Mountain Climbing Career
His interest in the Himalayas was sparked in high school by reading Maurice Herzog's account of the first climb of Annapurna, titled Annapurna. After climbing Kanchenjunga in 1989, Mount Everest in 1990 and K2 in 1992, Viesturs became an international mountain guide and was sponsored for full-time mountaineering. He served as a guide for Rob Hall's Adventure Consultants company during their 1995 Everest expedition.
Viesturs was in the IMAX climbing team during the 1996 Everest Disaster. He was featured in the Everest IMAX movie. Filming was delayed as a blizzard struck. The IMAX team postponed shooting and followed Viesturs up the mountain to aid the stranded climbers. The team ultimately decided to keep going and summitted Everest on May 23, 1996.
Viesturs's recent climbs have included Broad Peak and Nanga Parbat in 2003, Mount Everest (seventh time) in 2009 and Annapurna in 2005.
Viesturs climbs with partner Veikka Gustafsson.
In 2005, Viesturs became the 12th person to summit all fourteen eight-thousander peaks. He was the first American to accomplish this feat.
On November 5, 2006, Viesturs completed his first marathon, the ING New York City Marathon, in 3:15:18.
On August 17, 2007, Viesturs summitted Mount Rainier for the 200th time.
On May 19, 2009, Viesturs summitted Mt. Everest for the 7th time.
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