September 24, 2002
Contact: George Yatchisin
(805) 893-3494
e-mail: yatchisin-g@ sa.ucsb.edu

Joby Ogwyn, one of the world’s great mountain
climbing adventurers, lectures at UCSB Campbell Hall

Summary Facts:

• Joby Ogwyn
• Climbing the Seven Summits: Conquering the Tallest Mountains on Each Continent
• The youngest and one of only 53 people ever to climb all seven tallest peaks
• Monday, October 21
• 8 pm / UCSB Campbell Hall
• General public $12, UCSB students $8
• Tickets/Information: UCSB Arts & Lectures at 893-3535

At 26, Joby Ogwyn became the youngest climber ever to scale each continent’s highest peak. He will present the illustrated lecture Climbing the Seven Summits: Conquering the Tallest Mountain on Each Continent on Monday, October 21 at 8 pm in UCSB Campbell Hall. Completing the seven summits is one of mountaineering’s most impressive and demanding feats, something not even a hundred people have ever accomplished. Ogwyn, who has just become a Montecito resident, will also discuss his recent climb of K2, which failed to reach the summit after a 35-day ordeal beset by terrible blizzards and a deadly avalanche.

Ogwyn didn’t intend to complete the seven summit circuit when he made his first climb, of Africa’s Mt. Kilimanjaro (19,339 feet) when he was just 18. Born in Shreveport, and having gone to Centenary College in Louisiana, Ogwyn “thought the world was flat until he was 15,” his father David has joked in an interview. But the Kilimanjaro ascent gave Joby the mountain-climbing bug, and after a climbing seminar in Bolivia, he began to plan how to conquer all seven summits.

Managing to climb during school breaks and summer holidays, Ogwyn scaled the next three peaks in just a year’s time. Europe’s Mount Elbrus (18,481 feet) on the Russian/Georgian frontier was easy enough that Ogwyn refers to its ascent as a “high-altitude hike.” South America’s Aconcagua (22,840 feet) in the Andes was more of a challenge, and helped acclimate Ogwyn to higher altitudes. Other climbers marvel at his ability to remain clear-headed no matter the height—he seems to suffer little from oxygen deprivation. North America’s Denali, also known as Mount McKinley (20,320 feet), prepared him for extreme environments and storm-swept rock.

The next two peaks were much more of a challenge. Ogwyn luckily avoided disaster by canceling his plans to climb Mount Everest with Scott Fisher and Rob Hall, whose tragic deaths in a blizzard are recounted in Jon Krakauer’s book Into Thin Air. Ogwyn then waited three years before climbing Asia’s Everest (29,035 feet). He was the only person from his group to reach the summit and became the youngest American ever to scale Everest. Ogwyn’s abilities often mean he climbs ahead of his teams, something he relishes, for he has said, “The mountain has a very strong personality. Only when you are totally alone can you talk to the mountain and get to know the mountain.” The sixth peak in Australasia was almost an afterthought; Indonesia’s Carstensz Pyramid (16,023 feet) took Ogwyn and his group a mere 10-1/2 hours up and back.

On December 9, 2000 Ogwyn stood atop the summit of Antarctica’s Vinson Massif (16,067 feet), the youngest person to climb all seven summits. Ogwyn has said Vinson Massif was even colder than Everest, but nonetheless, he had accomplished the feat on his first try with every peak.

Other challenges still await Ogwyn. He is contemplating a new seven summits project, in which he would climb the highest peaks on the seven biggest islands—Greenland, New Guinea, Australia, Madagascar, Borneo, Baffin Island and Japan. He would become only the third person to accomplish that circuit, which no American has yet made.

This illustrated lecture by Joby Ogwyn is presented by UCSB Arts & Lectures and sponsored by KEYT 1250 Radio.

Tickets for Climbing the Seven Summits are $12 for the general public and $8 for UCSB students.

For tickets or more information,
call UCSB Arts & Lectures at (805) 893-3535.

Editor: For photos, please call
George Yatchisin at (805) 893-3494.