at a book in the museum.

that, because you are almost naked,” Ana Lopes, a 34-year-old Portuguese architect working in Basel, said while wearing a one-piece swimsuit. The project was conceived by the renowned Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan. “This intervention playfully brings the artist’s vision of the human body in nature into the present day. The unusual setting opens a dialogue between art and viewer, shifting perception, dissolving distance and introducing a touch of humour and freedom,” the museum said. Lukas Rupt, a 26-year-old environmental engineer, also in swimwear, thought the concept was a smart move. “I like this idea to break this code. I like to go out of the comfort zone,” he said.

if it’s a performance,” she said. Breaking the code

Clad in orange trunks, Marc Schmidlin, a 40-year-old landscape gardener, came from Thurgau, around 150km away. “I didn’t want to miss out on this event – I really like events that are unique and special, and it’s not every day you get to visit a museum for free,” he said. The Bathers series by French post impressionist Cezanne, who died in 1906 aged 67, depicts nude figures integrated into nature, closely intertwining bodies and the landscape. “You can feel from Cezanne paintings he wants to be inspired by nature and expose that organic experience of the nature, of the people. “Dressing in swimwear is close to

The painting called Les joueurs de cartes (The Card Players, 1893–1896) by Cezanne.

The museum is waiving the entrance fee for people who show up in their bathing suits. – ALL PICS FROM AFP