Inside the Story: Utah man is first person to sail seven seas, climb seven summits
(KUTV) A Utah man is now a world record holder. Martin Frey, 56, became the first person ever to sail the seven seas and climb the seven summits.
"To put it all together in one neat package -- seven summits, seven seas--yeah, it sounds pretty cool," Frey said.
If you add up the elevation of the summits, it comes to 14.5 vertical miles. That's about double what commercial jets fly.
The seas total 35,000 miles of travel -- or almost one-and-a-half times around the world.
Frey's first climb happened in August of 2005 on Mt. Kilimanjaro in Africa. In 2009, it was Denali. And in January of 2001, he climbed Mount Aconcagua in South America.
He conquered Mt. Everest in May 2011, where he almost froze his leg off when he accidentally left a zipper open.
"We had 80 mile-per-hour winds and the snow and ice packed in around my leg," Frey said. "I all of a sudden realized I couldn't bend my knee and I looked down and I was fully encased in ice."
In 2012, Frey climbed Elbrus in Russia, Carstensz Pyramid, and Mt. Vinson in Antarctica.
After the seven summits, Frey moved on to the seven seas. That trip was inspired by Frey's seven-year-old daughter, Lily, who was born with a rare disorder where she cannot speak, talk or walk. He and his wife wanted to take her on an adventure and took her along the south Pacific Ocean.
"We had Lily as our ambassador, she made friends where we went," he said.
Frey also sailed the north Atlantic in February 2013, the Indian Ocean the following year, then the south Atlantic, Southern Ocean, Arctic Ocean, and then the north Pacific.
"We had 35-foot waves, over 100-mile-an-hour winds," Frey said. "I was so glad to be back on dry, solid ground."
Frey finished his adventure on April 17, 2016. Throughout it all, he's learned a few things.
"We are capable of so much more than we give ourselves credit," he said. "I'm here to say if you push yourself beyond that, you can redefine who you want to become and what you want to achieve."
Frey has been adventurous since his childhood, but he says he's going to take it easy for awhile.
For more information about Frey and his adventures, visit his website.
