Engineering Week presentation features one of the world's premier mountain climbers

As part of the Engineering Week celebration, Engineering Council is sponsoring a presentation by Ed Viesturs, the world’s premier high-altitude mountaineer. The free presentation will held in the Foellinger Auditorium on Monday, February 13 at 7:00 p.m.

Viesturs is known for being the only American (and one of only five people ever) to have summited all 14 of the 8,000 meter peaks without the use of supplemental oxygen, considered to be vital at such high altitudes. Viesturs is notable for his sensible, but unique approach to mountaineering. Rather than only focusing on the summit, Viesturs believes strongly that mountaineering is a round-trip process and that the descent is as important, if not more important than the climb down. In fact, once on Mount Everest, Viesturs turned back only 300 feet from the summit to ensure that he and his clients would be safe on the descent.

His lectures are based on 27 years of climbing experience and each presentation includes stunning images of some of the world’s most remote locations and the mountains in those areas. In his talk, Viesturs will address teamwork, goal setting, perseverance and risk management. He will also talk about the impact engineering has had on the sport of mountaineering.

An Illinois native, Viesturs, was raised in Rockford where his interest in mountaineering was sparked by reading Annapurna by Maurice Herzog. After graduating from high school, Viesturs attended the University of Washington where he received a bachelor's degree in zoology in 1981. Six years later, in 1987, Viesturs received his doctorate in veterinary medicine from Washington State University. During this time, Viesturs’ love of mountaineering grew as he was exposed to the sport in Washington. Climbing quickly turned from a hobby to a job for Viesturs and after climbing Kanchenjunga (the world’s third highest mountain) in 1989 and Mount Everest (the world’s highest mountain) in 1990, he became an international guide and was sponsored to climb full-time as well as lead clients up some of the world’s tallest mountains.

In 1996, while Viesturs was climbing Mount Everest, disaster struck as one of the deadliest storms in the history of mountaineering on Everest took the lives of eight climbers, including world-renowned mountain guides Rob Hall (for whom Viesturs guided in 1995 on Everest) and Scott Hall (with whom Viesturs undertook rescue missions on K-2, the world’s second tallest mountain). Viesturs was featured extensively in Everest, the IMAX movie that was meant to document the world’s highest, and most notable mountain. Instead, they ended up filming what became the most compelling climbing season in the storied history of Mount Everest. Notably, John Krakauer wrote about the 1996 Everest climbing season in his New York Times bestseller, Into Thin Air.

After being featured in Everest, Viesturs climbed the rest of the 8,000 meter peaks, finishing with Annapurna in 2005, the mountain that inspired him as a high school student. He has summited Mount Everest seven times and has climbed Mount Rainier 208 times to date. He also won the coveted American Alpine Club Sowles Award for his participation in two rescues on K-2. Viesturs has also authored three books: National Bestseller No Shortcuts to the Top, K2: Life and Death on the World’s Most Dangerous Mountain, and The Will to Climb: Obsession and Commitment and the Quest to Climb Annapurna – the World’s Deadliest Peak.

This event is sponsored by Engineering Council and co-sponsored by the College of Engineering and funded by SORF.
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Contact: Anando Naqui, vice president, Engineering Council.

If you have any questions about the College of Engineering, or other story ideas, contact Rick Kubetz, writer/editor, Engineering Communications Office, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 217/244-7716.