The Saiko

Everybody loves a good story about Mt. Everest; especially when it involves Team First Ascent’s key members Ed Viesturs and Peter Whittaker.  On the morning of May 19th, these two legendary climbers reached the summit with their production crew.  After spending more time than they’d like in the “death zone”, they were able to descend down to High Camp (26,000 feet).

This expedition broke the mold by digitally documenting their entire journey via blog and online video.  Throughout the expedition those of us sitting on our butts back home could live vicariously through their updates.  The following they were able to create in the online community is unprecedented.  The Viesturs / Whittaker summit was not the only team to summit from Team First Ascent.  Joining them were Seth Waterfall, Melissa Arnot and Everest guru Dave Hahn.  Dave Hahn is a living legend, as he has more summits of Everest (excluding Sherpas) of any person on the Earth.  He has 10 under his belt with an 11th coming on this attempt (we hope).

First Ascent was outfitted by Eddie Bauer.  They also outfitted Peter’s uncle, Jim Whittaker, when he was the first American to summit Mt. Everest 46 years ago.  For over 50 years, Eddie Bauer has been outfitting history-making first ascents across the globe.  See a sample of their astounding outfitting history below:

1953 – K2, Pakistan/China

1953 – Logan & Cook, Yukon

1953 – Inca Highway Expedition, South America

1955 – Lhotse, Nepal/Tibet

*   1958 – Gasherbrum I, Pakistan/China

1958 – Antarctica

1960 – Andes, South America

*   1960 – Masherbrum, Pakistan/India

1960 – McKinley/Denali, Alaska

**  1963 – Everest (South Col), Nepal/Tibet

*   1963 – Everest (West Ridge), Nepal/Tibet

*   1965 – Kennedy, Yukon

1965 – Antarctica

*   1966 – Vinson Massif, Antarctica

1967 – Andes, Peru

**  1973 – Dhaulagiri, Nepal

**  1974 – Peak Lenin, Russian Pamirs

1974 – Coppermine River, Northwest Territories

*   1976 – Nanda Devi (North Ridge), India

1976 – Brooks Range, Alaska

1976 – Thule-Grise Fjord, Canadian Arctic

*   1977 – Great Trango Tower, Pakistan

1978 – Baffin Island, Canadian Arctic

1979 – Vatnajokull Glacier, Iceland

**  1980 – Makalu, Nepal/Tibet

1980 – Dhaulagiri, Nepal

1980 – Ellesmere Island, Canadian Arctic

1981 – Spitsbergen Island, Norway

1981 – Everest, Nepal/Tibet (2)

1982 – Ama Dablam, Nepal

1982 – Ellesmere Island, Canadian Arctic

*   1983 – Everest (East Face), Tibet

1983 – Northwest Passage, Canadian Arctic

2008 – Cotopaxi, Ecuador

2009 – Aconcagua, Argentina

* 1st Ascent   ** 1st American Ascent