New York, Warner Books, 1986, 1st edition. 336 pp, color photos. Original blue cloth hardcover with silver lettering on spine, and an unchipped and not price clipped dust jacket. Fine.
This copy of Seven Summits is SIGNED by Dick Bass and Frank Wells, the first two climbers who attempted to climb the Seven Summits. Bass succeeded, but Wells had just become president of Disney in 1944 so there was a limit to how many 2 month vacations he could take.
It is generally agreed that Dick Bass and Frank Wells, with this book, started the recent rush to climb the Seven Summits. They also were possibly the first two Everest climbers who were not climbers, and who hired professional guides to help them climb Everest.
The new book Everest Inc gives an excellent analysis of what is happening on Mount Everest since Bass and Wells made their mark. The first few chapters of Everest Inc are specifically about Dick Bass' and Frank Wells' Seven Summits quest.
Below: Franks Wells Signature and Inscription. Frank Wells signed very few copies of Seven Summits, and he died in 1994.
Below: Dick Bass would put his signature on a poem about persistence which he then glued into the front paste-down in your book. On occasion he would sign directly in the book for us.
Dick Bass was the first person to climb the highest peak on each continent, and this book inspired thousands to take up climbing. This book is clearly the starting point for the hundreds of people who have now climbed the seven summits, and the thousands who have done some of the seven summits, plus the many other high point lists, such as state high points, county high points, 14,000' peaks, 13,000' peaks, country high points, and so many others.
Rick Ridgeway, an accomplished climber in his own right, chronicles their journey, allowing readers to decide if these adventures are the result of midlife crisis or simply about men pursuing a dream with unshakeable resolve. Whatever the case, Ridgeway's fast-paced adventure provides gripping descriptions of the world's tallest peaks.
We see the logistical nightmares of Antarctica's Mt. Vinson, the unpredictable weather of McKinley, and the extreme altitude of Everest's 8,848 meters. Ridgeway continues up Aconcagua, Elbrus, Kilimanjaro, and Kosciusko with lively accounts that capture the day-to-day operations of expedition life, and more intriguingly, the growing bond between two driven men. - Ben Tiffany
From Publishers Weekly: Their dream was to climb the highest mountain on each of the seven continents, an exciting prospect for any world-class mountaineer. But Bass and Wells, businessmen in their early 50s, were rank amateurs.
With Rick Ridgeway, one of America's foremost climbers who accompanied the pair on some of their expeditions, they tell their story here. It is a gripping tale of adventure that embraces courage, disappointment, joy and commitment. The process of getting to Mt. Vinson in Antarctica was a marvel of logistics.
For their third and final attempt on Mt. Everest, Wells had to choose between the summit try and his job and family; Bass completed the seventh summit to become the oldest man to stand on top of the world. The two were lucky enough to have the money to fulfill their dream; they also had guts. In mountaineering lingo, they proved themselves 'real animals.'
Book Description
Frank Wells and Dick Bass had a dream. It was as straightforward as it was difficult: climb the highest mountain on each of the world's seven continents; a feat that had eluded the world's best mountaineers. What made it all the more extraordinary was that Frank and Dick were businessmen, not mountaineers.
Both had so little climbing experience that they could hardly be ranked as amateurs, let alone world-class climbers. If that weren't enough, they were both in their fifties. What made them think they could do it? Why would two successful, middle-aged businessmen risk their lives on some of the world's most remote and treacherous slopes? Now, with veteran climber and writer Rick Ridgeway they tell their story. It's all here.
This is the account of climbs of the 'Seven Summits' by the first person to climb them all (non-Carstensz Pyramid version). About half the book is on the Mt Everest attempts and successful climb. Dick Bass was the first man to climb them all. Junko Tabei was the first woman to climb them all. Frank Wells was with Bass on most of these climbs, his partner in the ambition. Rick Ridgeway joined several of the expeditions. David Breashears was Bass' ropemate on his ascent of Mt Everest. This book, Seven Summits, is dedicated to David Breashears. Reinhold Messner wasn't on any of these trips with Bass and Wells, but he was in the race to be first atop the Seven Summits.
These are the 'seven summits' described in this book: Mount Everest, Mount Elbrus, Mount McKinley (aka Denali), Aconcagua, Kilimanjaro, Vinson Massif in Antarctica, and Kosciuszko in Australia.
The Everest expeditions were 1982, 1983, and 1985. The 1982 expedition was led by Lou Whittaker and included Jim Wickwire, Phil Ershler, Marty Hoey, Eric Simonson, Dave Mahre, Nawang Gombu, Frank Wells, Dick Bass, Steve Marts and others. It attempted the Great Couloir route on the N Face. Highest point reached was 8380m. Marty Hoey, one of the best female climbers of the period, was killed in a fall after incorrectly clipping into a fixed rope.
The 1983 expedition targeted the regular Khumbu-South Col route. Bass and Wells didn't reach the top, but 8 members reached the summit: Peter Jamieson, Gerry Roach, David Breashears, Gary Neptune, Jim States, Lhakpa Dorje, Ang Rita, and Larry Nielson. Both Ang Rita and Larry Nielson climbed without supplemental oxygen, Nelson being the first American to climb Everest without carried oxygen.
The 1985 expedition was again via the regular Nepalese-side route. This time Bass had to attach to a Norwegian expedition led by Arne Naess (killed in climbing accident in 2004, he was the nephew of the Arne Naess who in 1950 made the first ascent of Tirich Mir in the Hindu Kush, and for the Hollywood gossip mongers among you, he had been married to Diana Ross) and included Chris Bonington, David Breashears, Ang Rita, Odd Eliassen, Sundare, and Pertemba.
This was a very successful expedition with 17 members reaching the top. Bass became the oldest (then) man to summit at age 55, a record now held by Yuichiro Miura who summited at age 80 in 2013. Both Bonington and Naess reached the summit.
