Climbing goals

The Seven Summits

For those of you who don't know, the Seven Summits refers to the highest mountain on each continent.  They are:

Mount Everest - 29,029' (8,848m) - Asia

Aconcagua - 22,838' (6,961m) - South America

Mount McKinley AKA Denali - 20,322' (6,194m) - North America

Kilimanjaro - 19,341' (5,895m) - Africa

Mount Elbrus - 18,510' (5,642m) - Europe

Mount Vinson - 16,050' (4,892m) - Antarctica

Pancak Jaya AKA Carstensz Pyramid - 16,024' (4,884m) - Australian continent

Mount Kosciuszko - 7,310' (2,228m) - Australia

The two in Australia are from different lists, some climbers try for both lists, others choose one.  I'm going to try for both, so I'll be doing both of the Australian mountains.  The Bass list is the highest mountain on the Australian mainland, while the Messner list is the highest on the Australian continent.

On mountain Everest I'll be sticking with the traditional methods of acclimatization, climb high, sleep low.  I've been considering climbing Everest solo, except hiring a Sherpa guide.  Because I'll be climbing with just one Sherpa guide I will carry the majority of my supplies, I won't have my guide climb up and down more times than I do.  It'll help me get acclimatized better, plus it'll get me climbing more (sitting still isn't my strong suit, I know that'll be the hardest part for me already).  

I'm thinking about doing them in height order, shortest to tallest.  Though I'll probably do them in season order, January-December.

The Second Seven Summits

The Second highest mountain on each continent:

K2 - 28,251' (8611m) - Asia

Ojos del Salado -22,615' (6,893m) - South America

Mount Logan - 19,551' (5,959m) - North America

Dykh-Tau - 17,077' (5,205m) - Europe

Mount Kenya - 17,057' (5,199m) - Africa 

Mount Tyree - 15,919' (4,852m) - Antarctica

Puncak Mandala - 15,617' (4,760m) - Australian continent

Mount Townsend - 7,247' (2,209m) - Australia

Only one person has ever completed the Second Seven Summits.  It took him 11 years from his first summit of the SSS, to his last.  My goals are to become the first woman to summit the SSS, and to be the fastest so far (I plan to try for a year)!

I think I might need to find a few climbing buddies to do some of them with me, the ones in Antarctica especially!

Some other climbing goals are:

Climb an active Volcano

and kind of Thru-hike the Appalachian Trail

I plan to Thru-hike the AT as part of my 7 Summits training, then I will complete the second 7 after that.