Mr. Speaker, some superheroes wear capes and fly, but the one I am honouring today wears warm clothes, a toque and boots with crampons, and he is a climber.
On August 12, while most of us were enjoying the summer sun, Charles Page from Drummondville was facing the worst weather conditions imaginable as he reached the summit of K2, the second-highest mountain in the world at 8,611 metres, and the most dangerous for the daredevils who to dare to scale it. Charles conquered Everest last year. K2 was his fifth mountain over 8,000 metres in three years.
He is the only Quebecker to have climbed both Everest and K2. He still has mountains to conquer because, believe it or not, Charles has been mountain climbing for only the past three years. The day before he left for Nepal, on June 23, Charles Page gave a fantastic patriotic speech at our national holiday celebrations in Drummondville. That is when I realized how proud he is to plant our flag, his fleur-de-lis, at some of the highest summits in the world.
We are so proud of Charles, and I thank him for that.