For Ed Viesturs, a man who has spent the last 16 years of his life working to become the first American to climb the world’s 14 tallest peaks—all above 8,000 meters—patience is more than a virtue: It could save his life.
On Thursday, May 12, Viesturs summitted Nepal’s Annapurna, the last of 14 8,000-meter peaks Viesturs has been checking off his list since 1989, making him the first American to summit them all.
Ed Viesturs will stay away from the roof of the world, but that doesn’t mean he’s done climbing.
From ϳԹ magazine, August 2005
“Never say never, but I have no desire to climb over 8,000 meters again,” says mountaineering superstar Ed Viesturs.
From Gorp.com
He’s called the Human Lung and Mr. O2, references to his apparent superhuman ability to excel in the thin-air Death Zone, a feat even more profound since he climbs without supplemental oxygen