Over lunch in Langkawi, the adventurer, photographer and face of the Overseas collection reflects on life after climbing.

Once known for pushing himself to the edge of the world’s highest <a href="https://www.hommessingapore.com/living/switzerland-travel-mount-pilatus-dragon-mountain-adventure" target="_blank" rel="noopener">peaks</a>, American adventurer Cory Richards has spent the past few years exploring a different kind of frontier. The former <a href="https://www.hommessingapore.com/style/prada-re-nylon-2025-collection-sea-beyond" target="_blank" rel="noopener">National Geographic</a> photographer stepped aways from professional mountaineering in 2021, and has since turned his attention towards writing, advocacy, and the pursuit of a purposeful life.
Richards' spirit of exploration aligns naturally with <a href="https://www.hommessingapore.com/watches/everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-vacheron-constantin-historiques-222-steel" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Vacheron Constantin</a>’s Overseas Dual Time Cardinal Points collection, the direct descendent of the prototype he wore on Everest. Travelling to Langkawi to share stories from his expeditions and beyond, Richards later sat down with us for a candid conversation over lunch to talk about why, after a lifetime spent chasing summits, he believes the greatest journeys are the ones that happen within.

You’ve said recently that you’re happier now than you were at the height of your mountaineering career. Looking back, would you have done anything differently? If I knew then what I know now, I think I would have spent more time appreciating what was happening instead of being so focused on accomplishing it. Life was moving so fast that I didn’t really slow down enough to recognise what an extraordinary gift those experiences were. That’s not to say I wasn’t aware. I was. But I don’t think I gave those moments the full attention they deserved.
These days I’d focus less on achievement and more on just being. It’s cliché to say the journey matters more than the destination, but there’s a reason we keep coming back to that lesson. I wrote in my book that “only the summit can illuminate its own insignificance”, meaning you have to reach the top to realise it never held the answer you thought it did. That’s true for most people.
Was it difficult to walk away from climbing? The difficult part was leaving behind the identity I’d become so completely attached to. You see it with professional athletes and soldiers all the time. We build our entire identities around what we do, and when that ends we suddenly don’t know who we are anymore. It was time to let go of climbing. That’s not to say I won’t return someday, but if I do, it’ll be from a different place or perspective. I realised there’s a difference between saying “I’m a climber” and “I climb”. If you’re careful with that distinction, you won’t lose yourself when you stop doing the thing.

So who are you today? Philosophically speaking, at my best, I simply am. That’s it. As soon as you say, “I am this”, you’ve created a duality where the moment you’re no longer that thing, then who are you? But if you simply exist — you just are — that’s the totality of it. If I absolutely had to label myself, I’d probably be most comfortable calling myself an artist. Photography, writing, painting, building a business — those all come from the same creative impulse.
And your current True North? Service. For a long time it was being valuable to the world, but now I’m trying to figure out how I can be useful. It’s hard because it’s not completely baked yet, but I’d like to wake up every morning wanting to contribute rather than simply wanting to achieve.
Weren’t your photographs a form of service? They certainly were to some, but I can’t honestly say that was my motivation. Half the time I didn’t even know why I was making photographs; I just fell into it. And I created because it felt good to do so, it felt good to be valued for your creations. But to say that I was doing it out of service, regardless of the works’ impact, that wouldn’t be entirely true.

Your relationship with Vacheron Constantin has continued through some major changes in your life. It’s because they understand that exploration isn’t limited to climbing mountains. Certainly, when we first met, exploration meant mountaineering and photography. Then I stepped away from that world, and very few brands would stand by somebody once they longer fit the narrative. But Vacheron Constantin stayed through every version of who I was over the past 10 years, which spoke volumes and made me actually feel valued.
How has a life spent exploring shaped your relationship with time? In many ways, it slows time down. Adventure, exploration, living somewhat close to the edge — it makes you very aware of your own finitude and mortality, which ideally helps you appreciate the time you have. Not everyone responds that way. Some achieve the extraordinary and come home thinking they’re invincible. But I think the healthier response is to appreciate how finite life is and figure out how to make it as full as possible.
Do you miss the thrill of exploration? Of course. I miss the stimulation because it was my life for so long. But I don’t miss the stress. People often imagine adventure photography as this endless sequence of beautiful moments. The reality is that when it becomes your profession, it becomes incredibly demanding as well. You can love your work and hate the assignment you’re working on. These emotions aren’t mutually exclusive. Life is rarely as neat and concise as people want it to be.

Are you still taking photographs? I’ve gone back to shooting on film, which is just the coolest. I love the slowness of it all. Lately, I’ve been doing more fashion photography, which was where I started. Before climbing became my career, I spent years assisting fashion photographers, and I used the money from those jobs to fund my climbing trips.
Who are you working with now? Myself. I’m starting my own lifestyle brand and materials company called Second. The whole idea revolves around second chances. We’re taking deadstock that would otherwise become waste, and using it to make our own textiles. Many of the people we work with are also formerly incarcerated or have faced significant barriers in life, which resonates with me personally because I’ve lived that “second chance” story myself.&nbsp;
Storytelling seems central to everything you do. Story is everything. From the moment we wake up until we go to sleep, we’re telling ourselves stories about who we are and why our lives turned out the way it did. And most of the time we never stop to ask whether those stories are actually true, or whether they’re helping us. Take something painful, like a difficult relationship with a parent. You might tell yourself you’ve been abandoned. Someone else looking at the same exact events might see a story about love and sacrifice. The facts haven’t changed; the narrative has. That’s what my book (The Colour Of Everything) was really about: recognising that we have choices in how we interpret things in our life.&nbsp;

Vacheron Constantin’s 2026 story is to “Explore All Ways Possible”. What would you say to those who feel stuck? I’d tell them to stop trying so hard to become unstuck. Just be stuck. Really experience the discomfort instead of avoiding it. Then ask a different question. Not, “Why am I stuck?” but, “What do I actually want?” The answer doesn’t have to be grand. Sometimes being stuck is part of the process, and it usually takes more time than you might think. I’ve been stuck for years at a time, but I think it’s because I was fighting it.
After everything you've experienced, what still scares you? I'm scared all the time. I'm scared of not doing enough, not being enough, not having enough of an impact. And that comes down to time again. How we spend it, and whether we made the most of the time we had.

Guiding Every Journey: Vacheron Constantin Unveils the New Overseas Dual Time Cardinal Points

"Only the summit can illuminate its own insignificance."

A Chat with Vacheron Constantin's “One Of Not Many” Campaign Talent, Cory Richards

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