When skateboarder Aleks Stocki decided to go to the ends of the earth to inspire others to live their best life, he had no idea he would, almost literally, end up there.
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Having lost several friends to suicide, he knew he wanted to do something to raise awareness of mental health issues, and put a plan in motion, dreaming big.
On August 29, 2017, Stocki qualified for the Guinness World Records after skateboarding at the highest altitude, at 5355m in Leh, Jammu and Kashmir, India.
He features in the 2019 edition of the world’s most popular record book, out September 6, which was first published in 1955 and has been a best seller ever since.
“I wanted to demonstrate the lengths I would go to to help out my friends, to look out for people in general,” Stocki says.
"I never thought I would end up on a mountain in Kashmir with my skateboard."
Stocki saw a Youtube video by Casey Neistat, a brash young filmmaker, entitled “Do What You Can’t” and he was also inspired by Jimmy Niggles, who set up Beard Season to raise awareness of skin cancer. He had found his reasons why.
“So as a terrible skateboarder, I decided to try and break the world record.”
But there was more to it. About the same time he took up skateboarding as a teenager, he started reading the teachings of the Dalai Lama.
“I’m not a spiritual person but I found his teachings very positive and uplifting. And I always wondered what it would be like to meet him in person.”
And so Stocki decided to try and tie the record-breaking attempt in with a meeting with the Dalai Lama.
“I originally wanted to go skating with him, but he is 83, so they shot that idea down very quickly,” Stocki says.
“After several more rejections they eventually said if I could make it to India on this date, at this time, they would see what they could do.”
Stocki met the Dalai Lama on August 30, the day after his record-breaking ride.
“It was an amazing experience,” Stocki says. “And to top it off I chanced it by asking if he would sign a skateboard, and he did.
“I now have the only holy skateboard in the world.
“He is a fan of Guinness World Records as well so I think that helped too. I still can't believe how it just all came together.”
Stocki said the hardest part of the whole experience was getting there. Conditions were inhospitable, a lot of paperwork was involved, and to qualify for the record he had to line up engineers and government officials to verify everything once he was on the ground in Kashmir.
The ride itself was only about 92 metres, down a dirt road, but the lack of oxygen at that height left him dizzy and exhausted.
And he still gets dizzy thinking about all the things he achieved in the three-week trip. For the next adventure, he’s planning on heading to Chile.
“The Andes might be the next mountains to conquer.”
