From Thrill Seekers
In 2004, Sean Burch won the North Pole Marathon. In 2005, he set the record for fastest run to the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro.
What’s he been up to lately?
Well, imagine climbing 63 extremely remote mountain peaks in 23 days – in Tibet.
“When you climb a peak that’s never been climbed before, it feels like you’re climbing on the moon,” Burch said in a interview at his home in Oakton, Va. “It has that feeling, like, ‘Wow, no one’s ever been here before.’”
Burch’e intense climbing spree begain Nov. 9 in the Chang Tang region of China, an area known for nomads, yaks, mountains and little else. He would set up base camps in the valleys – he hired a cook and an interpreter to help with the logistics – then would pick his way alone to the tops of peaks ranging from 16,000 to 19,000 feet.
Towards the end of the trip, Burch said he was reaching as many as seven summits in one day.
“Every day, your body’s saying quit,” Burch said. “You just get beat up. You say, ‘What am I doing? Why am I climbing all these peaks?’ You’re doing it because you want to challenge yourself. How far can you push yourself?”
Burch would take to village elders to confirm that the peaks had not been previously climbed – at least that no one could recall. He carried a Global Positioning System unit and took photographs so that he ascents could be independently verified.
A couple of the summits were reachable on snowshoes, but mostly he had to wear crampons for traction and diligently use his ice ax to negotiate the unfamiliar and sometimes steep terrain. He said he was within 100 yards of one summit but had to turn around for fear of an avalanche.
“Some days made [Mount] Everest look like a cakewalk,” said Burch, who once jumped rope atop the world’s highest peak.
Burch also said he had to fend off wild dogs – throwing stones at them was the successful advice from the nomads – and on one occasion saw a wild bear who, fortunately for Burch, did not see him. Several nomads tried to rob him at one camp, but Burch said his reception among the locals was overall very positive.
Burch, 36, said he lost 15 pounds of muscle in Tibet and that it has taken him two months to recover. The trip also cost about $12,000 – even with the help of sponsors who paid for the flights and some of his food.
Burch has his sites set on Antarctica for his next great adventure, but he stated an even more audacious goal when he started discussing his upcoming book, “Hyperfitness,” set to be published in April.
“I’m trying to get America back in shape,” he said.