The only thing between him and his goal was 2,228 metres of Australia's highest mountain.
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Now this Mittagong paralypian can say he witnessed views from the ceiling of Australia, and did it his way.
Mount Kosciuszko is no easy feat.
From its first ascent in 1840, it has been taking climbers breath with its views and strenuous workout walk.
Now Southern Highland paralympian, Sam Tait can say he faced the mountain and climbed it solo.
The idea of climbing Kosciuszko came from a previous time on the mountain.
"Last season I did Kosi with a few mates and they pulled me up," Tait said.
"They used ropes and harnesses and I was sitting there not doing anything. We started discussing whether or not I could do it solo.
"I thought it sounded alright. We sat down this year and talked about it.
"We spoke of the logistics and began planning. We needed modified sleds to bring our gear up and a cross country ski.
"Then it was figuring out the route, when people were free and not raining.
"We climbed on Sunday, October 11 2020."
They began the 10 hour hike at 11am and finished around 10pm.
With Tait being used to blasting down a mountain side and trying to go as quick as he can in his Men's Downhill Sitting and Men's Giant Slalom Sitting competitions, a lot of training and preparation went into going the other way up a mountain.
"It was a tricky one," Tait said.
"My sport isn't endurance or long distance. It's two minute runs where I have to be explosive and fast.
"My coach didn't really change much of my training as I am pretty fit. I knew I could get there, but we kept the fitness level high.
"It was more of a staying fit at a high level and keeping ready for the challenge."
Using a hand-cycle and cross country ski, Tait's arms had to have grown in size as it looked like a work out and a half.
"(laughs) yeah, the hand-cycle was easier as it was only used for about five kilometres," Tait said.
"There was a part where a side hill of snow which went for a few hundred meters, it was too steep to use the cross country ski. The ski really only works on flat, level ground.
"I thought to myself I'll just get one of my mates to hold my legs and I'll walk on the snow with my hands.
"Within 10 metres I was like 'oh no, this was a bad idea' (laughs).
"We did 15 metre stints. By the end of it I was cramping up and I was nervous I'd stuffed it all up.
"I was then doing single arm rows to pull myself up. That was a good hour and a half of that. Half way up I was thinking to myself, 'this is the worst idea I've ever had' (laughs).
"But, I was that far up by then and I was definitely not going to give up, because I could see the top.
"I kept pushing through and it was all a mental game from there to reach the summit."
Pushing through the cramps and the fatigue, Tait reached the summit with everything in his being drained. But, he witnessed something that he may never see again and will always remember.
"When I got to the summit, I was absolutely cooked (laughs)," Tait said.
"I was ecstatic that I had just climbed the highest mountain in Australia, but I was pretty tired.
"But, because we had got to the top a bit later, we saw the sunset from the top of Kosciuszko.
"That was pretty special because it was something that I probably won't ever see again.
"It was special having all my mates there with me who helped me get to the top and helped me achieve my goal that we'd been planning for quite some time.
"We cracked a beer at the top, I took one sip and was like 'nah, I can't' (laughs).
"I knew we had to trek back and I could see it ending badly (laughs). So I had some water.
"It took us three hours to get back. It wasn't like 'yeap, we've made it, we're done.'
"We had to hike back in pitch black. It wasn't too bad. The stars out there, I've never seen so many stars. It was incredible."
After accomplishing such a magnificent, tough goal, 2020 may not be done and dusted for the Mittagong star.
If COVID doesn't step in and ruin the end of 2020 like it has for the bulk of the year, Tait may be off to get ready for competition.
"At the moment we do plan on going over to Switzerland on December 10," Tait said.
"Europe is changing really badly each day now, but that is the plan. We have to wait till December 4 to see if the World Championships are on in Norway for 2021.
"If not, we'll stay here and I'll keep training. At the moment it's all a waiting game. But training for something you're not even sure is happening is difficult.
"So I'm just taking it day by day."
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