Climbing Our Everyday Mountains

Climber and guide Craig John of Portland, Maine, will give a presentation about climbing and guiding around the world at the Winchester Public Library on Wednesday, November 2nd at 7:00 pm. The talk will focus on his ascent of the seldom-climbed North Ridge of Mt. Everest while covering some of his other expeditions to mountains such as Kilimanjaro, Denali and Cho Oyu, to name a few. Craig will talk about what it took to acomplish his goal of climbing Everest as well as what it was like to finally stand there.

We all experience challenges in our lives that seem insurmountable at times. The difficulties a person has to overcome in an extreme environment are not all that different from the personal challenges of every day life. Drawing from decades of leadership experience, professional mountain guide Craig John will present a multi-media program in which he explores these similarities and how we can take what he's learned on the mountain and apply it to our own lives to become stronger, more competent individuals. A natural story teller, Craig presents his inspiring story of determination and courage while sharing the lore of the regions he has climbed.

Craig John began climbing in the Cascade Range and Olympic Mountains of Washington State. He has been a professional mountain guide since 1987, when he started working with renowned guide Eric Simonson. He has 189 ascents of Mt. Rainier by 12 different routes to his credit and has done over fifty high altitude expeditions worldwide including successful ascents of Everest by the North Ridge in Tibet, and Cho Oyu (the 6th highest in the world), 18 ascents of Kilimanjaro and ten expeditions to Denali. Craig guides for International Mountain Guides based in Ashford, Washington and The International Mountain Climbing School in North Conway, New Hampshire. He is a member of the American Mountain Guides Association and the American Alpine Club.  His website is www.craigjohnclimbing.com .

This program is presented by the Friends of the Winchester Public Library with the support of the John & Mary Murphy Educational Foundation. The library is located at 80 Washington Street in Winchester and the program is free to the public.

For more information, call Jann Sheehy at 781.729.6096.