Drag queen treks for seven days to make history and dance as Beyoncé on Mount Everest
Beyoncé Experience at Everest Base Camp. (Aaron Carty)
Aaron Carty, otherwise known as drag queen and Queen Bey impersonator Beyoncé Experience, walked for seven days and climbed 5,364 metres to reach Everest Base Camp and perform as his idol.
With no running water or heating in freezing temperatures and relentless snow, carrying a Beyoncé costume while suffering from altitude sickness, Carty finally realised a dream he’d had since he was 16 years old.
As far as we know, Beyoncé Experience is the first drag queen to ever have performed at Everest Base Camp.
Drag queen @AaronCarty trekked for seven days to make history and dance as Beyoncé on Mount Everest. ?? Read more: https://t.co/vmuzOkqYZ6 pic.twitter.com/HQ8H3hlioC
— PinkNews (@PinkNews) October 31, 2019
Carty said: “Realising it was such a difficult challenge, I had Googled to see if a drag queen had done it before.
“Not having found anything I couldn’t resist taking Beyoncé Experience with me, so it was just for fun.”
However, bringing everything required to transform into Beyoncé required some sacrifice. Carty’s bag originally weighed in at 15kg, but there was a 10 kg limit for his flight. He managed to reduce his luggage, but it meant that his costume took up half of his bag.
Aaron Carty, otherwise known as Beyoncé Experience, climbed 5,364 metres to perform. (Aaron Carty)
Seven days later, his party reached base camp but it was now time to get into denim hot pants in -15 C temperatures.
“Walking for four hours in the snow, to then have to take your clothes off in front of 100 people to get into drag and dance, isn’t much fun.”
Luckily the final performance was worth it, as Beyoncé Experience high-kicked and shimmied to Beyoncé’s ‘Welcome (Homecoming Live)’.
Would Carty repeat the gruelling yet fabulous performance?
He said: “Absolutely not. It’s a one time experience.
“However, I do have the urge to look at where else I could take Beyonce that is quite unique…”
Beyoncé Experience gave an incredible performance at this year’s UK Black Pride in London, dressed in a yellow catsuit and joined by dancers wearing jumpsuits in the other colours of the Pride flag.
