Steve House (born August 4, 1970) is an American professional climber and

mountain guide A mountain guide is a specially trained and experienced professional mountaineer who is certified by local authorities or mountain guide associations. They are considered to be high-level experts in mountaineering, and are hired to instruct or ...

Biography

House earned a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

ecology Ecology () is the study of the relationships between living organisms, including humans, and their physical environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community, ecosystem, and biosphere level. Ecology overlaps wi ...

from

The Evergreen State College The Evergreen State College is a public liberal arts college in Olympia, Washington. Founded in 1967, it offers a non-traditional undergraduate curriculum in which students have the option to design their own study towards a degree or follow a p ...

in 1995. He has been a fully Union Internationale des Associations de Guides de Montagnes-certified guide since 1999, and is the seventh

American Mountain Guides Association The American Mountain Guides Association (AMGA) is the United States' "sole representative to the 21-member International Federation of Mountain Guides Associations (IFMGA), the international governing body responsible for guiding standards and ed ...

(AMGA) guide to complete the certification. He now guides fo
Skyward Mountaineering
and is based in

southwest Colorado Southwestern Colorado is a region in the southwest portion of Colorado, which in turn is part of the larger Four Corners region. It is bordered by Western Colorado, Southern Colorado, the south portion of Central Colorado, Utah, and New Mexico. C ...

, in Ridgway, Colorado. He works as an ambassador for the technical outdoor clothing company,

Patagonia Patagonia () refers to a geographical region that encompasses the southern end of South America, governed by Argentina and Chile. The region comprises the southern section of the Andes Mountains with lakes, fjords, temperate rainforests, and gl ...

, where he works with both marketing and product design, development, and testing. He has been a Patagonia ambassador since 1999. In 2015 he co-founde
Uphill Athlete
with his former coach Scott Johnston. In the autumn of 2008 , the spring of 2009, and the spring of 2011 House made three expeditions to Nepal to attempt the West Face of

Makalu Makalu ( ne, मकालु हिमाल, Makālu himāl; zh, t=馬卡魯峰, p=Mǎkǎlǔ fēng) is the fifth highest mountain in the world at . It is located in the Mahalangur Himalayas southeast of Mount Everest, in Nepal. One of th ...

. On March 25, 2010, while lead climbing on Mount Temple, Steve fell approximately 25 meters. He broke six ribs in multiple places, collapsed his right lung, fractured his pelvis in two places, and fractured several vertebrae in his spine. Barely a year later and after months of rehabilitation, House set off for the Himalaya to climb Makalu, the fifth-highest mountain in the world. His book ''Beyond the Mountain'' was the 2009 winner of the

Boardman Tasker Prize for Mountain Literature The Boardman Tasker Prize for Mountain Literature is an annual prize of £3,000 awarded by the Boardman Tasker Charitable Trust to an author or authors for "an original work which has made an outstanding contribution to mountain literature". The pr ...

. In 2015 he and Scott Johnston published ''Training for the New Alpinism'' and ''The New Alpinism Training Log.'' He started a mountain guiding service co-owned and co-operated by internationally certified (

IFMGA The ''Union Internationale des Associations de Guides de Montagnes'' is the International Federation of Mountain Guides Associations, known alternatively by its French, German and English English usually refers to: * English language * Engli ...

) guide Vince Anderson.

Alpine climbing

He is vocal in his support of "

alpine style Alpine style is mountaineering in a self-sufficient manner, thereby carrying all of one's food, shelter and equipment as one climbs, as opposed to expedition style (or siege style) mountaineering which involves setting up a fixed line of stocked ...

" climbs, which involve travelling quickly with little gear, and leaving no gear on the mountain. When, in 2004, the Russian team won the 14th

Piolet d'Or An ice axe is a multi-purpose hiking and climbing tool used by mountaineers in both the ascent and descent of routes that involve snow, ice, or frozen conditions. Its use depends on the terrain: in its simplest role it is used like a walking ...

for their ascent of the north face of

Jannu Mount Kumbhakarna or Jannu ( Limbu: ''Phoktanglungma'') is the 32nd-highest mountain in the world. It is an important western outlier of Kangchenjunga, the world's third-highest peak. Kumbhakarna is a large and steep peak in its own right, and h ...

, he criticized the team for using months to climb the face while setting up fixed ropes, and for leaving 77 ropes and multiple camps behind on the mountain.

Notable climbs

*2000 ''Slovak Direct'',

Mount McKinley Denali (; also known as Mount McKinley, its former official name) is the highest mountain peak in North America, with a summit elevation of above sea level. With a topographic prominence of and a topographic isolation of , Denali is the thir ...

Alaska Range The Alaska Range is a relatively narrow, 600-mile-long (950 km) mountain range in the southcentral region of the U.S. state of Alaska, from Lake Clark at its southwest endSources differ as to the exact delineation of the Alaska Range. ThBoar ...

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S., ...

with

Mark Twight Mark Twight (born November 2, 1961) is an American climber, writer and the founder of Gym Jones. He rose to prominence as a mountaineer in the late 1980s and early 1990s with a series of difficult, dangerous alpine climbs in various ranges around ...

and

Scott Backes Scott Backes is an American mountaineer. Backes has been called "one of the leading alpine mountain climbers in the United States." He was born in 1957 and has lived most of his life in Minnesota. Backes started climbing in 1975. He climbs in t ...

, a fast climb in 60 hours. *2003 ''The Talkeetna Standard'', Eye Tooth,

, USA; FA V 5.9 WI5 1000m with Jeff Hollenbaugh *2003 ''Roberts-Rowell-Ward Route'', Mt. Dickey, Alaska Range,

, USA; second ascent VI 5.9 A2 1675m with Jeff Hollenbaugh *2004 ''Southwest Face'', K7, Charakusa Valley,

Karakorum Karakorum (Khalkha Mongolian: Хархорум, ''Kharkhorum''; Mongolian Script:, ''Qaraqorum''; ) was the capital of the Mongol Empire between 1235 and 1260 and of the Northern Yuan dynasty in the 14–15th centuries. Its ruins lie in the ...

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

(second ascent of the mountain, first ascent of route) (VI 5.10a M6 A2 80 degrees, 2400m), solo. For this ascent he won the People's Award for the 14th Piolet d'Or. *2005 June ''Taulliraju (5830m), Peru'' Steve along with

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...

n alpinist

Marko Prezelj Marko Prezelj (born 13 October 1965) is a Slovenian mountaineer and photographer. Prezelj received four Piolet d'Or awards. He won the inaugural "Oscar of mountaineering" in 1992 with Andrej Štremfelj for their new route on the south ridge of K ...

climbed the Italian Route on Taulliraju. They climbed the route free (first free ascent) in a three-day roundtrip. *2005 ''Central Pillar of the

Rupal Face Nanga Parbat ( ur, ) (; ), known locally as Diamer () which means “king of the mountains”, is the ninth-highest mountain on Earth, its summit at above sea level. Lying immediately southeast of the northernmost bend of the Indus River in ...

'', (4100m, M5 X, 5.9, WI4), September 1–8, on

Nanga Parbat Nanga Parbat ( ur, ) (; ), known locally as Diamer () which means “king of the mountains”, is the ninth-highest mountain on Earth, its summit at above sea level. Lying immediately southeast of the northernmost bend of the Indus River in ...

in northern Pakistan with

Vince Anderson Vince Anderson is an American professional mountaineer, writer and mountain guide company manager from Ridgway, Colorado. He and Steve House won the Piolet d'Or in 2006 for an alpine-style first ascent of the ''Central Pillar of the Rupal Face'' ...

. Completed in a little over a week (a very short period of time in comparison with many large alpine climbs), the climb won him and Anderson the

. Steve House's account was published i
Alpinist Magazine-Issue 16
in which he describes the ascent as the culmination of "years of a physical and psychological journey." *2007 ''House-Haley'' (WI5 M7 1750m), Emperor Face,

Mount Robson Mount Robson is the most prominent mountain in North America's Rocky Mountain range; it is also the highest point in the Canadian Rockies. The mountain is located entirely within Mount Robson Provincial Park of British Columbia, and is part of ...

(3956m), Canadian Rockies, British Columbia, Canada. FA of route with

Colin Haley Colin Haley (born 2 September 1984) is an American alpinist known for fast ascents of technical routes on mountains around the world. Haley is perhaps best known for his traverse of The Torres (Cerro Torre, Torre Egger, Punta Herron, and Aguja ...

, May 25–27, 2007. *2007 K7 West (6858m), Charakusa Valley,

, Pakistan FA of peak with

and

. *2008 ''House-Anderson'' (WI5+ M8 R/X, 1000m), North Face,

Mount Alberta Mount Alberta is a mountain located in the upper Athabasca River Valley of Jasper National Park, Alberta, Canada. J. Norman Collie named the mountain in 1898 after Princess Louise Caroline Alberta. It is the most difficult of the 11,000ers from ...

(3619m), Canadian Rockies, Alberta, Canada. FA of route with

, March 26–28, 2008

References

External links

*
House's ambassador page at Patagonia.comInterview with House concerning the K7 ascent
* ttp://www.climbandmore.com/climbing,361,0,1,climbers.html/ Steve House - climber's profilebr>Skyward Mountaineering
{{DEFAULTSORT:House, Steve 1970 births American mountain climbers Boardman Tasker Prize winners Living people Sportspeople from Bend, Oregon People from La Grande, Oregon Piolet d'Or winners