The Seattle native (born and raised) Steve Swenson, 55, is the quintessential Northwest hardman. His climbing career spans four decades and includes the second ascent of the North Face of Mount Alberta, in 1981; the FA of the Northeast Face of Kwangde Nup, in Nepal, in 1989; and the FA of the Mazeno Ridge on Nanga Parbat, in 2004. On August 24, 2011 Mark Richey, Steve Swenson and Freddie Wilkinson made the first ascent of the Eastern Karakoram's Saser Kangri II (7518 m), the world's second highest unclimbed peak. The American team started the climb from the South Shukpa Kunchang glacier. The summit was reached via the steep 1,700 m south-west face after four days of ascent and three bivouacs with the main difficulties concentrated in the upper part of the climb. Their climb is one of the highest first ascents of a peak in alpine style in the history of mountaineering. During the descent, Swenson had some difficulty breathing. The Indian Military organised a helicopter rescue from advanced base camp at 5800 m.

The first ascent of Saser Kangri II, acclaimed as the 'Climb of the Decade' by the Himalayan Journal, won them The Piolet d'Or (French for The Golden Ice Axe) award in April, 2012. Before screening the award winning short film on the ascent of Saser Kangri II, Steve Swenson narrated his experience of the first ascent in 2011 and previous attempt on this mountain in 2009.Steve's climbing career spans four decades and includes the second ascent of the North Face of Mount Alberta, in 1981; the First Ascent of the Northeast Face of Kwangde Nup in Nepal, in 1989; and the First Ascent of the Mazeno Ridge on Nanga Parbat, in 2004. He's also summitted K2 (1990, via the North Ridge) and Everest (solo, in 1994), both sans oxygen.


Mussoorie Writers' EXPERIENCE THE HIMALAYA: A MOUNTAIN FESTIVAL (Nov. 1-4, 2012) celebrated exploration, natural history and mountain culture. Events ranged from a photographic exhibition to a just-released film, The Old Breed, about Steve Swenson's recent ascent of the highest unclimbed summit in the world - Saser Kangri II. Swenson himself, one of America's toughest climbers, spoke about the adventure of this expedition, along with the values and philosophy that drives him to reach extreme heights. A large audience of students, teachers and visitors enjoyed the mountain poetry of Gulzar, accompanied by Pavan Varma and Sukrita Paul Kumar. Woodstock's Parker Hall was filled with the lyrical folksongs of Nagaland, performed by the Tetseo Sisters. Italian alpinists, Manolo and Herve Bermasse spoke of the challenges they overcome on the mountains and showed films about their perpendicular exploits, while Rekha Bhardwaj sang mountain lyrics together with Bollywood hits. Dr. Charles Clarke, one of Britain's most eminent mountaineers, discussed mountain literature as well as the important traditions of Tibetan medicine. Controversy , politics and intrigue are all a part of Himalayan history and Capt. M.S. Kohli, who led India's first successful ascent of Everest, revealed first-hand details about the joint CIA and Indian Intelligence operation on Nanda Devi during the 1960s. As part of the same panel, Prof. Shekhar Pathak discussed the legacy of Pandit Nain Singh Rawat, one of Uttarakhand's heroic surveyors, who mapped Tibet in the 19th Century. While an international gathering of climbers spoke of pushing themselves to the limits of endurance on vertical surfaces of ice and rock, Viraf Mehta unveiled prehistoric narratives and images etched on the stones of Ladakh, ancient petroglyphs of snow leopards and ibex. The festival brought together scholars, scientists, authors, artists and mountaineers, including chief guest Loveraj Singh Dharmshaktu, who has climbed Everest four times, as well as many other major Himalayan peaks. Conservation and responsible use of mountain environments was another theme, explored by eco-activist Ishita Khanna and wildlife biologists Pankaj Chandan and Rajarshi Chakraborty of WWF.

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