Phil Ershler has guided climbing expeditions worldwide for the past thirty years, was the first American to summit Everest from the difficult north face (1984), and the first person to climb all Seven Summits twice. His guiding career began as a summer job while he was a student at Whitman College in Walla Walla, WA. Each year Phil leads expeditions to major peaks on most of the seven continents. When he is home, he conducts keynote inspirational presentations for corporate and professional audiences. Living with Crohn's Disease and surviving both colon and prostate cancer has had a profound impact on his outlook on life. Phil lives in Kirkland, WA with his wife and Seven Summits partner, Susan.

Susan Ershler is a speaker and former executive at Fortune 500 companies. One of the few women to complete the Seven Summits, she speaks professionally about pushing past perceived boundaries to pursue your greatest dreams.

During her 23-year corporate career, she has held a series of increasingly responsible executive positions in the sales divisions of Fortune 500 companies, including FedEx, Kinko's, Qwest, Verizon, and United Technologies ultimately as a Vice President. She had never hiked or climbed until she met Phil at age 36 and then began climbing the Seven Summits with him - in her spare time. Not a professional mountain climber, she trained by climbing the 35 stories in her high-rise office building on her lunch hour - with a 40-pound pack on her back.

Together, Phil and Susan made it to the top of Mount Everest on May 16, 2002. With that climb, they became the first couple to scale the world's Seven Summits together. Their new book, "TOGETHER ON TOP OF THE WORLD: The Remarkable Story of the First Couple to Climb the Fabled Seven Summits" was recently published by Warner Books.

Harlin is the editor of the American Alpine Journal, contributing editor for Backpacker magazine, former co-host of PBS's "Anyplace Wild," and a frequent contributor to Outside magazine. Harlin can also be seen in the upcoming IMAX movie "The Alps." The movie chronicles Harlin's journey to the revered Eiger North Face, which is the same mountain that claimed his father's life.

Additionally, Harlin is a veteran of some of the first climbing ascents and first ski descents on four continents. He lives in Hood River, Oregon, and Oaxaca, Mexico, with his wife, Adele Hammond, and their daughter, Siena.

In 1965, after reading several mountaineering books about French guides and alpinists, Roskelley begged his father to enroll him in the Spokane Mountaineers Climbing Course. His father did so, believing that his son's interest would wane and his reluctant fishing companion would return. This was not the case, within months he had climbed Mt. Raineir, Mt. Shukson and Mt. Moran. Roskelley was hooked, and to this day feels the need to spend his time climbing every chance he gets. Most recently, Roskelley guided his own son up Mt. Everest.

Simonson has climbed Mt. Rainier every year since 1970 and has nearly 300 ascents. Over the years his job as a co-owner of International Mountain Guides has taken him on about 100 expeditions worldwide, including leading the Mallory and Irvine Research expedition in 1999 and climbing the Seven Summits. When he's not off on doing an expedition or lecturing about leading expeditions, he enjoys teaching mountaineering skills to a new generation of guides and climbers. Eric lives in Ashford and Tacoma with his wife Erin and is looking forward to climbing Mt. Rainier someday with his young daughter Audrey.

A veteran of over twenty expeditions to Alaska, South America, the Karakoram and the Himalaya (1972-2001), Wickwire is best known for his 1978 ascent of K2 (28,250') the world's second highest mountain.

Wickwire was the first mountain climber to be profiled on CBS' "60 Minutes" (1983) and also was the subject of an Emmy award-winning PBS documentary, "In the Shadow of the Mountains" (1982, revised 1998). He also appeared on MSNBC's "Special Edition" (August 1999) and was a participant in "Quest for K2," the National Geographic Society documentary on the climbing history of K2 (2001).

He has been in private law practice since 1968 after leaving the Washington, D.C. staff of the late Senator Henry M. Jackson. He has represented the Inupiat Eskimo-owned Arctic Slope Regional Corporation in land and natural resource matters since its formation in 1972 pursuant to the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act. Wickwire now practices on a part-time basis.