Whenever our team is in Kona, we try to cut out some time to drive up Mauna Kea. We didn’t manage to go there every year. 2013 was our 10th time in Kona at the IRONMAN world championships in triathlon. And last year we have been lucky and succeeded to make this trip on the world’s highest mountain*. We left shortly after 4:00am to arrive in time for sunrise. Then the mountain shows itself in the most impressive robes. It’s definitely worthwhile to get up that early. The place is quiet, clean and chilly. It is magic and energizing. The world’s problems and especially our own ones suddenly seem tiny like the world at our feet. What a feeling of relief. Back down on earth you feel mentally recovered and full of beans …
Enjoy the video, it is very poetic and apt for meditation…
*The base of Mauna Kea is about 6000 meters (19.625 feet) below sea level and the summit is about 4000 meters (13.123 ft) above sea level. The distance between the foot of the mountain and the summit is about 10,000 meters (32.808 ft). This makes Mauna Kea the “tallest” mountain in the world.
In addition to being the summit of the world’s “tallest” mountain, it is also the home of the world’s largest astronomical observatory. At an elevation of nearly 4.267 meters (14,000 ft) above sea level, the observatory is above 40% of Earth’s atmosphere. The atmosphere above the mountain is extremely dry and almost cloud free. This makes it an ideal location for an observatory.
