Three down. Denali (20,320 feet, 6,192 meters) in North America. Kilimanjaro (19,340 feet, 5,845 meters) in Africa. Aconcagua (22,841 feet, 6,962 meters) in South America.
Four to go. Elbrus (18,510 feet, 5,642 meters) in Europe. Carstensz (16,023 feet, 4,884 meters) in Australia. Vinson (16,050 feet, 4,650 meters) in Antarctica. Everest (29,028 feet, 8,848 meters) in Asia.
Martin Benning is an AIM-sponsored athlete whose goal is to climb the highest peaks on each of the seven continents. He is a three-time cancer survivor. Martin, from Seattle, climbs to raise awareness and money for patients battling cancer. The effort is called the 7 Summits Cancer Climb.
The goal is to have all seven climbed by 2015. If that seems a ways away, it is necessary, says Martin. “Vinson in Antarctica and Everest in Asia will be very challenging so we’ll need some time for those two peaks.” Up next is Elbrus, either in August of this year or July of 2009. Then comes Carstensz in Australia followed by the big two, Vinson and Everest.
Martin’s latest climb came earlier this year, Aconcagua. Martin describes the experience as “intense. The Andes are huge and diverse. Lower down we would hike in shorts and a t-shirt, on the day of reaching the summit we had down coats, overboots, and mittens just to stay warm. With the wind in the shade it would be 15-20 degrees F below zero. It was the most technical climb I have done.”
Three mountains, three different climbs. “Denali was cold, snowy, and an ice-covered giant,” Martin says. “That mountain takes lives every year.” Kilimanjaro was a relative picnic compared to the other two climbs. Martin said it felt like a “vacation. The law there requires you to have a guide and porters so we spent days climbing and enjoying the view.” Aconcagua, to this point, is his standard for challenging climbs. “It was the hardest, most challenging, sometimes horrifying, exciting thing I have ever done and I would do it all over again if I could. I live for challenges like this.”
As if the challenge of climbing the mountain was not enough, Martin lost part of his luggage on the flight there, once on the mountain one of the mules fell down a hillside resulting in some damaged gear, another mule bumped a rock causing a fuel canister to leak onto some of the team’s gear, and Martin had boot problems at 16,000-feet that had to be repaired to continue the climb.
The AIM Peak Endurance® canister is really a tribute to Martin; he has earned the right to be pictured on it through his battles with cancer and his belief in the AIM products. He uses a number of AIM products in his training, keeps records of how they impact him, and shares those results with AIM so the company can evaluate the performance of our products. Martin, in fact, was involved from the very beginning in the testing and formulation of AIM Peak Endurance®. He uses it for energy due to the combination of ATP, B vitamins, and electrolytes found in the product. He also takes two scoops a day of a combination of AIM BarleyLife® and AIM BarleyLife® Xtra for nutrition on and off the mountain. AIM GinkgoSense®, he feels, aids his circulation, ability to concentrate, and to avoid acute mountain sickness. AIM CellSparc 360® is another favorite product of Martin’s because of his belief in its health benefits for the heart and cardiovascular system.