Seventy Summits: Life in the Mountains

by Vern Tejas, Lew Freedman

Overview

As a mountain climbing guide, it is Vern Tejas's job to climb the tallest mountain on each continent. Always rebellious, Tejas never met a challenge he couldn't overcome, even the daunting task of climbing Mount Everest. In fact, he climbed all of the tallest mountains on each of the seven continents more than ten times each. Seventy Summits is his tale of the beauty, danger, and surprising freedom of mountain climbing and what it has given him throughout his life.

Tejas battled the extreme cold of Denali and scaled Aconcagua and its windy slopes. Mont Blanc provided beautiful views, but Tejas towered over the European continent on Mt. Elbrus. The Roof of Africa is attempted by 35,000 people each year, but Mt. Kilimanjaro wasn’t as friendly as it looked. Antarctica’s Mt. Vinson boasted the last true frontier at a steep price tag. As a guide, Tejas got paid to climb it. Mt. Koscuiszko, Australia’s tallest mountain, was practically a stroll in the park at 7,310 feet. Finally, Tejas climbed tallest mountain in the world: Mt. Everest.

Then he climbed them all ten times each.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781681570471
Publisher:	Blue River Press
Publication date:	06/01/2017
Pages:	256
Product dimensions:	6.30(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Vern Tejas is a mountain climber and guide from ¬¬¬Mahwah, New Jersey. He currently hold the world record for fastest climb of the Seven Summits and was the first person to solo summit Mt. Vinson in Antarctica as well as several other mountains. He was named one of the top fifty Alaskan athletes of the 20th century by Sports Illustrated and was inducted into the Alaska Sports Hall of fame in 2012.

Lew Freedman is the author of more than 90 books including dozens of biographies for adult and school aged readers. He also enjoyed a long career as a journalist and newspaper editor for the Chicago Tribune, Philadelphia Inquirer and the Anchorage Daily News. The author currently resides in Columbus, Indiana.

Table of Contents

About the Authors 1

A Personal Note 3

Introduction 7

Everest Achieved 11

Growing Up 23

Alaska and Denali Wishes 31

Climbing Denali 41

Denali Becomes a Climbing Home 51

Winter on Mount Logan and Mount Hunter 63

Winter Solo on Denali 75

New Opportunities 83

The Worst Moment 89

The Seven Summits 95

Aconcagua 107

Mount Vinson 115

Norman Vaughan and Mount Vaughan 123

South Pole-North Pole 135

Ernest Shackleton and Mount Vinson 145

Kosciuszko 151

Carstensz Pyramid 159

Mount Kilimanjaro 169

Mount Elbrus 185

Guiding 195

Returns to Everest 203

Denali 217

The Future 231