Laurie Skreslet

Laurie Skreslet (born October 25, 1949) is a Canadian mountaineer best known for his ascent of Mount Everest.

Laurie Skreslet
BornOctober 25, 1949
NationalityCanadian
OccupationMountain Climbing
Years active1970-Present
Known forBeing the first Canadian to summit Mount Everest
Notable work
To the Top of Everest(book)

On October 5, 1982 at 9:30am local time, Skreslet became the first Canadian to reach the summit of Mount Everest, via the southeast col route. The 1982 Canadian Mount Everest Expedition (sponsored by Air Canada) had taken five years to plan, $3 million to finance and required 27 tons of equipment to outfit the party. The expedition also experienced tragedy when four climbers perished in the Khumbu Icefall during setup of Camp I.

Biography

Laurie Skreslet was raised as an only child in Calgary, Alberta. At the age of 16 he left home and 2 years later was introduced to mountain climbing in 1970. Within two years Skreslet became a member of a successful expedition to Peru’s highest mountain Huascaran. Over the years he became an expert in rock climbing, ice climbing, working in high altitudes, and Alpine climbing. As a result, he decided to become an instructor at Colorado and Canadian outward bound Mountain Schools and has taught over forty-five classes. Over the years he still hasn’t retired from climbing, has participated in over forty-five world class expeditions and continues to operate his business leadership and challenge courses in the Canadian Rockies. In 2012 he celebrated the 30th anniversary of his Everest climb that gave him the title of the First Canadian to climb Mt Everest.

Expeditions

Skreslet, a very strong mountain climber, went to climb in Nepal in 1982, reaching the summit of Mount Everest (29,028 ft. above sea level) in October of that year. In the fall of 1987 Skreslet attempted to climb the north face of Kanchenjunga (28,169 ft. above sea level) but didn’t quite accomplish it. Skreslet has led class expeditions to the Canadian Rockies, Nepal, South America and India. Other mountains Skreslet has climbed in his journey were in the North American Rockies, South American Andes and Asian Himalayas. Since his journey up Mt. Everest in 1982, he has returned five times. During his journey on Mt. Everest, the only injury he received was three broken ribs, even though other mountain climbers have died trying to climb the mountain.

Achievements

Outside of Skreslet's achievements of being the first Canadian to climb Mount Everest he is a motivational speaker and has presented 1500 presentations throughout the world. In July 2001 Skreslet published To the Top of Everest, which won two awards- Canadian best seller and Children’s Choice 2004. In 2007 Skreslet’s movie The Climb was released which helped convey that personal commitment, teamwork, preparation, planning, and dedication to excellence was the key to success on Everest. He has had forty five high altitude expeditions-including over thirty expeditions to Mt. Aconcagua in Argentina, highest peak in the Western Hemisphere. He is a certified ACMG guide - Association of Canadian Mountain Guides. He also helped organize a team in 1986 which allowed Sharon Wood became to become first woman in the Western hemisphere to summit Everest. As a motivational speaker, Skreslet has been engaged by over 500 companies (Venues-Canadian Life, Sprint, Agriculture, Food and Rural Revitalization, Novartis, Fidelity Investments, DuPont, etc.) also has been involved with over 2000 organizations, touching the lives of over 500,000 people. A message that he is always conveys in his speeches is that everyone has their own mountain of endeavor to climb. Skreslet also accompanied former Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Elliot Trudeau on his south Asian tour as well as on his 28-day Arctic tour.

See also
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