A Celeb Reaches Everest Base Camp

Mandy Moore scratched an item off her bucket list as she reached Everest base camp this week. The This Is Us actress wasn't part of a problematic traffic jam some 12,000 feet above base camp, which sits 17,600 feet above sea level, though she did honor those who've died on the peak, per USA Today. "Respect, reverence, appreciation … washed over us as we took in the prayer flags and yellow domed tents of basecamp" and were "attuned to the palpable energy of all of those who came before and lost their lives in these mountains," wrote the 35-year-old, who documented her journey with friends on Instagram.

She described her trek, ending with a helicopter trip to Kathmandu, as one-sixth of the journey to the Everest summit, yet full of "physical discomfort, personal challenge AND fundamental spiritual growth." "We stand in awe of the fortitude and training and superhuman strength it takes to attempt a feat like Everest," she wrote, adding she had learned "the fine art of pressure breathing"—"essentially a big inhale and a sharp, forceful exhale, like you're blowing out a candle across the room, to open up your lungs, allowing you to use more oxygen." Moore previously summited Mount Kilimanjaro, per People. (More Mount Everest stories.)