Some stories you plan. Others just happen. Mike Roop is a regular at Solace Outpost in Washington D.C.'s Navy Yard — the kind of guy who orders a Flying Tumbler neat, stays for the conversation, and always has a story worth hearing. Last year, he climbed Manaslu — the eighth highest mountain in the world — and texted a photo home from the summit. His friend Ryan, the bar's assistant manager, had it blown up and hung behind the bar. For months, customers kept asking two questions: who's that guy, and what's Flying Tumbler?

This spring, Mike went back to the Himalayas. This time, Everest. We sent him off with a few minis, a flag, and a disposable camera. No brief. No shot list. No rules. Just: take Paddy somewhere worth talking about.

He did. At 5,364 metres, standing at Everest Base Camp with the Flying Tumbler flag in his hands and the Khumbu Icefall at his back, Mike became the first official Flying Tumbler — the first of twelve people we're following this year as they chase their own stories across the world.

Mike's still at Base Camp. He'll be there for another few weeks, acclimatising, waiting, preparing. The disposable camera is still shooting. When he gets home, we'll develop it and add those photos here — the grainy, unfiltered, real version of what it looks like to carry an Irish whiskey brand to the roof of the world.

Chase stories, not status. Mike certainly did.

Want to be a Flying Tumbler? If you're heading somewhere worth a story, we want to hear about it. Drop us a message on Instagram @flying_tumbler or email patrick@flyingtumbler.com.