The top of the world

I honestly had no idea about this when I posted yesterday's entry re climbing Mt. Everest, but today, I learned that Ed Viesturs has accomplished the feat of climbing the 14 8,000-meter peaks without supplemental oxygen. Annapurna was his last peak and you can read his hiking log here or if you're looking for a quicker read, go here. The fact Viesturs did it without oxygen is really amazing, since at that height, hypoxia sets in and most people lose the ability to think clearly, not to mention a whole host of other problems -- dehydration, exhaustion, frostbite.

Viesturs, along with Aracelli Segarra, was a star of the Everest IMAX movie, which happened to film during the 1996 disaster in which eight climbers died. Along with the movie -- which provides beautiful visuals of the mountain -- I also highly recommend Jon Krakauer's Into Thin Air, which details that fateful trek up the flanks of an unforgiving peak and how exactly it could happen so many people could die in a single die. It's also an eye-opener as to how Everest isn't just something you climb; it's also something you suffer and to do it, you have to really, really want it.

Since both Viesturs and Segarra were on Everest filming the IMAX movie (both summitted, btw) during the '96 tragedy, they are mentioned in Krakauer's book, and Viesturs plays a key role in the rescue operations. Segarra, I should mention, caught my eye during the beginning of the movie, when she was shown dangling off a cliff -- without ropes. I remember thinking, "You go, girl."

As unforgiving as Everest and Annapurna are, K-2 is apparently an equal beast. Segarra's personal website is unclear as to whether this attempt was successful. BTW, Segarra's site has some gorgeous, gorgeous photography of the mountains and is well-worth going through.

People do some really, really cool things.