May 13, Kathmandu: David Ashley 48 (Dave Ashley) retired US Air Force colonel climbed Mt Everest Today morning. He reached the summit point at around 8:00 am Nepal time. He became the first living kidney donor to climb the highest mountains on each of the seven continents.
According to his expedition organizer With the successful ascent of Everest David became the first living kidney donor to climb the highest mountains on each of the seven continents.
In 2017 he donated his kidney to his classmate when Dave was on active duty military service as an Air Force Colonel working in the Pentagon when he saw a Facebook post about a college classmate, Chris, who was very ill and needed a kidney.
He wrote on social media before climbing Everest “Well, the time has come. From summiting Pikes Peak in the fall of 1997 to Rainier, Adams, and a host of Colorado 14ers, to peak bagging with Tom Becht in So Cal, I fell in love the mountaineering. But balancing that and work limited my aspirations. Then in the summer of 2019, I retired, and the world opened up. Since then I’ve begun international big mountain climbing, hitting peaks in Tanzania, Guatemala, France, Chile, Equador, Alaska, Antarctica, Argentina, and Australia. And of course, the Seven Summits have been part of that. I still climb domestically, but just for training in prep for the bigger mountains. Now it’s time to head up for a crack at Mount Everest, the final of the Seven.”
Climbing Details:
- Denali (United States, 20,310 feet): June 13, 2021
- Elbrus (Russia, 18,510 feet): September 6, 2021
- Kilimanjaro (Tanzania, 19,341 feet): September 20, 2021
- Mount Vinson (Antarctica, 16,050 feet): December 16, 2021
- Aconcagua (Argentina, 22,837 feet): January 15, 2022
- Mount Kosciuszko (Australia, 7,310 feet): March 27, 2022
- Mount Everest (Nepal, 29,031.7Â feet): May 13 2022
