Seven Summits

What a memoir adventure.

For those who don't know, my first exposure to the idea of the seven summits was Dick Bass, Rick Ridgway, and Frank Wells.

I think it was in the 80s they wrote a book called The Seven Summits.

Explain to the listener The Seven Summits and your book.

Okay.

The seven summits are the highest peak on each continent.

So we have North America, South America, Antarctica.

Depending on the list, there could be, there's different geographical locations that could refer to the seventh summit rather than it could be the eighth summit.

And you can be able to just text and stream from them as well over satellite network, which is insane to me.

Just so different from what I had when I was in the throes of my Seven Summits project.

But so that's one thing that is in almost everybody's pocket.

Now, not every iPhone out there can currently do that.

Didn't get so much wet, but went back the following year.

And then 2022, sorry, 2023 went to Denali in Alaska and then down to Kosciuszko in January 2024 and then into Mount Vinson in Antarctica, which was absolutely amazing to finish the seven summits.

And Kosciuszko was an Australian.

You've traversed the planet and the highest points in the planet as well.

Who took you up? You know, you fly into Kathmandu, then you make your way, take it to base camp first.

Who were you in a group? Who took you to the summit? Who went up with you?

I went with a company called Seven Summits.

And they have, you know, their climb leaders, etc.

Yeah, I think I would like to play climbing.

There's the seven summits, the highest on each continent.

So I've climbed the highest and I've climbed the easiest, which is Mount Kosciuszko in Australia.

That's very easy to get to the top of.

Bryan, just finished Leadville, and family's like, "What's he gonna do next?" What is a goal that you have that you're scared to say out loud, but once you say it, like, "Damn, I gotta go for it"? Do you have one that's just in there somewhere? [laughs]

I mean, my, my long-term goal, which has been a, a goal for a while now, is I, I really wanna climb all seven of the, uh, all seven summits, which is the highest summit on each continent.

Um, I've done Aconcagua, I've done Kilimanjaro, but, you know, now, now it's some of the, the big boys left, going up to Denali, going up to Everest.

Um, so I, I still wanna do all those.

Um, just because, you know, if, when you go on these long journeys, like with Leadville, it's like, if it's not something that you love and it's not something that's calling you, it's really hard to keep the motivation, especially when you're in the gym for the seventh night in a row doing three hours of work after everybody else has gone to bed.

Like, you just, you really need to have the drive and the motivation to really go after something like that.

Um, so other than my long-term project of the Seven Summits, I, I just don't have anything right now.

No, it makes total sense, man.

Mm-hmm.

And what I've realized, and as a mountaineer, we have something called the Seven Summits.

Mm-hmm.

And it's the s- it's the seven summits which are the tallest mountains on each of the seven continents.

And once you've conquered these seven mountains, it's the, you know, it's known in our world that you've conquered the world.

Yeah.

Then I asked myself, "What about conquering your inner world? How about identifying what are the seven summits that make up my definition of success?" Yeah, because I mean, even with everything that was going on, how is it that I was ha- facing health issues where w- where, you know, you mentioned I had a car crash that almost cost me my life.

Yeah.

[laughs]

Um, I'd love to do more of the Seven Summits.

Uh, I'd love to go back to Nepal.

Um, love to do Mount Elbrus in Russia.