Alumnus On Top of The World

Victor Vescovo '84 reached the summit of Mt. Everest at 8:14 am on May 24th, 2010.  After nearly two months of effort, Victor and five members of his team climbed the 3,000 feet remaining in near white-out conditions to stand atop the mountain - 29,035 feet high. Victor recalls:

Visibility was still only 20-30 feet, with snow all around us and a complete inability to see anything other than the summit and a small portion of the South Col and North Face routes, but we had summitted Mt. Everest after all...I sat for almost the entire time I was on the summit, given how exhausted I was. I couldn't feel the top half of either foot, but by this point I was resigned that I was going to get frostbite and would just deal with whatever damage occurred. Even then, I was happy. The long struggle and adventure for the summit of Everest was over. The relief was extraordinary.

Victor began his climbing career with a trip to Kilimanjaro in the summer of 1988. His recent summit of Everest completes his quest for The Seven Summits, the highest mountains of the seven continents and the ultimate mountaineering challenge first proposed and achieved by a fellow Marksman, Dick Bass '46, on April 30, 1985. On that date, Bass also held the record for being the oldest person to have climbed Mt. Everest. Details of his adventures were described in his book, Seven Summits. 

Victor Vescovo '84, Dick Bass '46, and fewer than 300 other mountaineers can claim the extraordinary accomplishment of reaching The Seven Summits.

Congratulations to Victor Vescovo '84 on an incredible accomplishment and making it home safely.