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Ed Viesturs
First American to Climb All of the World's 8,000-Meter Peaks
Ed Viesturs is America's leading high altitude mountaineer, having climbed many of the world's most challenging summits, including ascending Mount Everest six times. On May 12, 2005, he completed his quest to climb all 14 of the world's highest mountains (above 8,000 meters) without the use of supplemental oxygen. He is the first American to do so.
“When I first attempt a Himalayan peak,” Viesturs explains, “I climb without bottled oxygen, even if it keeps me from reaching the summit. My personal goal is to see how I can perform, to experience the mountain as it is without reducing it to my level. For me, how I reach the top is more important than whether I do. “Once climbers are on oxygen,” Viesturs continues, “they become stronger. But it’s a bit of a crutch. Without it, I don’t have a mechanical apparatus that can fail on me and thereby endanger me. The oxygen system is awkward. Sunglasses won’t fit over the mask, so I have to wear goggles, which fog up. Also, I can’t seem to suck enough air fast enough through the valves of the mask—I have to rip it off to take a full breath. Most importantly, I’m aware of the tricks that altitude and hypoxia can play on you. While climbing, I test myself, asking myself whether I’m aware of the conditions, of my actions, and of what is around me. Exhaustion and hypoxia can cause one to lose it mentally, and I never allow myself to fall into this state. When I’m guiding, however, I always use oxygen. You’re there for the clients, and oxygen does enable you to function better, both physically and mentally.”
Viesturs was born in 1959 and grew up in the flatlands of Rockford, Illinois, where the highest objects on the horizon were water towers. His parents were immigrants — his father, a mechanical design engineer from Latvia; his mother from Germany — who arrived in the early 1950s. In high school, Viesturs read and was captivated by Annapurna, the French climber Maurice Herzog's famous and grisly account of the first ascent of an 8,000-meter peak in 1950. I reminded Viesturs that Herzog's tale had a lot more frostbite, amputation, and near-death suffering than it did fun. "That's not what interested me," he replied. "What I liked was that these guys had a goal and they just wouldn't give up. They spent months and months finding the mountain; then they climbed it. So simple, so basic. I'm a very goal-oriented person, and I like things that take a long time to accomplish."
After some beginner's rock climbing at Devil's Lake, Wisconsin, Viesturs left the Midwest for the University of Washington in 1977 and inaugurated a long-running obsession with Mount Rainier. "I could see it from my dorm window, and it became my focus," he says. "I was maniacal about it. Every weekend, I'd bum a ride or hitchhike, rain or shine, just to be on the mountain." He eventually landed a job as a guide with Rainier Mountaineering Inc., then began a four-year period combining veterinary studies at Washington State University in Pullman and guiding during the summer. After becoming a vet in 1987, Viesturs practiced in two clinics run by friends who reluctantly gave him months off at a time to climb in the Himalayas. Finally, his absences were too long and too frequent, and he was forced to choose: be a vet or be a climber. He chose the mountains.
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| Ueli Steck’s solo ride in the Khumbu-Express: Stops at Cholatse and Tawoche
 This spring, there was much fuzz around some very mediocre Everest climbs. Meanwhile, only a few thousands of feet away from the big E, a solo climber completed two beautiful faces in elegant, alpine style. (Click to enlarge).
 At 29 years, Ueli Steck is an accomplished rock and ice climber. Free solo ascents, alpine style and extreme mixed routes are his favorite games. In Himalaya, he completed the first ascent of Pumori’s West Face, and he has also attempted the North Face of Jannu. (Click to enlarge).
 Ueli climbed with a 6kg/14 lbs heavy backpack, measuring each gram down to the ounce. As a result, he carried only the most essential gear, and very little food. His dinner during the second bivouac...warm water. (Click to enlarge).
 The North Face of Cholatse is a huge wall similar in difficulty to Eiger's North Face (vertical ice, grade V rock and M6 mixed terrain). But unlike on Eiger, where there are options for rescue in case of trouble, Ueli was literally solo on Cholatse.
(Click to enlarge).
 Between the nights of 24-25 April Ueli carried out a rapid 4.5 hour first solo ascent of the East Face of Tawoche. Ueli sped over the mixed terrain, with ice up to 50-60° and vertical pitches on the 1500m face, and returned to Base Camp in time for breakfast. (Click to enlarge). All images courtesy of Ueli's website.
| 07:23 am EDT Jul 07, 2005
In the world of exploration, a bland challenge, if attached to a famous name and/or a good story can be enough to attract headlines, overshadowing true accomplishment.
This spring, there was much fuzz around the Everest normal routes. Meanwhile, only a few thousands of feet away from the big E, a solo climber completed two beautiful faces in elegant, alpine style.
“Khumbu-Express” - Three non-stop solo climbs
The climber was Ueli Steck, 29, from Switzerland. In April, he completed two outstanding solo ascents in the Nepalese region of Everest. His initial goal was the North Face of Cholatse, the East Face of Tawoche and the North East Face of Ama Dablam. He named his quest “Khumbu-Express.”
The most spectacular of the three, was the first solo ascent of the North Face of Cholatse (6440 m) on April 14-15. The face is a huge wall similar in difficulty to Eiger's North Face (vertical ice, grade V rock and M6 mixed terrain). But unlike on Eiger, where there are options for rescue in case of trouble, Ueli was literally solo on Cholatse.
No camps, no ropes, no company… no food
The mental challenge equaled the technical quest: Ueli had to focus hard and beat his fears.
Ueli climbed with a 6kg/14 lbs heavy backpack, measuring each gram down to the ounce. As a result, he carried only the most essential gear, and very little food. His dinner during the second bivouac...warm water.
He climbed in swift, alpine style and made 2 bivouacs, one at 6000m and the other during the descent on the South Face. Steck graded the 1500 M6 mixed ice and rock line up to Swiss V.
Haunted by possible things that could have gone wrong
Hungry but safe, Steck returned to BC with the first summit of the three secured. But the pressure of the climb got to him. Ueli collapsed - mentally. According to his girlfriend, who had waited for him in BC, “He spent a week feeling exhausted and apathetic. It was an emotional void that he had never experienced before - haunted by possible things that could have gone wrong during the ascent.”
Right before setting off for Cholatse he had said that, in such a climb, “any small mistake would have lethal consequences.”
Soon enough, his motivation returned, and Ueli was headed for his next goal. This one would prove easier and, most of all, faster.
A fast one and a no-go
Between the nights of 24-25 April he carried out a rapid 4.5 hour first solo ascent of the East Face of Tawoche. Ueli sped over the mixed terrain, with ice up to 50-60° and vertical pitches on the 1500m face. Steck returned to Base Camp in time for breakfast.
Unable to complete the trilogy, as dangerous conditions on the North East Face of Ama Dablam forced him to abandon his attempt at 5900m, Ueli had won two out of three personal bets: Cholatse and Tewoche provided a ride wild enough in his private Himalaya-Express.
Last year, Ueli Steck soloed Excalibur, a 6b, 350mlong route the Wendenstöcke, followed by a trilogy of the Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau north faces in 24 hours along with Stephan Siegrist.
At 29 years, Ueli Steck is an accomplished rock and ice climber. He has completed numerous alpine style routes in the Alps, Alaska, and Patagonia. Free solo ascents and extreme mixed routes are his favorite games. In Himalaya, he completed the first ascent on Pumori’s west face in alpine style, and has attempted the North Face of Jannu. | | |
| Everest Supercouloir: "What is a summit compared to a friend's life?"
 Image of Ralf and Gerlinde helping and cheering up Hiro at their arrival to their BC, by Stefan Nestler, courtesy of Stefan Nestler’s Everest-blog,Deutsche Welle/DW-World.de
| 02:36 pm EDT Jun 03, 2005
A fast response, common sense and unabated support from skilled team-mates saved Hirotaka’s life. Ralf Dujmovits, Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner and Hirotaka Takeuchi were on their BC-to-summit Supercouloir push on Everest’s north face, when the Japanese climber fell sick.
Climbing on the North Ridge in the morning he had been perfectly fit, but once in the tent his state rapidly deteriorated – to a scary level.
Cerebral edema
“We were at 7650m. Hiro lost the capacity of talking, and his pulse dropped to 50 bits per minute. His body was so cold, that Gerlinde had a tough time trying to find a vein to administer Dexamethasone,” Ralf told Deutsche-Welle reporter Stefan Nestler, who was with the climbers in the team’s lonely BC on the central Rongbuk Glacier, unable to do anything.
“Hiro’s eyes were wide open, but it was as if he was not there anymore. After a while he opened his clenched teeth and spat blood.”
Without losing a second, Gerlinde and Ralf put Hiro in their down suit and got him in the feather sleeping bag. Then they called a doctor in Austria over satellite phone asking for further advice.
”Take a picture before I die”
“Gerlinde and Ralf stayed awake all night, treating Hiro with altitude drugs. Eventually, he got better. At one point, he asked Ralf to take a picture of him before he died.”
Ralf and Gerlinde kept their cool. They knew exactly what to do. As Hiro got better, and capable of moving, he would have to get down by his own power. “I’ll belay him with a rope, and we will traverse to Everest’s normal route on the north side,” dispatched Ralf over the radio.
“Hiro is getting better and better as we lose altitude,” was the message the next morning from the north ridge at 7000. “Now he can rappel down as a young God.”
The team reached ABC on the Normal route and got help from Russell Brice’s team. Russell quickly provided the climbers with a tent, food and drinks. Hiro immediately fell asleep.
Friendship works miracles
The team rested in Brice’s camp while the blizzard whipped Everest’s north side two nights ago. Yesterday all three reached their own BC, by the lonely north face. “Today was the day the team had planned for the summit. They would have liked to stand on the top together. However, what’s in a summit, compared to the life of a friend?”
“Now Hiro is sitting with us at the table in BC’s mess tent, very weak but alive and kicking… Almost a miracle!”
Yes, almost. But those who ever got into trouble while on the mountain know well, as Hiro does, how important it is to climb with friends.
German climber Ralf Dujmovits, Austrian Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner, and Japanese climber Hirotaka Takeuchi have rejoined forces this spring for some doubleheader action in the Himalaya.
Their first – accomplished – goal was an Alpine style climb on Sihsha Pangma’s South Face. They summited on May 8th and traversed to the north side.
The second goal, also in alpine style, was Everest North Face though the Supercouloir (combination route on the Japanese Ridge and Hornbein Couloir).The team launched their summit bid aiming to reach the top on June 1st, but they were forced to abort at 7650 m. when Hirotaka suffered from Cerebral edema. Ralf and Gerlinde look after Hiro and helped him down.
Ralf Dujmovits started climbing at the age of 7 at The Battert, a climbing school near Baden-Baden (Southern Germany). Currently he is in charge of Amical Alpine, and has summited 10 8000ers: Dhaulagiri in 1990, Everest in 1992, K2 in 1994, Cho Oyu (1) in 1995, Shisha Pangma Central Summit in 1996, Shisha Pangma main Summit in 1997, Cho Oyu (2) in 1998, Broad Peak in 1999, GII in 2000, Nanga Parbat in 2001, Annapurna I in 2004, GI in 2004. He has guided teams on all those peaks, except Annapurna.
In 2004, Ralf, Gerlinde and Hirotaka summited Annapurna, after a serious attempt on Shisha Pangma South Face. In summer, they planned on climbing both Gasherbrums and K2, but poor weather conditions left them with only enough time to summit GI.
Ace female climber, Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner, has summited Cho Oyu, Makalu, Manaslu, Nanga Parbat, Annapurna and most recently Gasherbrum I: Six 8,000ers. Gerlinde is considered one of the top female high altitude climbers and is the 6th woman to reach Anna's summit. She has also summited Shisha Pangma Central and Broad Peak.
Japanese climber Hirotaka has summited Makalu, Everest, K2, Nanga Parbat, and in 2004, he summited Annapurna and GI. He summited Everest and K2 back to back in 1996 and, at the age of 25, became the youngest climber to summit the world's two highest mountains. He now has six 8,000ers. | | |
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Pakistan: The scoop on permits, insurance and safety
Last week, Gerlinde and Gnaro reported problems with their climbing permit, and the Benegas brothers had similar trouble. “Our full first day in Islamabad was full of surprises, related to new regulations and procedures with the rescue insurances,” reported Damian.
“As common practice we got pretty good insurance, but the local government didn’t care. They needed either a deposit of $6,000 or a letter of the embassy promising that the embassy will pay the cost of the rescue. Of course the first thing the consulate said to us was: “You guys should not be in this country.” So after a long discussion with our agency we came up with the deposit.
Full Story | | | |
| Sean's last words: "Just tell everyone that I love them"
Apr 29, 2005 17: 38 EST
Harold, Sean's team mate has updated the Kanatek expedition website with his reflection on the loss of his expedition partner. Read his story in his own diary (find it in the links section).
The Doc had called Harold from Thukla, stating he was too weak to continue further to Pheriche. Harold arranged for a helicopter evacuation. After discussing this arrangement, Sean said good bye to his buddy: "Just tell everyone that I love them.”
"That was the last time we spoke," writes Harold.
Apparently Sean had collapsed as the helicopter arrived, probably from a cardiac arrest. They carried out CPR on him but it was no good.
"This afternoon, as the flags at Base Camp fluttered quietly in the breeze, we knew Sean was with us in spirit."
Read Harolds full entry on the team's website.
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