Sightseeing combined with rock climbing keeps adventurous couple tightly bonded

Ms Michelle Verma, 38, and her husband Mariusz Kozlowski, 34, have each travelled to more than 100 countries.

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In fact, about 10 years ago, Mr Kozlowski, a data scientist, travelled solo overland from his home country of Poland to Singapore in six months, mostly hitchhiking and on trains. He celebrated the end of the road with a Tiger beer at the top of Marina Bay Sands hotel.

Ms Verma, a sports performance coach, says: "We eat, live and breathe travel and sports."

They got married on the leap year date of Feb 29, 2020. Although the closed borders of the Covid-19 pandemic put paid to their honeymoon then, the pair decided to visit their intended destination - Antarctica - during a sabbatical in 2024, which was prompted by Mr Kozlowski suffering burnout and quitting his last job. She decided to put her work on hold and join him to travel for six months.

They upped the ante by covering South America and the Caribbean as well, and included multi-pitch climbing as an additional challenge they had not undertaken together before.

Multi-pitch climbing is a more complex form of rock climbing, where a route is ascended in multiple sections or pitches, each typically the length of one rope, which can be between 30m and 60m long. Single-pitch climbs, in contrast, are continuous, shorter routes that can be completed in one rope length.

In multi-pitch climbing, the lead climber ascends, builds an anchor, then belays a team member up to that anchor before they start the next pitch. This process is repeated until they reach the top. Belaying is a technique where a climber is secured by a rope that is controlled by another person called the belayer. The belayer can catch the climber if he falls.