JULY 1 • 2021 | 21

A

cclaimed musician 
Mike Posner chose 
climbing Mount 
Everest in Nepal this year for 
his next physical challenge after 
touring part of the U.S. on foot 
two years ago.
After months of preparation, 
the former Southfield resident 
and his crew reached the sum-
mit of Everest on June 1. “It 
was humbling to be there,
” said 
Posner of Eagle County, Colo.
A graduate of Birmingham 
Groves High School, as well 
as Duke University in North 
Carolina, Posner is an in-de-
mand, alternative/indie com-
poser and recording artist. His 
first hit in 2009 was “Cooler 
Than Me.
”
Taking a break from music 
in 2019 to “Walk Across 
America,
” as he called his jour-
ney, gave the now 33-year-old 
an opportunity “to find out 
who I was when I wasn’t Mike 
Posner, Grammy-nominated 
singer-songwriter.
” (“I Took a 
Pill in Ibiza” earned him a 2017 
Grammy nomination.) He also 
walked in tribute to his late 

father, 40-year crimnal defense 
and civil liberties attorney Jon 
Posner. His widowed mother 
is pharmacist Roberta Henrion 
of Detroit, and his married sis-
ter, civil rights attorney Emily 
Posner, lives in New Orleans.
This time around, because 
Posner wanted his quest “to be 
about others,
” he set a goal of 
$250,000 for donations to a non-

profit law firm, Detroit Justice 
Center (gofundme.com/Everest). 
The DJC mission is to work 
“alongside communities to create 
economic opportunities, trans-
form the justice system and pro-
mote equitable and just cities.
”
Though naturally athletic, 
Posner knew he’
d require an 
expert to conquer the world’s 
highest mountain. Climbers 
need weeks to acclimatize and 
develop an efficient use of oxy-
gen in the thinner air (lower in 

oxygen and pressure) found at 
high altitudes. Posner put his 
trust in Dr. Jon Kedrowski, a 
Coloradan author, ski-moun-
taineer and geographer, who’
d 
led four previous Mount Everest 
expeditions. 
“Mike said, ‘I want to make 
sure I deserve to be there,
’” 
Kedrowski said. “He passed 
everything I set up for him.
”

40-DAY JOURNEY
Posner’s training started in 
Colorado. Assisting in Nepal 
were Dawa Chirring and Dawa 
Dorje, ethnic Sherpas native 
to the Himalayan mountain 
region. It typically takes 40 days 
for the round-trip trek from 
Mount Everest Base Camp at 
17,500 feet above sea level to the 
mountain’s summit at 29,032 
feet.
“Climbing Mount Everest 
was harder than I expected. It 

pushed me to all my limits,
” 
Posner said. Two cyclones com-
ing off the Bay of Bengal tested 
everyone’s patience.
“It can be an emotional roll-
ercoaster going one day from 
‘We’re going to climb today,
’ to 
‘No, you cannot’ — then you 
have to wait,
” said Posner.
Reaching the Mount Everest 
summit, around 4:30 a.m., “the 
moment was beyond words, 
and I was overwhelmed with 
tears,
” he said. 
After 25 minutes on top, 
watching an “incredible” sun-
rise, they started descending. 
Later, in Katmandu, an exhaust-
ed Posner said he slept “36 out 
of those first 48 hours.
”
“It was a phenomenal jour-
ney, and a testament to all the 
hard work Mike put in,
” said 
Kedrowski.
Processing his climb, Posner 
said, “I feel blessed and grateful 
that my team helped me get 
to the summit and having that 
experience.
”
His future will include music, 
“always the deepest and most 
beautiful part of my life.
” 

Acclaimed musician summits Mount Everest.

On Top of
the World!

ESTHER ALLWEISS INGBER CONTRIBUTING WRITER

“IT WAS HUMBLING TO BE THERE.”

— MIKE POSNER

LEFT: Singer-songwriter
Mike Posner, a former Detroiter, 
and his expedition team reach 
the top of Mount Everest.

COURTESY OF MIKE POSNER

COLIN MCANDREWS

Mike 
Posner

