11 years ago, I was ten, and like most ten-year-olds, I thought my dad was the coolest person in the world. The only thing is, I wasn’t lying.   

I have always known my dad to be a bit crazy. He’s a guy who has jumped out of a plane over 5,000 times, ran the circumference of the United States while being a part of a drum band, and was a lifeguard at Blizzard Beach in Orlando, Florida. It’s some pretty intense stuff. So, when my dad said he was going to climb the seven summits, my only thought was, “Of course, he would!” 

According to Ultimate Kilimanjaro​​, about 370 people have summited the Seven Summits. To put this in perspective, almost double the number of people have been to space than summited the Seven Summits. However, my dad always said you could never really trust those numbers. He mentioned, “There isn’t anyone fact-checking up at those high altitudes.” 

When I was ten, I didn’t understand this goal, or at least not truly. It was long, dangerous, and expensive. Ignorant to these thoughts I only felt excitement for him.  

He began with Aconcagua in Argentina, which was 22,829 feet above sea level. Aconcagua was his favorite mountain. “When I left for Aconcagua, I didn’t think I would do the seven. It was an idea I have always had in the back of my mind, but I never thought I could make it happen with time, family, and work. But that climb could not have gone more perfectly. It was beautiful, and I fell in love with climbing all over again. I then stopped thinking of reasons it couldn’t make it work and started thinking of ideas how to.” 

I remember picking him up from the airport and he looked so exhilarated. When he got home, after a quick stop at Chick-fil-A, he started researching.  

Not too long after, Denali in Alaska was up next, standing at 20,320 feet above sea level. This mountain was an unforgiving one. With its remoteness and unpredictable weather, it’s intimidating. He didn’t summit Denali the first time. He was stuck in a tiny tent for twenty days, not moving in a snowstorm. I remember being thirteen and unfazed. Kids in school would try to freak me out, but I knew my dad would never put himself in danger, and I was right. He came down without summitting, annoyed but determined.  

Another year passed, and he tried again. Seventeen days stuck in another snowstorm, but it ended with the summit. “Denali was beautiful and the first really hard mountain. A lot of people gave up in my climbing group, both times. I was in a tent for 17 days, out of food, freezing, and in a tent with my buddy Tom, who was the loudest snorer. It was the last chance, and we made it happen. I felt accomplished. Aconcagua was my favorite mountain, and Denali was my favorite summit.”  

Once he finished Denali, the next two were easy. (I would not take this to heart because he is not a real human.) Mount Kilimanjaro in Africa is 19,340 feet above sea level, and Mount Elbrus in Europe is 18,510 feet. Compared to the first two mountains, to me, these felt like he was going on weekend trips!  

However, once those were done, there was Everest, standing at 29,035 feet above sea level in Asia. The timing he planned to do Everest always confused me, but he explained, “Mount Kosciuszko (Australia’s highest point) is easy. I wanted us to complete it as a family. So I’m doing that one last. I’m not going to summit the hardest mountain I would ever climb and then not have you guys there to celebrate with me.” 

He was scheduled to go to Nepal, where Everest sat in May 2020. Do you remember what was going on back then? COVID-19 shut everything down, and he was postponed for three years.  

When he finally did, my sister and I were both in college, and my brothers started high school. We all understood the risks a bit more. He flew over, and it was a whole different type of beast.  

“The traffic on Everest is so bad; it’s a sentence I never thought I would say. But it caused the majority of the problems up there, the reason why people die every summit season.” When he returned from Nepal, he had been gone for forty-two days and lost fifty pounds. He didn’t come back happy or excited. He summited on his first try so he should have been, but there was no feeling of accomplishment.  

“The guilt I wasn’t prepared for. When I summited, my first thought wasn’t, ‘I did it!’ or ‘Man, that was hard, but I made it.’ My first thought was, ‘We shouldn’t be up here,’ humans, I mean. Mother Nature is a strong woman, and that mountain proved that to me more than ever. It was the first, and thankfully, the only time climbing felt like a dumb hobby. I put myself at risk and am still not over it, but I probably never will be.”    

You can’t train for the people you will leave on the mountain. Everest is a mental challenge and, of course, a physical one, too, but it is hard to see people stuck in time like that. I can’t imagine it.  

“I don’t have a lot of regrets. I could not have done it without your mom and the family. Time and money, all those things that go into play. When my family could do it, then I could do it. The timing was weird, but I don’t regret it”   

Mount Vinson at 16,067 feet in Antarctica, followed only a few months after Everest. Vinson was not a tall mountain, but it was long and freezing. “The warmest day we had was negative -30° and the coldest day we had was -70° with, I’m not even sure, 80 mile-an-hour winds. The sun is constantly shining 24 hours a day, and it was just a bit too soon after Everest. I was still dealing with a lot of stuff.”  

My dad came down from Vinson similarly to when he returned from Everest. He didn’t lose any weight, but he looked heavy. It was traumatic, and it was the first time that I realized my dad, while the coolest and toughest guy anyone will ever meet, is still human.  

This past Tuesday, the 7th of October, 2024, at the age of 50, my dad, Todd Hayes, summited his final summit. Mount Kosciuszko in Australia is 7,310 feet above sea level. My family of six flew from all different parts of the U.S. to Thredbo, Australia to summit with him.  

Being the daughter of a mountain climber I have climbed some pretty tough hikes. Thankfully, my dad was not lying when he said it was pretty easy. While hiking down I asked if he had any advice to give to climbers. He answered with one word, “Nope.”  

But he continued, “I could give the best advice, a step-by-step plan to these mountains, but it will never be a representation of how hard it is. You are the only person who can convince you to do something like this. You have to want it so bad. Why do people run marathons? When they cross that finish line, it’s an accomplishment. You pushed yourself when you thought you were done. Times that by a trillion, and you know what it feels like. It was hard, and I wanted to quit millions of times and yet I didn’t. I’m not sure why, but I didn’t, and I did it. No advice I could give will prepare anyone for what they’re going to go through or see. I honestly advise people not to do it. It is a stupid hobby. It does have its amazing moments, though, and those are what kept me in it. That and the support of my family.”  

We sat at the summit for two hours. I asked him these questions, and he answered. We popped a bottle of champagne and cried happy tears. My dad was now one of the few to see seven different views from the tallest peaks on each continent.  

I told you I was not lying; he is the coolest.