Hi my name is Jeff and this is my blog…
I still wonder what the hell I was thinking when I started this goal. Climbing the 7, aka the highest mountain on each continent, is a feat only a few hundred people have completed since it was first done by Richard Bass in 1985. While there are a few differing lists of the 7 depending on geographical and continental boundaries the list I am attempting is referred to as the “Bass Version”. It’s composed of Everest (Asia- 29,029ft), Aconcagua (South America- 22,838ft), Denali (North America- 20,322ft), Kilimanjaro (Africa- 19,341ft), Elbrus (Europe- 18,510ft), Vinson (Antarctica- 16,050ft), and Kosciuszko (Australia- 7,310ft).
I was by no means a seasoned or experienced mountaineer when I began this endeavor. Growing up in Northern California I had camped and backpacked in the Sierras and hiked a handful of the CA fourteeners. I’d also been a rock climber for six years climbing in Yosemite, Joshua Tree, and all the other smaller Northern CA crags. This along with backpacking gave me some basic skills and allowed me to feel comfortable outside while pushing my limits. Even with my outdoors background the 7 would be quite a stretch but I wanted to have a big crazy goal in my life. It’s about the journey not the destination, and taking on this journey would undoubtedly be life changing.
It was November 2016 when I decided my life needed to be shook up. My girlfriend of almost three years and I broke up back in July 2016 and the shock wave that sent through my life was huge. She and I had been together almost three years and even though we had our struggles she was my best friend. I thought we were going to be married someday with the house, mortgage, and kids however, it just wasn’t meant to be. Looking back, we were both struggling through personal issues and it wasn’t healthy. We each needed to go out on our own and grow. Uncertain if life would ever bring us back together we parted ways so that each of us could take the time and space we each needed to mature and develop into our best selves.
After months of being a sad sack of depression I finally snapped out of it when a buddy said he had a friend that was going to climb Aconcagua and that I should hit him up. I had no idea what that was but after looking into it I learned it was one of the 7 summits. Having known about the 7 for a long time I never thought that they would ever be something I would attempt. After some research though I decided that this was a challenge I wanted to take on. If nothing else, it would lead me on an incredible journey. I decided Aconcagua was too daunting to start with given it was the second highest of the 7 but that Kosciuszko was too easy given it was the lowest. I set my sights on Kilimanjaro and mid -November 2016 I booked my trip to Africa for Jan 2017, only a month and a half to prep! It was on the books and that’s how my journey started!
Climbing the 7 