Past Projects: Seven Summits - Climbing the highest mountain on each of the seven continents
Time to do something else.
Arnold’s adventure began back in Switzerland when he left his company on October 31, 1998. One of the farewell gifts from his business partners was a package of mountaineering gear.
In preparation for his climbing adventures, Arnold went to Alaska (http://www.alaska.com) in 1999 to see how he could deal with extreme cold, as low as –55°C. It was during his time in Alaska when he first met Sima.
Arnold and Takao (Japan) on Vinson summit.
He did his 3-month “Canadian Mountaineering Semester” in the Rocky Mountains in 2000, which included ice climbing, ski mountaineering, winter camping, rock climbing, wilderness first aid, and white water canoeing (http://www.yamnuska.com).
Arnold’s first of the Seven Summits was Vinson in the Ellsworth Range, Antarctica (4,897 m/16,067 ft) in December 2000 (http://www.adventure-network.com).
After a brief but sweet rest with Sima in Buenos Aires, Arnold embarked on his second climb: Aconcagua, Argentina, the highest peak in South America (6,962 m/22,840 ft). After the test of the cold (Vinson) this was a test of high altitude (http://www.adventureconsultants.co.nz).
Beautiful Denali in Alaska.
Arnold’s third climb was Denali (Mount McKinley) in Alaska, North America’s highest mountain (6,195 m/20,320 ft). Denali would be a test of extreme cold and high elevation, in combination (http://www.AlpineAscents.com).
After he successfully climbed Denali, Arnold returned to Switzerland for technical training in the Swiss Alps, and high altitude training on Cho Oyu in Tibet (8,201 m/26,899 ft) and on Ecuador’s volcanoes with Sima, in preparation for the highest climb of all—Mount Everest.
10:30am on the “Roof of the World.”
Fourth climb: Mount Everest, Nepal/Tibet, Asia (8,848 m/29,028 ft). Accompanied by Sima, their journey began with a helicopter ride to Namche. From here they climbed over several days to Base camp. Sima returned to Namche while Arnold continued his climb toward the summit of Everest. On May 25, 2002 at 10:30 am, Arnold and his team sat on the “Roof of the World.”
Links:
http://www.EverestNews.com,
http://climb.mountainzone.com
Movies of interest:
IMAX: Everest, 1996, National Geographic,
Everest: 50 years on the mountain, 2002, National Geographic (Arnold’s team was on the summit with the film crew).
The fifth climb was Elbrus in Russia, the highest mountain in Europe (5,633 m/18,481 ft).
Next Sima and Arnold returned to the Swiss Alps for Sima’s technical training (ice climbing and rock climbing) in preparation for Kilimanjaro in Africa.
But first, Arnold travels to Australia to climb his sixth of the seven summits, Mount Kosciuszko (2,228 m/7,310 ft).
Sima & Arnold: Kilimanjaro together.
Finally, in December of 2003, Sima and Arnold both climb the very last of the seven summits, Kilimanjaro, Tanzania, Africa (5,963 m/19,339 ft). Arnold is the second Swiss (after Diego Wellig, a mountain guide in 2002) to reach this goal.
Links:
http://www.AdventureStats.com,
http://www.Explorersweb.com.
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