Henderson man on mission to climb Seven Summits

There ain’t no mountain high enough to keep John Beede from climbing on.

Through rain or shine, the 32-year-old’s goal is to hike the highest mountain on each of the world’s seven continents, known as the Seven Summits.

The Henderson native’s latest accomplishment was Puncak Jaya, known as Carstensz Pyramid, in Indonesia in August. He plans to conquer Mount Vinson in Antarctica, the last of the summits, around the end of 2015.

“I’ve always been inspired to climb, and taking things to another level is a natural progression,” Beede said. “I want to live a life I will be proud to look back on and say that I lived it well and did some unique things.”

Beede got a taste of his passion at 13 when he learned how to rappel with the Boy Scouts of America at Black Mountain Scout Camp in Washington.

“What interested me in it was that it’s a constant battle with myself,” Beede said. “I’m always looking inside to find how far I can push it on the outside.”

Over the years, the mountaineer began checking off climbs, including Mount Hood in Oregon, Mount Rainier in Washington and many of the Colorado Fourteeners.

In 2007, he attempted to climb the first summit Aconcagua, which stands nearly 23,000 feet above sea level in Argentina.

“I decided to make it a point to climb all seven summits when I failed at the very first one,” Beede said. “We got to the highest camp on Aconcagua when a massive storm hit and killed three people.”

Since committing to the goal, Beede has mastered Mount Kosciuszko (more than 7,300 feet above sea level) in Australia, Mount Elbrus (more than 18,500 feet) in Russia, Mount Kilimanjaro ( more than 19,300 feet) in Tanzania, Mount McKinley (more than 20,300 feet) in Alaska and Mount Everest, the world’s tallest mountain at more than 29,000 feet, in China and Nepal.

“At the top, it’s a feeling of total elation. You’re absolutely filled with life and excitement and pride in yourself,” Beede said. “At the same time, you’re really only halfway. The top is not the goal. Getting home is the goal.”

To prepare for expeditions, Beede spends months hiking and climbing stairs carrying a 100-pound backpack. Once home and recovering, he focuses on eating healthily and sleeping regularly to ease his body back into his daily life.

Despite eating between 6,000 and 10,000 calories a day, Beede said he lost 25 pounds while hiking Mount Everest last year.

“It’s because your body starts eating away at itself,” he said. “It doesn’t just chew at fat but also muscle mass, bone density and ligaments. It gets eaten away because of the lack of oxygen.”

In order to acclimate to new elevations, climbers follow the “climb high, sleep low” rule, where they hike up about 3,000 feet, drop off their gear and hike back down to sleep.

Beede said red blood cells increase at lower elevations, which allows more oxygen in the bloodstream. Once used to the newer elevation, climbers can sleep at the next level and start the process over.

“You can’t just make a beeline to the top of Mount Everest,” he said. “You have to do it in laps. So, they say you actually climb Mount Everest four or five times by the time you’re finished because you do it in these ladders.”

In addition to health and weather conditions, Beede has also faced cultural conflicts while completing expeditions. During his recent descent on Puncak Jaya, his group woke up one morning to find its guides and food missing.

Trapped between a mine and tribal warfare, Beede asked his family to seek permission to cross the mine from Freeport McMoran, the U.S. company that owned it; however, the family’s request was denied, according to Beede’s brother Mike.

“We also contacted the U.S. Embassy in Jakarta (in Indonesia), and they just told us he needed to walk it out,” Mike said. “We tried to explain to them that people were going to get seriously injured or killed, but they just kept telling us there was nothing they could do.”

Refusing to take no for an answer, Beede’s family began reaching out to local government and news media to put pressure on the mine and embassy.

“John and I have a friend named Jon Carmichael who worked for the Obama administration as a photographer, and he made a few phone calls to (Secretary of State) John Kerry’s aide,” Mike said. “Before we knew it, John Kerry made some calls on my brother’s behalf, and suddenly the mine was reluctantly letting his group cross.”

Despite a few scares, Mike said his family knows Beede is “incredibly capable” of achieving his climbing goals.

“The only time I ever really worry is when he’s on a mountain that’s particularly dangerous,” Mike said, “When he’s gone for weeks without any communication, those are the times where my mind starts to wander a little bit.”

In the meantime, Beede works as a motivational speaker and is in the midst of raising funds to cover his $40,000 trek to Antarctica.

“A mountain will never lower itself to your level,” Beede said. “You must rise up to the demands presented to you by the climb.”

For more information, visit everestmotivationalspeaker.com.

Contact Henderson View reporter Caitlyn Belcher at cbelcher@viewnews.com or 702-383-0403.