The Seven Summits

Climbing High
An Interview with Britton Keeshan

—This interview was printed in Abroad View magazine fall 2004

Britton Keeshan, the 22-year-old grandson of the late Bob Keeshan—better known as “Captain Kangaroo”—is now the youngest person to climb the tallest mountain on each of the seven continents. At 17, this Cos Cob, CT native reached the summit of North America’s tallest peak—20,320-foot Mt. McKinley (Denali) in Alaska — and recognized the possibility of reaching the rest of the “Seven Summits,” a feat accomplished by only 85 climbers.

Knowing that his endeavor would require substantial amounts of cash, Keeshan put together a 50-page sponsorship proposal and mailed copies to 20 major corporations. AT&T was impressed and agreed to support the costly venture. A dual molecular biology and religion major at Middlebury College, in Middlebury, VT, Keeshan took a leave of absence during his senior year to summit his two remaining mountains: Vinson in Antarctica and Everest in Asia. While his peers were celebrating commencement, Keeshan was receiving much media attention for his feat, including stories in USA Today, Newsday, The New York Post and The Washington Post. During a busy summer of granting interviews, studying for the MCAT (Medical College Admission Test), researching international health development programs, working as an EMT at a hospital in Middlebury, and assisting his cellular biology professor with academic research, Keeshan took time out to speak with Sherry Schwarz, editor of Abroad View.

Sherry Schwarz: How did your passion for mountaineering and the idea to climb the Seven Summits develop?


Britton Keeshan: I was fortunate enough to take a NOLS (National Outdoor Leadership School) course in British Columbia in the summer of 1999 and then in Denali, and once you do Denali it’s time to look for bigger and better mountains. With NOLS I learned how to climb and everything about walking techniques and basic survival skills. They taught us how to travel in a rope team, how to extricate people from glaciers and how to extricate ourselves.

I also have a great love of traveling. Setting a goal of the Seven Summits was the perfect way to explore the world. It was a goal that would bring me to all seven continents, and I’d have more challenging mountains to climb.

SS: I’ve heard you are particularly interested in southern Asia.

BK: It was my mountaineering experiences that introduced me to that part of the world. I knew one day that I’d climb Mt. Everest, but I didn’t want to be one of those people who doesn’t know anything about the surrounding culture. When I was accepted to Middlebury as a “Feb” [every year just over 100 students are offered February admission to Middlebury and take the fall semester to pursue a wide range of opportunities], I saw it as the perfect time to go to Asia. My interest in large mountains and climbing inspired me to throw myself as far from home as I possibly could; I had dreamed of going to India and Nepal. With my interest in medicine, I researched possibilities and found an Australian doctor who ran a leprosy clinic in India. I spent three months living with an Indian family, working with the
doctor and trekking. From my experience in India, I know that international medicine is where my heart is.

SS: How did your interest in medicine develop?

BK: I was always interested in basic healthcare in developing countries. As my mountaineering skills developed over time, I found I wanted to be more self-reliant. I started as a first respondent and then trained to be an EMT. After I climbed Vinson, I flew from Antarctica to Ethiopia, where my biology professor, Chris Waters, was on a Fulbright scholarship to teach undergraduate-level cellular function and genetics. I stayed with him and his wife. They introduced me to their contacts, and I was able to volunteer in the Mother Teresa Missionaries of Charity clinic. It was a great setting, because I’m not a doctor right now and this gave me practical experience.

SS: Where did you study abroad your junior year?

BK: I wanted to go to Pakistan or back to southern Asia, but it was right after September 11 and my parents and I went back and forth about the decision. I ended up settling on London University’s School for Oriental and African studies. It was in keeping with my interest in the Himalayas, because while I was there I worked on my religion major and studied Hindi and ancient Indian medical studies. Studying in an urban environment opened my eyes to graduate school.

SS: How do you view the connection between your interest in religion, medicine and traveling?

BK: Medicine is the perfect profession for someone who wants to travel and get to know local people. Even if it’s for six months at a time, you are living and interacting with the people and experiencing their culture and religion on a daily basis. Climbing ties into the philosophy of how I live my life, because it is not so much about the physical journey as it is about the mental hardship and how you overcome being away from friends and family and living in a hostile environment; it forces you to focus on the reality in front of you—climbing big mountains.

SS: Where does your interest in religion stem from?

BK: My interest in religion also developed out of my India experience, because India is a place where religion is an integrated part of people’s life and culture. Not having grown up in a religious family, this is something I’d never experienced before. When I went to India, I felt I’d been robbed of my education because I never knew anything about this place.

There is something mystical about traveling in a third world country when you’re 18 and trying to find yourself and having interactions with people you’d never otherwise meet. Whether listening to Israelis playing music or traveling through the Ghats at night watching people burning fires and praying, these experiences are mystical. My interest in religion is less about the study of religions themselves and more about the impact they have on people.

SS: How much cultural interaction do you have with the local people when climbing in a particular region?

BK: Asia is a great example, because the local people are such an integral part of the climb. I made an attempt on a mountain called Cho Oyu, the sixth highest in the world. We used Sherpas and local Tibetans who climbed with us on rope teams and helped ferry gear and cook. They were integral. And on Everest there was a huge interaction with the Sherpa people. On the 2-week trek into base camp, you stay with Sherpa families and interact with their kids. There is also a large Buddhist element to the experience, because the Sherpas are extremely religious. You are surrounded by prayer flags, and in every village the local monk blesses you. Every time you get blessed, they give you a small string necklace and scarf. I must have 20 string necklaces around my neck that I am not supposed to remove until they fall off. As a climber, I feel it is my duty to devote myself to their local way of life. They spend a huge amount of time trying to get the blessing of the mountain, and I do my best to integrate myself and get into their world.

SS: What have you learned from international expeditions, communicating cross-culturally and navigating borders?

BK: I’ve climbed with people of many nationalities, which can be as much of a challenge as integrating into another culture. For Cho Oyu, I climbed with a Russian and a German. I’ve climbed with Japanese, Europeans and Canadians—even people from Grand Cayman. On my last expedition there was a substantial Japanese contingent, including a 23-year-old. He didn’t speak much English, and I don’t speak Japanese, but we wanted to communicate. By the end of the expedition, we were able to communicate to the extent that I learned about his family.

A climbing expedition is the extreme example of where people really have to work together as a group, because you are responsible for each other’s lives. It was because of this kind of cross-cultural networking that AT&T sponsored me. AT&T had a campaign called “Talk is Good,” and they saw in my expeditions a way to show that talk is great.

SS: How did you prepare for your expeditions?

BK: The best way to train for these big mountains is to climb other big mountains. Ethiopia was ideal because I was at 9,000 to 10,000 feet for the whole month. The classic training routine is to throw 50 pounds on your back, get on a treadmill and run for an hour and then lift weights. You also need a ton of calories. I ate a pint of Ben and Jerry’s every night for the month before I left. I then lost about 20 to 30 pounds on each expedition.

SS: What do you believe is the importance of setting lofty goals for oneself?

BK: We learn and grow from all of these experiences. For me, climbing the Seven Summits was an incredibly lofty goal but not necessarily something I expected to do; I was just going to keep trying. The benefit of setting these huge goals is that it’s a goal—not something you have to achieve but something you want to push for, and it’s about the process of trying to attain it. You grow from traveling down that path, even though it may not be the path of least resistance.

SS: Speaking of not taking the path of least resistance…rumor has it that you took a study guide for the MCAT with you to the Mt. Everest base camp?

BK: It’s true. I got through about 85 of 1,300 pages, which I was pretty proud of, but at some point I decided to wait until I got back. I feel bad for the yak that had to carry that book.

SS: What’s next for you?
BK: After five years of mountaineering, I’m entitled to a year of figuring out what the next goal will be. It won’t necessarily be mountaineering. I’m very focused on finishing school and getting back out in the world.