Annals of Obsession

Climbing all 14 of the world's 8,000-meter peaks is a game that few have chosen to play—Ed Viesturs is the only American to complete the task. It's expensive, dangerous, and it usually requires many years of commitment. (Viesturs spent 16 years bagging all of them.) So imagine the obsession that would prompt someone to climb them all again—that's what Basque climber Juanito Oiarzabal has announced he'll do. The 53-year-old, who finished his first round on the 8,000-meter peaks in 1999 and then lost all his toes to frostbite while descending from the summit of K2 in 2004, told ExplorersWeb, "I already climbed seven of them twice, so the project is definitely underway.” Oy vey.