CWU alumnus completes final installment of Seven Summits

A uniquely driven Central Washington University graduate joined some exclusive company last summer when he completed his six-year tour of the world’s highest peaks.

Steve Stevens (’94) ascended to the top of 18,510-foot Mount Elbrus in August, crossing off the final peak in the series known as the Seven Summits — the tallest mountains on each continent.

As he recounted in a recent article in The Spokesman-Review (Spokane), Stevens began his quest to topple the Seven Summits back in 2019, climbing Aconcagua in Argentina and Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania.

He reached the top of Mount Everest — the world’s tallest peak at 29,032 feet — in 2021 and took on Vinson Massif in Antarctica the following year. Later in 2022, he ventured up Denali in Alaska, and then finished off his six-year tour last year by climbing Carstenz Pyramid in Indonesia and Elbrus in Russia.

Once his journey had finally reached its conclusion, his climbing friends wondered if Stevens had given any thought to his next adventure.

“Everybody was like, ‘what’s next?’” Stevens said in the Spokesman-Review article. “I’m like, I don’t know yet.”

Stevens graduated from Freeman High School in Rockford, Washington (south of Spokane), in 1990 and continued his education at CWU in the early 1990s. After graduating, he lived in Spokane for a few years before moving to Montana to work as a golf professional.

He did some rock climbing in college and has always enjoyed hiking, but he never veered into serious mountaineering until his 40s. Stevens visited the Himalayas for the first time in 2016, making his way to the top of a 20,000-foot peak and visiting Everest base camp for the first time.

Something about that visit stuck with him, and a couple of years later, he booked a trip to Argentina to conquer the 22,841-foot Aconcagua. On that maiden voyage, Stevens figured out he was a strong climber and that he could handle the altitude. His South America excursion proved to be the catalyst for much bigger things to come.

“I fell in love with it,” he said.

Stevens eventually made it to the top of Everest, suffering frozen corneas in his eyes and frostbite on his foot on the way down. But even those setbacks couldn’t deter him from completing his years-long quest.

“After I had the opportunity to climb Everest, I’m like, ‘well now you’ve got to go for the seven,’” he said.

Stevens carries with him many amazing memories from his Seven Summits adventure, but one thing he will never forget is the weather he encountered at the top of every peak.

“I’ve been lucky,” he said. “All seven of my summit photos are blue skies.”