Being Ed Viesturs

I found this excellent little article while poking around over at the Hooked On The Outdoors Magazine's website. It's an insightful, if a little old, piece on how Ed Viesturs manages to collect sponsors for his high altitude expeditions, and what those sponsors expect of him in return. It's an inside look of the athlete-sponsor relationship, and how the business of climbing has changed over the years. This article was originally printed in the Nov. 2005 issue of Hooked, but as the old saying goes, if it's new to me... :)

For anyone who isn't familiar with Ed, you can find out more at his website. In a nutshell, he's arguably the most accomplished American climber of all time, and recently left his place in the record books by becoming the first American to climb all 8000 meter peaks, without the use of supplemental oxygen. A true adventurer by any sense of the word.

One thing I found interesting in the article is when Ed says that when he started back in the 80's, a climbing permit for Everest was $3000. Now, it's $70,000. Wow! Talk about inflation. Looks like my attempt on the summit will have to be set back a few more years.