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ED VIESTURS
AMERICA’S LEADING HIGH ALTITUDE CLIMBER
In a sport often marked by radical attitudes, “getting to the top” has clouded many a mountaineer’s visions. Yet, the true objective has always been clear to America’s leading high altitude climber, Ed Viesturs. “Steady Ed,” known for climbs without the aid of oxygen due to his record breaking aerobic capacity, has applied perseverance and patience to safely make it back down each time.
By the end of the decade, Ed plans to become the first American to climb all 14 of the world’s peaks measuring over 8,000 meters, without the aid of bottled oxygen. And he is well on his way. To date, Ed has summited 10 peaks, knocking off perhaps the largest obstacles (including the big three – Everest, K2 and Kanchenjunga), but still facing challenging climbs on Annapurna in Nepal and Nanga Parbat in Pakistan. This Spring, Ed will be attempting to summit Dhaulagiri in Nepal, the sixth highest peak in the world and also Manaslu in Central Nepal.
After a childhood filled with reading the chronicles of Antarctica expeditions, Ed left the flatlands of Illinois and headed to the Cascade Mountain Range in the state of Washington. After completing an undergraduate degree in Zoology form the University of Washington, Ed went on to receive a degree in veterinary medicine from Washington State University. He practiced as a veterinarian for 2 years, spending his weekends climbing the peaks of the Cascade Range, before devoting himself to his sport full-time in 1989.
Ed is considered one of the world’s busiest and most reliable mountaineers. He climbs by his watch, calculating a departure time that will allow him to reach the summit before his predetermined turnaround time.
In addition to his status as America’s foremost high altitude climber, Ed is an expert on extreme sports and a sought-after motivational speaker with valuable lessons all of us can share no matter what our endeavor. Ed has been profiled in such publications as Sports Illustrated and Time Magazine, as well as featured prominently in Jon Krakauer’s current best seller, Into Thin Air.
Because of his smart and safe techniques, Ed served as the climbing leader for the successful 1996 Everest IMAX Filming Expedition, which entailed the first-ever filming of an ascent to the summit of Everest with a large-format IMAX camera. The much-anticipated film debuted last month.
Ed, often billed as the “Cal Ripken of the Himalayas,” and the “Chevy truck of mountaineering,” resides in Seattle with his wife, Paula and their young son, Gil.
