Hard to believe but it’s been 12 years ago today that Julie and I stood on the summit of Mount Elbrus in Russia, the highest mountain in Europe. I never thought in a million years I would return, but I did ten years later to summit it again with my daughter, Taylor. So many wonderful memories. #elbrus #sevensummits #russia #adventure Climbing The Seven Summits Uphill Athlete (fb)

Eight years ago today, I stood on the summit of Denali, the highest mountain in North America. Summiting Denali was the highlight of my brief climbing career but it almost didn’t happen. Mike Hamill, Larry Holmgren and I were stuck at 14,000’ for six long days while a ton of snow fell and 60 – 100 MPH winds hammered the mountain. I was alone in my one man tent for six days with only seasons 5 and 6 of Curb Your Enthusiasm on my palm sized video iPod to keep me company. On June 28th, we left 14 Camp and made our way to high camp. Conditions were not good and avalanche risk was high. No one had summitted in a week and seven climbers had already died. No one felt good about going up in those conditions but the next morning, Mike, Larry and I sat outside our tent and watched a team of three climbers head up. Hours later, they made it back to camp from the summit so we knew it could be done. All we needed was one more good weather day. On June 30th we woke up to a beautiful blue sky day and at 10:00 AM we headed for the summit. I don’t remember much about that day but I do remember the feeling I had on the summit ridge when it dawned on me that I was going to make it. I remember celebrating with Mike, Larry and three of our friends on the summit and I remember it being very cold but that is about it. I have almost no memory of the descent back to high camp. Two days later, after making it all the way back to basecamp, we were waiting on the plane to take us back to Talkeetna when the weather moved in again. So we set up our tents on the ice runway and waited three more days for the plane. Once we landed in Talkeetna, we headed straight to Mountain High Pizza for some food and beer. Then to my first shower in 21 days and celebration drinks at the Fairview Inn. Great memories of an epic adventure. #sevensummits #denali @climbingthesevensummits @uphill_athlete photocred: Mike Hamill (fb)