View Full Version : Seven Summits Challenge
sidebackside
03-13-2010, 11:02
A 1998 graduate of the University of Tennessee,Robert Dickie will spend the next two-and-a-half years attempting to reach the highest summits on each of the world's seven continents to raise money for cancer, autism and Alzheimer's research.Dickie's climbing partner for the Seven Summits is Bob Cassidy, a Harvard Business School alumnus who co-chairs the National Campaign Committee for the Autism Society of America. Only 275 mountain climbers have completed the Seven Summits since the goal gained widespread recognition in the mid-1980s.
On Jan. 28, 2009, they climbed Africa's Mount Kilimanjaro, the first of their Seven Summits. At 19,340 feet in elevation, Kilimanjaro is the tallest free-standing mountain in the world.The remaining mountains on the Seven Summits list include Asia's Mount Everest, 29,035 feet; South America's Aconcagua, 22,829 feet; North America's Denali, 20,320 feet; Europe's Mount Elbrus, 18,510 feet; Antarctica's Mount Vinson, 16,067 feet; and Australia's Mount Kosciusko, 7,310 feet.
In July they will attempt to climb Mount Elbrus, the tallest peak in Europe's Causasus mountain range. Also this summer, they plan to hike up Australia's Mount Kosciusko, the lowest summit on the list.
Dickie and Cassidy hope to complete three more mountains in 2011, leaving the grand finale, Mount Everest, for the spring of 2012.
sidebackside
03-13-2010, 13:28
I'm not sure that I thought there would be more or less hikers who have done this...but for some reason only 275 suprised me.
Dude that takesalot of money. The cost of everest alone isl ike 50 K. How much do you think it would cost to get to Antarctica's Mount Vinson?
sidebackside
03-13-2010, 13:53
Honestly I have no clue where to even start with guestimating how much it would cost. That was one of my first thoughts..."man, that's gonna take alot of money!"
Is he going to finance the trip himself or is he going to pay for the trip from donations first, then give the balance if any to charity?
sidebackside
03-13-2010, 15:38
Is he going to finance the trip himself or is he going to pay for the trip from donations first, then give the balance if any to charity?
That's a good question Jesse. Unfortunately I don't know the answer.
fiddlehead
03-13-2010, 16:58
Yeah, big bucks for Everest.
I have a good friend who has done all of them except Everest because it is around $60k.
He has decided to spend that kind of money doing lots of other trips instead.
He came here to Phuket to run the marathon last year 3 days after summiting McKinley. (it was 96 degree F that day) I was impressed.
He is presently back in Africa.
Good luck to these guys.
I hope they really do give some money to the so called charity.
From what i understand, there's a lot of false claims about charity trips and events lately
By the way, on one of my trips, i ran into two brothers (from the Pyrenees) who had one more mountain to claim all the 8,000 meter peaks in the world. One of them died on that one (K-2) a few weeks later.
Yeah, big bucks for Everest.
I have a good friend who has done all of them except Everest because it is around $60k.
He has decided to spend that kind of money doing lots of other trips instead.
He came here to Phuket to run the marathon last year 3 days after summiting McKinley. (it was 96 degree F that day) I was impressed.
He is presently back in Africa.
Good luck to these guys.
I hope they really do give some money to the so called charity.
From what i understand, there's a lot of false claims about charity trips and events lately
By the way, on one of my trips, i ran into two brothers (from the Pyrenees) who had one more mountain to claim all the 8,000 meter peaks in the world. One of them died on that one (K-2) a few weeks later.I believe that 1 out of 4 people who attempt Mt. Everest lose their lives trying. Mt. McKinley(Denali), while not as high as Everest, can also be deadly. Mount Everest, for example, has a vertical rise of 12000ft. from the Tibetan plateau, while Mt. McKinley is 18000ft. above the Alaska tundra. Mt. McKinley's far northern position makes it's atmosphere thin and bitterly cold. And it's proximity to the Aleutian Islands, the "birthplace of storms" gives it severe weather. Also there are lots of holes and crevasses one can fall into. Many mountaineers who attempt Mt. McKinley underestimate it. Those that succeed have a well earned jewel for their mountaineering crown. As far as K2, known as the Savage Mountain due to it's difficult ascent, it is the 2nd deadliest mountain among the 8000'ers, due in part to it's steep,exposed nature of the routes, which make retreat difficult,and extreme storms that can last for several days duration.
I believe that 1 out of 4 people who attempt Mt. Everest lose their lives trying.I believe I meant to say that for every 4 that SUMMIT Mt. Everest, 1 dies trying to.:-?
RedneckRye
03-14-2010, 03:10
Blah Blah Blah.
I honestly do not understand the whole "I'm gonna do THIS (insert interesting trip here) to raise money for THAT (insert whatever cause)" hype.
Why not just convince folks to donate to whatever cause inspires them without funding your dream?
Wouldn't it be more cost effective if all of the cash went to THAT and none to THIS?
Cancer, Autism, and Alzhiemer's? Wow, all 3 of those?
Why not ask for donations of bottled water to drink so that he can try to piss on the fires of hell and put that out as well?
Blah Blah Blah.
I honestly do not understand the whole "I'm gonna do THIS (insert interesting trip here) to raise money for THAT (insert whatever cause)" hype.
Why not just convince folks to donate to whatever cause inspires them without funding your dream?
Wouldn't it be more cost effective if all of the cash went to THAT and none to THIS?
Cancer, Autism, and Alzhiemer's? Wow, all 3 of those?
Why not ask for donations of bottled water to drink so that he can try to piss on the fires of hell and put that out as well?
It's easy to find negatives about anything/anyone. Finding the positives requires being informed.
One of my friends,Paul Obert, an ENT physician, in Birmingham, Al has successfully done the seven summits. He hiked Philmont, the Boy Scout ranch in NM' with his son and followed by climbing Mt Whitney. He enjoyed it so much he began climbing mountains and did all this at age 50. He had a number of interesting stories and dangerous weather related encounters. The other posts are correct, it was time comsuming and expensive. He paid $65K just for the Mt Everest climb. The Antarctica trip was also very expensive.
Robert Dickie
03-14-2010, 10:58
I saw this discussion and thought I would make a few comments. For those wishing to learn more about what we are doing and why you can visit our website www.7SummitChallenge.org (http://www.7summitchallenge.org/)
Here are a few quick answers to questions I have seen above.
1) 100% of all money raised goes to the Autism Society, Alzheimer's Association, and the Lance Armstrong Foundation. We have no over head or paid positions and all board members are serving as volunteers for this project.
2) Bob Cassidy and I are paying for our climbing expenses 100% on our own. We anticipate the cost over the next 2.5 years to be about 150k total for each of us.
3) The two most expensive climbs are Everest (about 50-60k) and Vinson (33k). The rest vary but for example without airfare and equipment Kili cost 4.5k for two weeks in Africa and all told I think I had less than 6k into that expedition.
4) Why are we doing this? Bob and I are avid climbers and this was something we wanted to do. Both of us work heavily in the non-profit sector volunteering our time to charities that have made an impact in our lives. We felt that if we were doing this anyway, this would be a good way to help raise awareness and funding for three organizations we are passionate about.
5) Why are we passionate about those three? I lost my best friend in the military to cancer and my uncle as well. Currently I have a good friend and employee finding cancer as well. The Lance Armstrong Foundation is doing an incredible job supporting families going through this and promoting awareness and funding for cancer research around the country. I wanted to support them. My grandmother died with Alzheimer’s and I know what a horrible disease that is. Bob Cassidy's mother-in-law currently has Alzheimer’s. We are very passionate about raising awareness and funding for them. Finally, we both have close friends with who have children with Autism. We both serve on various committees with the Autism Society in Washington DC and are very involved in helping support families and communities around the country.
6) We have both been blessed to work in the tech sector where we can work globally and are not tied down to a desk. Because of this we have freedom with our schedules and love to volunteer. In our personal time we like to climb. We felt it was a good way to tie two of our passions together (Charity work / climbing) to make a difference.
7) If anyone has further questions and would like to connect with me and talk more offline you can reach me here.
http://www.linkedin.com/in/robertdickie3 (http://www.linkedin.com/in/robertdickie3)
scottdennis
03-14-2010, 11:07
With the dollar dropping the cost of reaching Everest is getting much higher. I think Russel Brice wants around $70K now for an expedition. Denali is fairly reasonable though as well as the others.
I don't knock people getting sponsors to do these trips as most people can't afford it. These companies get more publicity by sponsoring the trip than by just donating the money to a cause, so that's one reason they'll do it.
I didn't realize that so few had done the seven summits! I would have thought more had done it. My hats off to them, because I would love to have the time to try it.
Darwin again
03-14-2010, 18:59
The rich are different from the rest of us ...
I had a potluck dinner at a friend's house who has climbed Everest and Denali.
Cost me about $15 for the bottle of wine.
One of my skiing partners did Kilminjaro this summer.
I tend to cook on the hut trips with her.
Another good friend did Aconcagua and Elbrus and is teach me climbing.
I brought a 12 pack of Left Hand Brewery Beer (http://www.lefthandbrewing.com/) (mixed) to learn the basics of knots and belaying in his garage.
So, for the cost of beer, food and wine I've done the summits by osmosis.
;)
No friends yet for Antarctica or Australia.
:)
I was surprised there had been so many to have done the 7 summits.
I trekked in the Khumbu of Nepal. Not all of us can afford or even want to climb Everest, but walking up to see it is within easier reach and quite wonderful an experience.
sidebackside
03-15-2010, 10:18
Is he going to finance the trip himself or is he going to pay for the trip from donations first, then give the balance if any to charity?
I saw this discussion and thought I would make a few comments. For those wishing to learn more about what we are doing and why you can visit our website www.7SummitChallenge.org (http://www.7summitchallenge.org/)
1) 100% of all money raised goes to the Autism Society, Alzheimer's Association, and the Lance Armstrong Foundation. We have no over head or paid positions and all board members are serving as volunteers for this project.
2) Bob Cassidy and I are paying for our climbing expenses 100% on our own. We anticipate the cost over the next 2.5 years to be about 150k total for each of us.
http://www.linkedin.com/in/robertdickie3 (http://www.linkedin.com/in/robertdickie3)
I believe the answer is yes Jesse.
Jonnycat
03-15-2010, 15:42
I'm not sure that I thought there would be more or less hikers who have done this...but for some reason only 275 suprised me.
Some people go hiking/climbing/exploring for the sole reason of doing it, and have neither the need nor desire to advertise their accomplishments to the world.
sidebackside
03-15-2010, 16:16
Some people go hiking/climbing/exploring for the sole reason of doing it, and have neither the need nor desire to advertise their accomplishments to the world.
If that's the case, it still suprises me.
I'm taking up climbing and mountaineering this summer purely for the reason that I have another excuse to drink beer under the guise of "Wow..a cold one would share taste good after all this hard play". (Like I need a reason to drink a delicious beer..mmm beer)