Posted: Jun 13, 2005 06:57 am EDT
"I have no need or desire to go back to the 8,000 peaks again," Ed told the Seattle Post yesterday. "Why climb 'em again? There are risks involved. It's obvious. People die in the mountains.”

Back from Annapurna, honored as the 12th climber in history to summit all 14 8000ers and the first American to achieve it, Viesturs seems to be enjoying spending time with his family, almost relieved to be done at last with the job. But he'll keep on climbing:

”I'm smarter than I've ever been”

"At my age, I think I'm smarter than I've ever been," Viesturs said. "I'm maybe not quite as strong as I've been, but having the smarts and knowing how to function at high altitude compensates for that and that's important." Ed will turn 46 next week (on June, 22nd).

According to the paper, Ed is however planning to keep on climbing ‘lesser peaks’ in Tibet or India, maybe as soon as this fall. Being done with the 8000ers doesn't have to mean being done with climbing.

Thirteen 8000ers… and Everest

Obviously, Viesturs does not look at all the 8000ers in the same way: For him, there will always be 13, 8000ers… and Everest.

Six time E summiteer, three times without supplementary O2, Ed doesn´t want to think of the top of the world as ‘over’ for him.

"There could be something that I'll do on Everest again," he said. "But as far as the other peaks, no. There's no desire. There's no need to go back."

"I may have to just get a normal job when the next guy comes along"

Ed accepts the fame and glory of being the ‘most successful American Himalayan climber’, but he also knows the fuss won’t last forever. "How long I'll be interesting to people, I don't know," he told the Seattle paper. "I can't predict that. I'm not assuming I'll be interesting to people for five more years because the next guy will come along. I may have to just get a normal job."

Viesturs would like to write a book about his climbing experiences to inspire young climbers, but right now he's spending a lot of time with his wife Paula and his children Gil, 7, Ella, 4, and Anabel, 7 1/2 months.

Always at the right place at the right time

Looking back at his climbs, Ed often remembers close calls, and the fact that he is a lucky guy – alive and well.

"For whatever reason, I was always at the right place at the right time," he said. "We climbed Annapurna and a week later an Italian climber died where we had climbed. Why did the avalanche occur when he was there rather than when we were there? I have all my fingers and all my toes. None of my teammates were ever injured or killed. Is that luck or planning or being conservative?"

Ed Viesturs has become the first American to summit all 14 8000ers - and he's the 12th climber in the world to accomplish that feat. He is one of only five in the world to have done it without oxygen. Ed has now also completed 20 summits in total on the world's 8000ers (Everest 6 times, Cho Oyu twice).

Only Spanish climber Juan Oiarzabal has more; his Annapurna climb made him the sixth climber in the world to bag the 14 eight-thousanders on Earth. His recent K2 summit (2004) gave Juanito the world record of summiting 21, 8000+ peaks.
Viesturs´8000+ peaks summits were: Kangchenjunga (1989), Everest (first time in 1990), K2 (1992), Lhotse (1994), Cho Oyu (first time in 1994), Makalu (1995), Gasherbrums I and II (1995), Broad Peak (1997), Manaslu (1999), Dhaulagiri (1999), Shisha Pangma (2001), Nanga Parbat (2003), and Annapurna ( 2005).

Ed Viesturs ,45, lives in Bainbridge Island, Washington with wife Paula, son Gilbert (7), and daughters Ella (4), and Anabel (7 months).

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