Die Trying: One Man's Quest to Conquer the Seven Summits »

Bo Parfet (Kalamazoo, MI) was a Postgraduate Research Fellow at the Financial Accounting Standard’s Board, and an Investment Banking Analyst for J.P. Morgan. He summited Kilimanjaro in 2003 and has been climbing ever since.

Richard Buskin (Chicago, IL) is a New York Times bestselling author whose books include the biographies Sheryl Crow: No Fool to This Game and Princess Diana.

At the age of 26, Bo Parfet seemed like just another ordinary guy working as an investment banker at J.P. Morgan when he arranged his first major mountain climb—of Mt.Kilimanjaro, Africa’s highest and fiercest mountain. He was no professional climber, nor was he in any kind of shape to be tackling any major peak. To the trained mountaineer, Parfet would have seemed foolhardy. But in just four years, with perseverance and unbelievable courage, he managed to successfully complete his quest to scale all Seven Summits, including Kilimanjaro, Aconcagua, Denali, Vinson Massif, Elbrus, Carstenz Pyramid, Kosciusko, and Everest—the highest peaks on the seven continents—defying all odds and cheating death at every turn.

Combining the gripping narrative of Into Thin Air with the adrenaline-fueled drama of Vertical Limit, Die Trying is the incredible story of one man’s battle against his own limitations. From dodging avalanches to crossing a ladder over a seemingly bottomless crevasse, to making his way through the Khumbu Icefall and burying a dead teammate at 27, 000 feet, we experience all of the author’s exhilarating, often terrifying climbs first-hand. We share the terror of his confrontations with corrupt army officials, cannibalistic tribesmen, and local militia groups, and we follow this ultimate everyman blessed with the opportunity to undertake an extraordinary journey of exploration and self-discovery as he survives on a diet of fried bats and rats in New Guinea and nearly dies after falling into a crevasse when the ground beneath him gave way on Mt. Cook. Recounting such life-on-the-line experiences as almost drowning in crocodile-infested rapids during a canoe race in Belize to pushing himself to the brink of starvation and complete physical exhaustion, Die Trying is a compilation of extraordinary experiences—each one a totally unique, self-contained story—that illustrate not only the complexity of Bo’s amazing vision and ability to extract the possible from the seemingly impossible, but also the all-too-human struggles that we all share. Enlightening and gripping, Die Trying is the compelling story of man’s quest to conquer nature—and his own fears.

Bo Parfet was a postgraduate research fellow at the Financial Accounting Standards Board, and an investment banking analyst for J.P. Morgan. He summited Kilimanjaro in 2003 and has been climbing ever since. He established the Seven Summits Awards Program as a specialized research grant for The Explorers Club’s Youth Activities Grant Program funded by both his personal contributions and various capital campaigns. This program awards students grants to perform health-care-related field research. He has also established a partnership between The Explorers Club and The Kellogg School of Management, where seasoned explorers lecture on campus about leadership lessons learned from exploration. He lives in Kalamazoo, Michigan.

Richard Buskin is a New York Times bestselling author whose books include the biographies Sheryl Crow: No Fool to This Game and Princess Diana. He lives in Chicago, Illinois.

The Seven Summits

1 Getting to the Mountain 5

2 Kilimanjaro 24

3 Aconcagua 42

4 Up the Creek: A Quick Adventure 67

5 Denali 76

6 Elbrus, First Attempt 97

7 Vinson Massif 113

8 Everest, First Attempt 135

9 Elbrus, Second Attempt ... Plus Exploits 166

10 Carstensz Pyramid 176

11 Kosciuszko (and Some Major Side Adventures) 193

12 Everest, Second Attempt-On Top of the World 207

Appendix The Seven Summits Gear List 219