Richard Bass

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This article is about the ski resort owner. For the mathematician, see Richard F. Bass. For the American football player, see Dick Bass.

Richard "Dick" Bass (born 1929) is the owner of Snowbird Ski Resort in Utah and the first man to climb the "Seven Summits," the tallest mountain on each continent.

Early life

McKinley
(6,194 m)
Blanc
(4,810 m)
Elbrus
(5,642 m)
Everest
(8,848 m)
Kilimanjaro
(5,895 m)
Aconcagua
(6,961 m)
Vinson
(4,892 m)
Kosciuszko
(2,228 m)
Puncak Jaya
(4,884 m)
Map of the Seven Summits (actually nine, depending on definition).

Born in Tulsa, Oklahoma in 1929, Bass moved with his family to Texas in 1932. After graduating from Highland Park High School, he enrolled at Yale University at 16 and graduated in 1950 with a degree in geology. After completing some graduate work at the University of Texas, Bass served two years with the U.S. Navy on board the aircraft carrier USS Essex during the Korean War. In 1953, he returned to Texas to join in the running of the family oil and gas business and ranching operations.[1]

Business and Adventure

In 1971, Bass opened the Snowbird Ski Resort. He became prominent in the industry due to his self-proclaimed “blanket curiosity, nonstop verbosity and hyper-enthusiasm.”

Together with Frank Wells, one-time president of Walt Disney, Bass conceived of the adventure challenge of summiting each of the seven continents: Denali (Mt. McKinley), North America; Aconcagua, South America; Mt. Elbrus, Europe; Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa; Vinson Massif, Antarctica; Mount Kosciuszko, Australia; and Mt. Everest, Asia.

Bass became the first person to achieve the seven summits on April 30, 1985. On that date, he also held the record for being the oldest person to have climbed Mt. Everest. Details of his adventures were described in a book that he co-wrote, Seven Summits. His feat is not without controversy, as one of the seven summits was the tallest mountain in mainland Australia, and not the tallest in Oceania.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Everest History.com - Dick Bass Bio

External links

Asia
South America
North America
Africa
Europe
Antarctica
Australia (continent)
Australia
Authority control
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