Ed Viesturs

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Ed Viesturs (born June 22, 1959), is one of the world's premier high-altitude mountaineers. He is the first American, and 12th person overall, to summit all fourteen mountains over 8000m (collectively known as the eight-thousanders), and the sixth climber to do it without bottled oxygen. Viesturs also has summitted Mount Everest six times, a feat that, excluding Sherpas, has only been surpassed by Pete Athans (7), Gheorghe Dijmarescu ^[1](8), and Dave Hahn ^[2] (7).

Born and raised in Rockford, Illinois, Viesturs moved to Seattle, Washington in 1977 to attend the University of Washington. It was here that he began his mountaineering career on the slopes of Mount Rainier. He eventually became a guide for Rainier Mountaineering, Inc. and later obtained a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree from Washington State University.

Viesturs was in the IMAX team during the 1996 Everest Disaster. Viesturs was the star of the Everest IMAX movie. Filming was delayed as the blizzard struck and the IMAX team postponed shooting to aid the stranded climbers; however, the IMAX team continued on, and they summited on May 23, 1996.

His interest in the Himalaya was sparked in high school by reading Maurice Herzog's account of the first climb of Annapurna. After climbing Kanchenjunga in 1989, Mount Everest in 1990, and K2 in 1992, Viesturs was able to become an international mountain guide and obtain sponsorship for full-time mountaineering. He continued climbing in the Himalaya, with his most recent climbs being Broad Peak and Nanga Parbat in 2003 and Mount Everest (sixth time) in 2004. He guides expeditions for New Zealand-based Adventure Consultants and currently resides in Bainbridge Island, Washington, just across Puget Sound from Seattle, Washington^[3].

Viesturs climbs with partner Veikka Gustafsson and is a recipient of the David A. Sowles Memorial Award from the American Alpine Club.

No Shortcuts to the Top, Viestur's autobiography documenting his summitting of the eight-thousanders was released in October, 2006.

On November 5, 2006, Viesturs completed his first marathon, the 2006 ING New York City Marathon in 3:15:18 (2,061th place, 7:27 minutes/mile pace).

He was a guest on the Daily Show on December 7, 2006, and on the Colbert Report on March 14, 2007.

He made a brief appearance in the motion picture Vertical Limit as himself.

[edit] List of Major Climbs

1987 - Mount Everest - Attempted with Eric Simonson, but did not summit after running out of rope
1988 - Mount Everest - Attempted, but did not summit
1989 - Kanchenjunga
1990 - Mount Everest
1991 - Mount Everest
1992 - K2 - With Scott Fischer
2000 - Shishapangma - Attempted, but did not summit
1993 - Mount Everest - Solo attempt, did not summit
1994 - Mount Everest - Guide on commercial expedition run by Rob Hall
1994 - Lhotse
1994 - Cho Oyu
1995 - Mount Everest - Attempted, but did not summit
1995 - Makalu
1995 - Gasherbrum II
1995 - Gasherbrum I
1996 - Mount Everest - Part of David Breashears's IMAX expedition, without supplemental oxygen
1996 - Cho Oyu
1997 - Mount Everest - PBS Nova Expedition
1997 - Broad Peak - Attempted, but did not summit
1998 - Dhaulagiri - Attempted, but did not summit
1999 - Manaslu
1999 - Dhaulagiri
2000 - Annapurna - Attempted, but did not summit
2001 - Nanga Parbat - Attempted, but did not summit
2001 - Shishapangma
2002 - Annapurna - Attempted, but did not summit
2003 - Nanga Parbat
2003 - Broad Peak
2004 - Mount Everest - Part of an expedition capturing footage for a film about the 1996 Everest disaster to be directed by Stephen Daldry
2005 - Cho Oyu - Attempted, but did not summit in an effort to save friend Jimmy Chin (ace climbing photographer) from cerebral edema
2005 - Annapurna