Welcome to my limited series on climbing the Seven Summits. For eight weeks, I'll drop a new episode discussing one of the 7 Summits in detail. Today is Episode 9, Acocangua with special guests Garret Madison and Ed Viesturs.

Next week, I wrap up this series with an Everest episode and special guests Adrian Ballinger, founder of Alpenglow and Mike Hammill, founder of Climbing the Seven Summits. #7summits

Aconcagua is the highest peak in South America, at 22,902/6960m. It is an excellent warmup before climbing Everest, testing your fitness at altitude and thoroughly testing your gear in harsh conditions. It's a cold peak and an excellent cultural experience.

Garrett Madison & Ed Vesturs Interview

I managed to nab these two legends to discuss Aconcagua and other mountaineering topics.

Ed guided Ryan, my 19-year-old Summit Coach client, who summited Everest in style this year, up Aconcagua as he prepared for his climb. Obviously, Ed is a wealth of mountaineering knowledge, so we discussed Acocangua, common climbing mistakes, and, of course, Everest, as well as finding Sandy Irvine's foot in his boot this year.

Garrett is well known as the founder and owner of Maddison Mountaineering. He will be on Everest for his hopefully 15th summit, tying Dave Hahn for the second-most summits by a non-Sherpaa. Kenton Cool has the title at 18. Garrett also recently summited Carystensz after a five-year break when the government closed the peak due to violence in the area. He gives us a quick update on that.

Episodes will drop each week:

September 15: Introduction

September 22: Mt. Kosciuszko, Australia - 7,310/2228m

September 29: Mt. Blanc, France/Italy - 15,771'/4807m

October 6: Vinson, Antarctica - 16,067/4897m

October 13: Carstensz Pyramid (Puncak Jaya), New Guinea - 16,023/4884m

October 20: Elbrus, Russia - 18,513/5642m

October 27: Kilimanjaro, Africa - 19,340/5896m

November 3: Denali, Alaska - 20,320/6194m

November 10: Aconcagua, Argentina - 22,902/6960m

November 17: Everest, Nepal/Tibet - 29,035/8850m

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