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Climbing the World to End Alzheimer's

The 7 Summits – an Overview

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Jan 162017
 
The 7 Summits - an Overview

In 2011, I summited seven of the eight seven summits. Confused? Read on! This post is a quick overview of the 7 Summits. My climbs were aimed to send a message of hope, need and urgency from the 7 Continents on behalf of everyone impacted by Alzheimer’s Disease. I made all the climbs in just 322 days. You can read more about each mountain, my personal experience and frequently asked questions by click on the links For an excellent book covering all the climbs, check out mountain guide Mike Hamill’s Climbing the Seven Summits. The 8 “7 Summits” The 7 Summits represent the highest continue reading

Climbing Memories Week 1

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Oct 182015
 
Climbing Memories Week 1

As I climb the world to end Alzheimer’s, I have taken literally thousands of photographs. I am posting many on Facebook over the next few months and will do a weekly summary post here on my site. I hope you enjoy them. Mt. Vinson, Antarctica This is one of my favorite memories from Antarctica’s Mt. Vinson at 16,050’/4892m in December 2010. We were approaching the summit using the so-called right-hand variation lead by IMG legend Phil Ershler. I documented the moment in my trip report: “ … we made steady progress to the next ridge where we meandered around jutting rock continue reading

Documentary on Alan’s 7 Summits Climb for Alzheimer’s

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Sep 172012
 
Documentary on Alan's 7 Summits Climb for Alzheimer's

I am very pleased with a 6 minute documentary by the AARP on my Summits Climb for Alzheimer’s: Memories are Everything project. The producer, Lauren Cardillo, did a great job of taking my original pictures, videos and our live interview to tell the story of Ida Arnette, Alzheimer’s and my passion to make a difference. The film is scheduled to air on AARP’s television series, My Generation, hosted by Leeza Gibbons the week of September 16, 2012. My keynote presentations expand on the themes I discusses in the film. I want to remind anyone in the West Tennessee area that continue reading

Communicating from Everest – 2012 Update

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Jan 022012
 
Communicating from Everest - 2012 Update

I receive many questions on how I did my live dispatches for the 7 Summits so I put together this short tutorial for anyone wanting to communicate during an expedition from anywhere on our planet. While staying in touch is mandatory and part of an expedition for me, some people want to get away from it all and escape the modern noise that comes with 24 by 7 communications. If that is your case, then take a sat phone for safety but don’t use it unless there is an emergency! Tell everyone that no news is good news and you continue reading

7 Summits Gear Review

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Nov 222011
 
7 Summits Gear Review

Climbing 8 big mountains in 11 months required many things but proper gear was a must. In this post, I will review what I used, what worked, no what didn’t;  taking it a layer at a time. To review, I did 8 climbs with 7 summits in 11 months. They were: Vinson (Antarctica), Aconcagua (South America), Everest (Asia), Denali to 17K when stopped by weather (North America), Elbrus-North (Europe), Kilimanjaro (Africa), Carstensz Pyramid (Oceania), Kosciuszko (Oceania). I will refer to the mountains as coldest: (Vinson, Denali and Everest) and warmest (Kilimanjaro, Carstensz and Kosciuszko) with Aconcagua and Elbrus in the continue reading

Final Trip Reports: Carstensz Pyramid and Kosciuszko

 1 Response »
Nov 052011
 
Final Trip Reports: Carstensz Pyramid and Kosciuszko

What a way to wrap up phase 1 of the  7 Summits Climbs for Alzheimer’s: Memories are Everything project. Carstensz Pyramid had everything I expected and Kosciuszko was the perfect last climb. Carstensz Pyramid Carstensz was what an adventure should be. It had drama, uncertainty, an element of danger and of course for a climber – a summit. I knew as I boarded the plane for the flight to Indonesia that this would be the most difficult climb both technically and logistically. What I didn’t expect was that labor issues at the local mine near Carstensz would be the culprit. continue reading

Kosciuszko Summit: Brief Recap

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Oct 272011
 
Kosciuszko Summit: Brief Recap

It may have been the lowest, but it was certainly worth the effort. Mount Kosciuszko was easy and fun plus a wonderful way to end my current 7 Summits Climb for Alzheimer’s: Memories are Everything project. Only three days after summiting Carstensz Pyramid, here I flew to Sydney and then drove to the ski resort village of Thredbo. I found a great place to stay and looked out my window to see a cloud covered mountain side. More than one climber had told me that Kozzy presented a challenge in difficult weather conditions. But when I woke up, I was continue reading

Summit: Audio Dispatch from Kosciuszko

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Oct 262011
 
Summit: Audio Dispatch from Kosciuszko

I summited Kosciuszko on October 27, order 2011. It was a great climb. Read the full trip report for all the details. This is the audio dispatch I posted live from the summit; the 8th and last of my 7 Summits climbs. Click to listen: [Audio clip: view full post to listen] These climbs are to raise Alzheimer’s awareness and $1M for research. I lost my mom and two aunts to Alzheimer’s. Please join me to end Alzheimer’s by making a donation today. Read the details. Climb On! Alan Memories are Everything

Last but not least, Kosciuszko

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Oct 262011
 
Last but not least, Kosciuszko

I am now in Australia after our successful summit of Carstensz Pyramid. I survived the leeches, no cannibals and jungle to summit the 16, 023′ rock climb. So on to Kosciuszko, the 8th and last climb of the 7 Summits Climb for Alzheimer’s: Memories are Everything. If you are confused as to why there are 8, 7 Summits, it is all explained in this post of a few weeks ago. Some people would not bother with this one because it is “only” 7310 feet high, represents no technical challenge,  has a road (now closed) to the summit and is really continue reading

Carstensz Summit Brief Recap

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Oct 252011
 
Carstensz Summit Brief Recap

Carstensz Pyramid was without a doubt the most exotic, logistically complicated and, capsule from a pure climbing perspective, rewarding of all the 7 Summits. In my usual approach, I will post a full trip report, FAQ and photo/video gallery but for now, some highlights of our summit day. As I previously posted, strikes at the huge local gold mine created massive uncertainty with our flights to Carstensz base camp (BC) resulting in having to charter several helicopter flights to avoid the 6 day trek across the Paupu jungles. But we were here to climb, not trek, so the entire team continue reading

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