Podcast #23 – Climbing Everest at 63: Eva Steinwald’s Journey Through Grief and Greatness

Doug Dvorak (00:01.47)
Good day Mission Podcast community. I’m your host and podcast navigator, Doug Dvorak, and I’m excited to bring you inspiring stories from incredible guests. These individuals are on a mission to create remarkable possibilities that not only enhance their own lives, but also make a lasting impact on the communities.

and individuals they serve and motivate. Stay tuned for some truly amazing conversations. My guest today is extreme alpinist and uber positive human being Eva Steinwald. Hi, Eva.

Eva Steinwald (00:43.032)
Hi Doug, good to be here today.

Doug Dvorak (00:45.512)
Great to have you. I’m so excited about today’s podcast and welcome to the Mission Podcast. My guest today is extreme alpinist and uber positive human being, Eva Steinwald. Hi Eva, how are you?

Eva Steinwald (01:05.046)
I’m doing great, Doug. It’s such an honor to be here today. Thank you.

Doug Dvorak (01:08.948)
Well, the honor’s mine. Welcome to the Mission Possible podcast. Eva was born in Germany to Czech parents and moved to the United States at age 19. She now lives in Boise, Idaho, where she is a professional real estate broker and owns a karate school. So I have to ask, are you a black belt?

Eva Steinwald (01:28.908)
I am, I am.

Doug Dvorak (01:31.194)
Okay, so not only climbing the seven summits, summiting Everest, Aconcagua, and Denali most recently, but also a black belt who owns her own karate school serving both as its leader and instructor. However, after 26 years of marriage in 2018, Eva experienced the devastating loss of her husband, her soulmate and best friend.

That profound grief sparked something deep within her rather than retreat, Eva chose to fully embrace life in all its fleeting precious moments and beauty. She made a conscious decision to dance with fear and embrace risk, starting with her long held fear of heights.

Her journey toward climbing the Seven Summits began after summiting Mount Rainier in 2021. Witnessing melting snow, glaciers, and changing mountain landscapes inspired a powerful mission to raise awareness about global warming by climbing the highest peak on each continent by the age of 70. She’s not 70 yet, only 63 years young. And she has stood on three of those seven summits.

Akan Kagawa in January 2024 at the age of 61, Denali in June 2024 at age 62. And in May this year 2025 stood on the summit of the highest peak on the planet Mount Everest at age 63. Is that memory still seared? When we talked initially about the podcast and prepping, you said you were still giddy and

Eva Steinwald (03:19.138)
Yes, you know, I, so it’s been Sunday, it’s been four weeks that I stood on the summit and I’m still processing the fact that I stood on the top of the world and that it actually happened. And I have to place things in my house to remind me, yes, I did stand on top of the world and picture of the summit, but most…

Doug Dvorak (03:19.161)
And experiencing warm fuzzies all over.

Eva Steinwald (03:47.736)
Fun is students, my karate students met me at the airport when I came back at midnight and they had posters and those posters are in my garage where I work out to remind me, yeah, I did actually do that. it’s settling in, but sometimes I’m still hard. It’s hard for me to say I stood on top of Everest. It sounds, is that really true?

Doug Dvorak (03:53.852)
Wow.

Eva Steinwald (04:17.122)
But it is, it is, so I’m grateful.

Doug Dvorak (04:19.869)
So your husband passes away, you don’t want to be a victim, you know, 26 years of marriage, your best friend, your soulmate. So you turn that, that, that.

Eva Steinwald (04:23.768)
Yes.

Doug Dvorak (04:28.563)
Challenge into a mission. And with three summits behind you and four more to go, you, Eva, continues your mission one peak at a time. I’m so really and it’s so fresh. So I’m really excited about some of the stories you’re going to share with myself and the mission podcast community. So today’s title is Eva Steinwald, Defying Limits, Seven Summits by the Age of 70. So Eva, what inspired you to begin your

Eva Steinwald (04:38.829)
Yeah.

Eva Steinwald (04:47.822)
Thank you.

Doug Dvorak (04:58.517)
Mountaineering career later in life and what was your very first climb? We talked a little bit about that but I want to get more specific.

Eva Steinwald (05:03.054)
Yeah, so you you mentioned it a little bit at the beginning. It really started when my husband passed of 26 years in 2018 and I realized life is so precious. It is so short and it’s a gift that we’re here and I did not want to just live every day, let the days go by. I wanted to feel it, taste it, experience it and getting over my fear of heights.

Was the first thing. And I actually did that before Mount Rainier. There’s a peak here in Idaho called Mount Bora. That’s our highest peak, 12,600. But it has a section that’s called Chicken Out Ridge because people chicken out. So I thought that’s probably a good one to go to and do. And I did in 2019 and I went across Chicken Out Ridge.

Doug Dvorak (05:48.915)
Mmm.

Eva Steinwald (06:03.082)
I went to the top and when I reached the top, Doug, I just cried. I was so in awe that I was able to do it and then I realized a fear of heights is just in your head, you know? And then that’s how it started and then it led to Mount Rainier and you know, other peaks.

Doug Dvorak (06:24.657)
What’s the elevation of Mount Rainier?

Eva Steinwald (06:28.558)
Mount Rainier is 14,600. Yes, it is. It’s a glacier. It’s a glacier. It has crevasses. And I had no idea. First of all, I didn’t even know what Mount Rainier was. Someone told me about Mount Rainier and they showed me pictures. I’m like, I did Mount Mora, 12,000 something, I can do Mount Rainier, 14,000. I didn’t even think of 2,000 feet would be such a difference.

Doug Dvorak (06:32.743)
But that’s a technical climb, isn’t it? Or can be.

Eva Steinwald (06:57.506)
But I didn’t even know what a crampon was, what a harness was, an ice axe. I never wore a helmet. And that’s what you need to wear on Mount Rainier. And you go up middle of the night and then you actually summit at 6 a.m. in the morning. So you go through the night and I have to tell you, I felt like I was climbing Mount Everest. I seriously was. Because I had a headlamp, you know, I had crampons on.

Doug Dvorak (07:15.248)
Wow.

Eva Steinwald (07:27.372)
And when I reached the top, the sun came up and it was, I still see the view, it was just breathtaking. And it was so beautiful that I said, I want to experience more of that, more of that. And so we went down and I learned something about crevasses. Cause I thought, why do we go up at night? Why not go during the day?

And so my guide said, well, at nighttime, the glacier is frozen. During the day, it gets warm and the crevasses open up. And I’m like, okay, now I understand. So that was my first experience, I guess, with a glacier and more of a technical climb. Definitely, yes.

Doug Dvorak (08:20.509)
So a nice transition. experienced, you get past Chicken Ridge on Mount Borough in Idaho. You said 14 and some change, but a more technical climb. And then getting up there at sunrise and summiting Mount Rainier really set the stage and set the…

Eva Steinwald (08:25.432)
Yes.

Eva Steinwald (08:36.362)
It did. It really ignited a fire in my belly. Yeah, it really did.

Doug Dvorak (08:41.273)
Excellent. So you’ve conquered three of the world’s highest peaks Denali, Aconcagua and Everest. Denali in Alaska, Aconcagua in South America. What country? Argentina. Which one tested you most physically, emotionally and why? Of those three.

Eva Steinwald (08:50.498)
Argentina.

Eva Steinwald (08:56.296)
So all three of them, so I selected the first three hard ones first and the easier ones towards the end. And I would say all three of them challenge you in different ways. But the one that challenged me mentally the most was Everest. And the reason is you’re there for six to eight weeks and you are removed.

Doug Dvorak (09:17.766)
Excellent.

Eva Steinwald (09:25.368)
From your comforts, from your support, from your elements completely. And you’re in an environment that every day is a survival, even at base camp, because you sleep in a tent where at nighttime could get minus 15, you know, and so you never have heat. You have food that you’re not used to. And then as you start climbing to the upper camps, you’re exposed to crevasses, seracs, going through the Khumbu icefall is super dangerous. So mentally staying strong and not letting that affect your confidence is, I meditate and I really visualize to help me with that. But it definitely is.

Also emotionally hard because you don’t have your family. You don’t have your friends.

Doug Dvorak (10:28.093)
So did you experience any of the ailments, the death zone, illness? Talk about some of the physical maladies at that average.

Eva Steinwald (10:37.234)
Yes, I’m glad you brought that up. So many climbers get sick. It can be as easily as simple as, you stomach issues, respiratory or seriously high altitude sickness. And I felt so good, but I did get sick. I got sick after doing a rotation coming down. Rotation is where you go up and you climb high to stress your body.

And then you come back down to base camp and recover. And we came down, I felt so good. And we were supposed to go for our summit push two days later. And I had dinner and I’m eating and I go to bed and I’m laying in bed and in my stomach, it was like a boxing match. And I’m like, this is not good. my God. I’m like, what is gonna happen? And so I lay there for about two hours.

And I thought, well, maybe I should drink some fluids. So I sat up, everything came out. It was horrible. And then I laid back down and then again, everything came out. So I threw up. And in the morning, my guide, he always checked on me in the morning. He comes over and he called me Diddy, D-I-D-I. That’s older sister in Nepalese.

So he called me Diddy every time. And he said, Diddy, how are you doing today? And I’m like, pop ship, I threw up. And his eyes got really big. And he’s like, well, let’s make sure you hydrate today. Leave the tent, get some fresh air. I’m like, okay, I’ll see what I can do. I did not leave the tent. I just did not feel good. So the next night, Doug, I got diarrhea.

Doug Dvorak (12:14.077)
Really?

Eva Steinwald (12:32.012)
And then I’m thinking, is this the end of my climb and my expedition? Will I be able even to recover to go for a later summit push? Because it’s so hard to recover and heal your body at 18,000. And Base Camp is just shy of 18,000.

Doug Dvorak (12:52.115)
Well, I would also think, Eva, that that you’re there, you’re two hours or less away from your summit push. And then all these aside from the feeling ill is the preparation, the training, the coordination, the scheduling and the expense, which I’ve heard is 60 to 100 thousand dollars. Right.

Eva Steinwald (13:08.791)
All that.

Eva Steinwald (13:15.916)
Yes, I mean all of that.

Doug Dvorak (13:17.361)
So there had to be a lot going on outside of, I’m feeling like crap and I’m 48 hours. So take us, what happened in those 48 hours before you summited?

Eva Steinwald (13:25.582)
Yeah, so, you know, I’ve been training for Everest, Doug, since July of 2024, every single day. I mean, so disciplined, training, training, training, making sure I eat right, taking care of myself. And when that happened, I thought to myself, all that is gone. The money that I paid, the time that I invested, I’m not going to be able to come back because financially I will not be able to afford it a second time. And it all crumbled in front of me and I had to take a deep breath and say, okay, how can you get well? How can you get well? And the expedition owner came to me, said, you’re not going to get well here. You have to fly down low.

And when he means fly down low is fly down to like 9,000 feet where there’s oxygen and your body can recover and heal. And I got to tell you the first thing that came to my mind, dollar signs, because that meant I have to take a helicopter by myself for an hour and I have to pay for that by myself. And so initially dollar signs were going through my mind. I’m like, can I really afford that? And then immediately I said,

There’s no other way. You to afford it because if you don’t, you’re not going to summit. But if you go down, at least you have a chance and opportunity to come back and go for the summit. So I opted for the option and I flew down, was there for three days and three nights. I meditated, I did breathing exercises, I ate organic food.

And amazingly, when I came back to base camp, I was like reborn. I felt like I could run around at base camp 18,000 feet. That’s pretty insane. But that was my only option. And if I would not have done that, I would not have summited, not even approached the summit push. Yeah.

Doug Dvorak (15:47.315)
So I know our listeners are curious, how much was that helicopter ride?

Eva Steinwald (15:50.974)
Round trip $3,000 and then the lodging because I went into I went to an inn that had organic food Was $900 so that trip cost me $4,000 but if you look at paying a hundred grand

Doug Dvorak (15:54.343)
But only option as you.

Doug Dvorak (16:08.007)
You recovered and you were able to push to the summit, albeit not 48 hours 72. So let’s talk about Everest. Can you describe the final push to the summit? One went through your mind as you reach the top because when I, I love watching documentaries on extreme athletes like yourself, extreme alpinists, people that really push themselves. But when I think of it, I think of two things. I think of the first, the bottleneck at the Hillary steps and the long line. I think of

Eva Steinwald (16:12.28)
Yes.

Eva Steinwald (16:26.883)
Yeah.

Doug Dvorak (16:35.879)
Being so physically, mentally, spiritually exhausted. And over the past one to three days, I’ve been seeing dead bodies. Then I get to the Hillary step and there’s a line. And then I gotta make the push to the summit. Walk us through your summit push and what that experience was like for you.

Eva Steinwald (16:52.974)
Yes.

Yes, you know that whole, it was a total of 11 and a half hours from High Camp, which is 26,000, Camp 4, up to the summit. And we walked through the night. We left at 8.30 p.m., arrived at 7.48 a.m. That’s my time that I arrived. Yeah, and it was nonstop, just walking and walking. And then because it’s one line,

Doug Dvorak (17:03.837)
From base camp to the…

Doug Dvorak (17:16.59)
Wow.

Eva Steinwald (17:25.526)
And one rope, you’re stuck behind climbers.

Doug Dvorak (17:28.903)
How long was that bottleneck where you had to wait at the Hillary step if you did?

Eva Steinwald (17:32.716)
Well, the bottleneck happened in multiple times and it happened actually before the Hillary step. It happened on the way up and it’s really steep. And there were so many times where we just stopped and you couldn’t see what was going on higher up, but we would stand for five to 10 minutes and you couldn’t move and you couldn’t really pass someone because that meant unclipping, walking around and it was this steep.

Doug Dvorak (17:39.548)
Mmm.

Eva Steinwald (18:02.72)
If you fall, you are down there. And so my mind, the Hillary steps, I visualized it and researched it before going. And I knew that it was very exposed. And here’s my thought of, my God, my fear of heights. And there’s only one path and it’s very narrow. And sometimes you had to step over rocks and it goes straight down.

And so in my mind, I’m like, okay, when you get there, just take one step at a time. Keep your eyes on the trail. Don’t look left and right. Don’t worry about what is down there. We get to the bottom of Hillary steps and I look up and I’m like, my gosh, that is long. For some reason, I thought it’d be like 15 minutes. It’s like 45 minutes to an hour, the Hillary steps.

Doug Dvorak (18:58.867)
From Hillary steps to the summit. So you left camp for round numbers, 12 hours from the time you left camp for until you returned of those 12 hours, how much was spent waiting?

Eva Steinwald (19:12.718)
You know, we were, so the day we summited, May 18th, was the busiest day this season. But I would say the total amount of standing and waiting, it really wasn’t that bad if you really add it up, maybe 45 minutes altogether.

Doug Dvorak (19:30.704)
Okay, okay, so that dispels. And let’s talk about, you you prepped, you trained for almost a year. Well, actually, longer than that, you did Mount Bora. So several years. And, you know, I hear about some people that…

Eva Steinwald (19:33.422)
Maybe 40, maybe an hour. Yeah.

Eva Steinwald (19:44.781)
Longer yes.

Doug Dvorak (19:51.516)
Really don’t train, they think they can pay a lot of money and make it up. Did you ever, no names, but did you experience any of those type of individuals who hadn’t really trained, put in the time, the effort, the right diet, the right mindset that made it, didn’t make it, or you saw a calamity? Unpack that for us, if you would please.

Eva Steinwald (20:34.904)
Yes. You know, that’s a commonly common comment. You can just pay yourself up to the summit. And I did not meet anyone like that in my expedition company because they vet all their climbers and they make sure they have summited other climbs, other summits. I can only say this that no matter how much money you have.

The Sherpa cannot carry you to the summit. You have to make it through all the different camps, through the death zone on your own. And I trained very hard, very diligently, and it was still tough.

Doug Dvorak (21:27.943)
So what was the best training? it cardio, strength, mental preparation of those three or all three commingled?

Eva Steinwald (21:33.772)
Hmm.

Eva Steinwald (21:40.334)
So for my Akan Kawa and Denali climbs, I have a strength coach and I’ve been with him for like five years because as you get older, you lose muscle, you lose strength. So that’s really important to me. And especially as a female, upper body is not that strong. But for Everest, I invested in a high altitude coach as well. No, he is actually in Chamonix. So it was all virtual. Yeah.

Doug Dvorak (22:02.032)
In Boise?

Doug Dvorak (22:07.313)
Wow, a high altitude. I didn’t know those type of coaches existed.

Eva Steinwald (22:11.35)
Yeah and his specialty is high altitude and he is getting a master’s in high altitude acclimatization and so he studies the way the body reacts what you need to do to prepare and he climbed Manaslu which is an 8,000 meter peak last September without oxygen all by himself so he he understands it.

Doug Dvorak (22:33.043)
Wow. for our non metric friends, 8,000 meters is…

Eva Steinwald (22:41.102)
8,000 is, I would say 8,000 would be like 27,000. Yeah, it’s 27.

Doug Dvorak (22:51.379)
A friend of mine is ill and he was prescribed a bariatric chamber. that the correct? Have you ever used a bariatric chamber? Tell us a little bit about what that does.

Eva Steinwald (23:03.003)
huh, yep. Yep.

Yes, so I, my coach recommended, they call it the hypoxicotent, and my coach recommended, you know, let’s, if you want, can do it for Everest, and you pre-acclimate at home. So instead of being in Nepal for eight weeks, I was there only for actually less than six weeks, because…

Doug Dvorak (23:30.439)
And is this a device that you bought or that you went to a facility in Boise that had one?

Eva Steinwald (23:35.97)
Yeah, so you rent it from a company here in the United States. They’re also in the UK and they ship you a machine. It’s a big generator and the machine has a hose that is attached to a tent that you put on your bed and you hypoxico. H-Y-P-I hypoxico. Let me spell it. Hi-pog.

Doug Dvorak (23:54.075)
And what’s this device called again?

Doug Dvorak (24:03.517)
That’s okay. Hypoxico, I’ll find it online. That’s fascinating.

Eva Steinwald (24:05.71)
Hypoxic.

Doug Dvorak (24:12.807)
Thank you. So you were able to rent that and so how many hours a day or tell me how you use that.

Eva Steinwald (24:15.438)
Mm-hmm.

Great question. So I and I need I’m going to go forward and then back. So I flew normally you fly into 9000 feet when you go to Nepal. I flew to 14000. So yes, automatically to 14. So my coach calculates how many days you need to get from 9000 to 14000 when you acclimate.

Doug Dvorak (24:33.19)
Wow.

Eva Steinwald (24:46.028)
And that is 300 hours. I slept in that tent for eight weeks.

Doug Dvorak (24:54.033)
You slept in the tent. Do you think it helped?

Eva Steinwald (24:57.326)
It absolutely prepared me to be at 14,000. There’s pros and cons. When you sleep in the tent, your body gets stressed because you’re sleeping with less oxygen and your body is trying to produce red blood count cells. So your recovery may not be as good when you train. And I started at 7,000 feet.

And eventually I was like at 18,000 feet at the end. Yes.

Doug Dvorak (25:30.749)
So you can adjust the whatever to gradually go from seven in increments of how many feet.

Eva Steinwald (25:36.014)
Yes. Usually, it was an increment of 1,500 feet. Yeah, 1,500.

Doug Dvorak (25:45.135)
Excellent. So did you ever imagine in your younger years that you’d be scaling the world’s highest peaks in your early 60s?

Eva Steinwald (25:53.356)
You know, when I grew up in Germany, I hiked in the Alps and I would always see the peaks. And even as a child, that was like, I’ll never even reach that peak up there. And I’ve heard of Matterhorn, the Eiger in Europe, and those were for real alpinists and real serious climbers. And of course, as a child, you know, Everest, because it’s the highest peak. And for me, Everest was…

Like a different planet. It was like the moon and only serious mountaineers would attempt something like that and only a small percentage actually summit. So I never even dreamed that I would be on that list. Never in my wildest dreams. Even if you would have asked me that question four years ago when I did Mount Rainier before I decided to do the seven summits.

Even though my mind, I’m like, I’m doing Everest here. It feels like Everest. Yeah, because I had no idea what Everest was all about and how hard it is. I never even thought even four years ago that I would do Everest.

Doug Dvorak (27:04.741)
Eva, so talk to me about the training regiment at a high level. So you train for, you’ve been training for Everest for years, but walk us through a typical day of training. Cause you said you, after summiting Akan Kagawa, or was it Denali, you said, Denali, I got 10 months. I’ve got 10 months to train. Walk us through your day-to-day routine.

Eva Steinwald (27:24.652)
Yeah, mm-hmm, did all the.

Eva Steinwald (27:30.958)
Yeah, well, I knew my strength training coach would not be enough. I really wanted to increase my chances of success. And I heard of my coach that he does high altitude coaching. So I reached out and I really did not understand the thought process, what he’s putting me through. How is that going to help me? But it worked. So it started out with interval running.

Uphill interval running. mean, to the point where I would like throw up almost, it’s so hard. And then long distance trail running. So it was a combination of bursts and pushing through those bursts and then long trail running for endurance. It really was a combination of both for the first, I would say four or five months, what he prescribed.

And then after that, it was all about carrying heavy pack. I put ankle weights on my legs to mimic my heavy boots. And I would go hiking with a 40 pound pack for like three hours, steep incline. had to be a steep incline. Or in the winter time, it was impossible. I was on the StairMaster for four hours with the 40 pound pack.

and ankle weights, all at one time. I watched three movies.

Doug Dvorak (28:58.073)
All at one time or did get a four?

Eva Steinwald (29:05.58)
Because on Everest, know, people, and I had another climber here locally that went, and he did the training on his own. And his training was not the right training. It’s all about endurance. Because when you go for summit push, you…

Are nonstop going, going, going. You may rest, you go into the tent and sleep, but maybe just for a few hours, but are you really sleeping? Can you sleep at 22,000 feet? No. So it’s all about endurance. And the sad part is the people that don’t make it off the mountain, it’s when they come down because they’re so exhausted. You know, so exhausted.

Doug Dvorak (29:56.724)
And what is the percentage of those that attempt to summit Everest that actually do on a percentage basis? 60%. So, you know, you and I are about the same age. I’m 63, you’re 63, and I feel the best. I feel 43. you know, diet, exercise, a book I’m recommending to everyone that’s 50 plus is Younger Next Year.

Doug Dvorak (30:25.711)
It’s amazing and it really is written for people our age or that are transitioning to retirement or active retirement, should say, or semi-retirement. And one of the key takeaways were the three C’s, community, connection, and commitment.

And as we grow older, having a community of like-minded, for you it might be, you know, extreme athletes, your family, your friends, your new communities that you’ve made, those deep emotional bonds and connections and that commitment. And for…

A lot of people, especially in my sphere of influence, my friends have worked really hard, they’ve done well. And what they want to do at 63 is downsize, play golf, nothing wrong with that, have a few cocktails every day, not climb Everest. And I’m not suggesting that everybody does, but I think having that community of active, like-minded, positive, moving people and not looking down all the time that each one of our cohorts in this country, too much fricking screen time.

Unplugged, look up, get out, sigh, smell. mean I’m an avid pickleball fan. just played in a tournament in McCall this past weekend and to be outside untethered with

Eva Steinwald (31:35.085)
Yep.

Eva Steinwald (31:38.936)
Smell. Listen.

Doug Dvorak (31:51.846)
A community of like-minded people that are engaged and living positive, drama, no BS, a connection of something that we love and then a commitment to wanting to get better. So as people slow down as they get older,

But you haven’t, you’ve accelerated. What internal shift or belief system allowed you to break that mold? I know part of it was the unfortunate passing of your husband in 2018, but for some people that happens and that steamrolls them and they perhaps, know, TV, overeat, drugs, alcohol, lack of activity. Talk to us about that internal shift.

Eva Steinwald (32:17.88)
Yeah.

Doug Dvorak (32:32.613)
And your belief system now that broke that mold that is allowing you to climb the highest summits on the planet.

Eva Steinwald (32:39.938)
You know, I’ve always been active, but what really pushed me over the cliff?

My father had Alzheimer’s, and this was in 2013. he, I mean, he was my father, and he passed away. He died in front of my eyes.

And when he passed, and I don’t think I was really aware of it at that time, but looking back, the transition I did from 2013 to 2018 and to now is I was so determined, I’m going to have a healthy brain. I’m going to do whatever I need to do. I’m going to exercise hard, get that blood flowing through my brain. So,

I don’t get Alzheimer’s. Of course, I didn’t really know anything about Alzheimer’s and what can prevent it. But in my mind, that was, I’m going to do that. And I started to do Spartan races and really do crazy things because I thought, you know what, if I do this, I’m never going to get Alzheimer’s. Of course, anybody can get Alzheimer’s, but that was kind of looking back, that really was my initial push.

Doug Dvorak (34:09.071)
Your dad’s all timers in 2013 was the impetus. Wow.

Eva Steinwald (34:12.864)
Yes, really and initially I didn’t realize it, but looking back a few years ago, I was looking at my path and the taste I have for living. And I think part of it also is my martial arts training. You have just a mindset of living in the moment, in the now, and not in the past, because the only time you have is what you and I have right this second. That’s the only moment and only time that we have. So it’s important to live in the now. And that is part of it as well.

But definitely my dad’s Alzheimer’s illness and the way he passed and who he became with that illness was very brutal. And I was like, it’s not gonna happen to me, but it can happen to anybody. Now I know, but yeah.

Doug Dvorak (35:12.499)
My mother-in-law and I who were very close I I Held her in my arms. She had advanced Alzheimer’s. She died in my arm. So I know what what that’s like, but a couple takeaways I’ve taken already which are many

You have a taste for living. I love that. And I love what you said about your success on Everest was it’s all about endurance. Life is an endurance test. Life has never been easy. It’s beautiful. It’s joyous. But having that positive disposition, the glass is half full, not half empty, and extricating drama kings and queens and, you know,

People that talk about, you I don’t have time for that. I don’t know if it’s an age thing. I’m a cancer survivor. I remember May 18th, 2010 in Chicago when I was diagnosed with cancer and I recognized then and there, I can be victim or victor. The only thing I could control was my mindset and the only way out is through. And I recognized once I recovered that…

Each and every moment I’m hyper vigilant and focused on time and and how I invest it and I only invest my time and my son Cavalier into things that I value my family my health my friends and I’ve extricated I don’t need a hundred friends on Facebook. I don’t need if I have five great friends. That’s all I need. So let’s talk about have you faced any age related limitations or health concerns on your client.

And how did you navigate them? You talked about being sick on Everest. That really, I don’t know, that was an age-related limitation. But anything else on age-related limitations and how you navigated those?

Eva Steinwald (37:01.742)
You know, I have to say, I have not, I know. It’s nothing age related. You know, the only health concern and issue that I had was when I got sick and I had to recover from that. But besides that, I’ve been really, I knock on wood, I feel very blessed that I have been healthy on my climbs.

And even though they are hard, have not, nothing really age related. I recover very well. But you know what, that all goes back to your mindset, being positive, and like you mentioned, valuing your time. really is. When people are negative, you get ill.

It just happens and…

Doug Dvorak (38:01.113)
It creates its own reality, a vibe and buzz, and it’s a downward spiral. It’s like catching a falling knife. And I understand that people are not always going to be positive. Life can be tough. Death, loss of jobs, pets die. But if that’s your default, adios. Interesting. So what kind of reactions have you received from other climbers when they realize your age and what you’ve accomplished?

Eva Steinwald (38:03.949)
Yes!

Eva Steinwald (38:19.384)
Yes. No.

Eva Steinwald (38:28.27)
Okay, I have to share a story for this one. Okay, can I share a story? All right. So I hired a private guide, private Sherpa for Everest. And my Sherpa, when I arrived, got injured a few weeks before and they had a replacement Sherpa for me. And so I meet my Sherpa, his name is Popshe, short for uncle. And…

Doug Dvorak (38:30.771)
Please. Sure.

Eva Steinwald (38:58.12)
We bonded. He was spectacular. Any other climbs I’m going to do in the Himalayas, he’s going to be my guide. We bonded and got very close. But this is the story.

At the end of the expedition where we were really close and open, we talked about anything, he said, you know, Diddy, when I heard that I’m going to be guiding a female that’s 63 on Everest, I was not too excited. I’m like, oh, but then he said, but you are so strong. I don’t want to be like you and I’m 63. So yeah.

Doug Dvorak (39:39.815)
Wow, that’s a great story. So Eva, do you have a favorite memory or moment from one of the three climbs that still gives you chills, goosebumps when you think about it?

Eva Steinwald (39:51.214)
So it’s not a positive memory, but it gives me the chills. On Aconcagua, we went on our summit push from 19,000 to 23, and we’re traversing, and I see something off to the side, something red, and the other climbers, we noticed it, but we just kept on going. And then we summited, and then on the way down, we took a rest and my guide said, okay, we’re going to sit, but I don’t want you to lay down because when you lay down, because you’re so exhausted, you’re going to fall asleep and we won’t be able to wake you up. I’m like, okay, I’m going to sit. And all I could think of was my sleeping bag. It’s like, where’s my sleeping bag? You know? And then he said, do you remember that red thing you saw off to the side? And we all said, yes, that is a 33 year old climber.

That passed yesterday and the helicopter was not able, has not been able to pick him up yet. And I have goosebumps and I thought to myself, while you hear of people passing and dying, but until you actually then see it, it becomes reality and you realize these mountains are dangerous.

Doug Dvorak (40:57.245)
How did he pass? Do you know?

Eva Steinwald (41:20.107)
And yeah, that definitely even now, you know, it gives me the chills.

Doug Dvorak (41:25.949)
Do know how he passed?

Eva Steinwald (41:28.064)
I think from exhaustion, yeah. Yeah.

Doug Dvorak (41:31.677)
So Eva, you’re back a couple years ago and you’re focused and you’re claiming seven summits and then Everest. How did your friends and family react when you told them you planned to climb Mount Everest?

Eva Steinwald (41:44.526)
Some of my friends, they’re like super excited because they know I like to do crazy things, but like they’re super excited. Especially my karate students, they’re saying, my Shihan, she’s gonna climb Everest, right? My family, a little scared and worried because my brother, he’s my only family I have. He knows how serious and dangerous Everest is because you hear of people dying up there and there were so many bodies up there and yeah, he was definitely worried but he was super proud when I made it and when I came back and he made me proud where he took my summit picture and used it in his business brochure. Yeah, as achieving higher.

Levels of service and he has me in his brochure. So I know he’s super proud of me, but I also know he was really worried.

Doug Dvorak (42:54.461)
Yeah, so Eva, mountaineering requires risk. Have you had any close calls on the mountains that changed your perspective on life or death?

Eva Steinwald (43:08.706)
You know, Doug, I wouldn’t say, I mean, going through the Hillary steps is of course for me was tough, but nothing life threatening. I’m someone that like, and you mentioned at the beginning, I like to dance with fear and embrace risk because that’s when you feel alive.

And you keep on living and you keep on growing. And so I’ve been fortunate and I’m sure because I’m going to continue climbing, I will probably come across some of those, but hope, you know, up to now I’ve been fortunate now. And I’m also very fairly new at this.

Doug Dvorak (43:59.186)
I love what you just said. You said, dance with fear and embrace risk. I love that. So how you’re at, you’re in the death zone. How do you stay mentally sharp and resilient at high altitudes where focus and attitude can mean survival?

Eva Steinwald (44:04.44)
Yes. Yeah.

Eva Steinwald (44:15.906)
Yeah, so the death zone…

Eva Steinwald (44:21.254)
Is kind of scary. First I thought, can I take my mask off to eat something? Am I going to suffocate? That’s the first thing I was thinking. But yes, you can take it off. Just don’t move a lot, but you can eat and everything. It’s really keeping a calm mind. And I like to visualize the day before where we’re going to go and how it’s going to be. So I’m mentally prepared.

And I also meditate and that’s part of my visualization is calming myself and

That keeps my mind strong. And even though I may be exhausted and tired, I’m able to push on. And it’s in the death zone when you go up, it’s one step at a time. It’s that fast, one step, two step. It’s very slow. And then of course you wanna make sure that you hydrate, because if you don’t hydrate, your mind and your body starts breaking down up there. You can’t really eat up there.

Doug Dvorak (45:03.376)
Excellent.

Eva Steinwald (45:31.0)
But definitely visualizing the day before and then taking it one step at a time and not worrying because I started for a moment. We were going up, it was really steep and I was looking up and then I looked down and I’m like, how am I gonna get back down? And I was looking down and I’m like, don’t even think about that. Just think about going up.

And I had to do that because it freaked me out looking down because it’s that steep. Just looking down, Doug, I got dizzy. I’m like, I can’t look down. I need to look up. Yeah.

Doug Dvorak (46:08.445)
That’s awesome. Eva, you’ve done three of the seven summits. What is the next summit you’re planning and when?

Eva Steinwald (46:15.182)
Yeah, well, I’m hoping and I’m planning on doing two next year. I want to do Kilimanjaro. I haven’t done Kilimanjaro and of course I want to do a safari when I’m there. And then I’m going to do Mont Blanc, which is in Chamonix. There’s two lists of seven summits. There’s Alboros, which is in Russia. And then there is the Mont Blanc one in France and Switzerland, no France.

So I’m gonna do Mont Blanc. I’m not gonna do the one in Russia.

Doug Dvorak (46:45.875)
Yeah, they might, they might keep you. So.

Eva Steinwald (46:47.81)
Yeah, yeah, they might keep me. I am not going to support Brasha and then I may not come out because of my, yeah.

Doug Dvorak (46:56.177)
Yeah. So what’s one piece of gear you can’t live without on the mountain and one luxury item you still sneak into your pack?

Eva Steinwald (47:03.118)
So when you get your packing list from your expedition company, they tell you, you know, how many under layers to bring and how many this because you only have so much space and everything weighs and takes space. And usually they tell you bring so many socks, you know, maybe three pairs of socks. I like clean pairs of socks. I mean, you could be wearing a pair of socks for six, seven days and

I like to like switch them out because when you put a clean pair of sock on your foot, it just feels so good. I know that may not sound like something, well, that’s not that special, but you know what? When you’re up in the mountain, you haven’t taken a shower in like two, three weeks, a clean pair of socks feels really good. So I usually bring extra pairs of socks.

Doug Dvorak (47:54.452)
Cool. Eva, if you could go back and talk to your 30 or 40 year old self, what advice would you give her about adventure and aging?

Eva Steinwald (48:05.784)
Don’t Don’t wait because with every adventure, you learn so much about yourself and about other cultures, other countries. There is so much to learn, to explore, and by doing that, you’re educating yourself and you broaden your mind, and it’s such an amazing and beautiful experience.

Don’t wait until you’re 60. Go outside your comfort zone and experience something that you’re very uncomfortable with because with that, you move forward. Every time you move forward, you grow and you become better. When you don’t do that, for me, if you don’t do that, you stay in the same place. I think you die inside and sometimes you even go backwards.

And I wish I would have started earlier. But you know what? I’m going to keep on going. What? I’m 63? Another 40 years.

Doug Dvorak (49:15.001)
You. When growth stops decay begins. Last question before we get into the rapid fire lightning round. right so Eva what message do you hope your story sends to people who think it’s too late to start something big?

Eva Steinwald (49:21.11)
Yes.

Eva Steinwald (49:33.058)
For me.

You know, age, age is, you know, people say age is just a number. I think for me, age is just a statement. Age is not who you are. Age is not what you can experience. And so when people think, it’s too late, well, if you don’t start, then it is too late. You have to start. It’s never too late. But if you don’t start,

It is too late. Yeah.

Doug Dvorak (50:08.467)
Excellent. So Eva, I’m going to start the rapid fire lightning round. One word response or a short phrase. Are you ready?

Eva Steinwald (50:16.682)
Okay. Okay, I got it.

Doug Dvorak (50:19.175)
First summit you ever reached.

Eva Steinwald (50:21.25)
Not more.

Doug Dvorak (50:22.589)
Favorite mountain so far?

Eva Steinwald (50:24.19)
Everest by far.

Doug Dvorak (50:25.981)
Hardest moment on Everest.

Eva Steinwald (50:28.376)
Passing three bodies going up.

Doug Dvorak (50:31.111)
High altitude guilty pleasure.

Eva Steinwald (50:35.44)
My gosh, gummy bear, Harry will gummy bears and a Coke. And I don’t drink that and I’m gonna eat it.

Doug Dvorak (50:40.487)
Gummy.
High altitude guilty pleasure.

Eva Steinwald (50:46.658)
Snicker Bar.

Doug Dvorak (50:48.893)
Go to TrailSnack.

Eva Steinwald (50:51.342)
Actually, that was a sneaker bar, I’m sorry. So, sneaker bar was the high two trail snack and guilty pleasure is a Coke.

Doug Dvorak (51:00.563)
Coke. Mountain you’re dying to climb next.

Eva Steinwald (51:03.862)
Amadablan, which is the Matterhorn in Himalaya.

Doug Dvorak (51:08.441)
One word to describe Denali.

Eva Steinwald (51:11.19)
Relentless.

Doug Dvorak (51:13.164)
Age is just a…

Eva Steinwald (51:16.631)
A statement.

Doug Dvorak (51:18.183)
I love it. Music, silence, or podcasts when hiking.

Eva Steinwald (51:23.34)
Music, no risk involved, silence when there’s risk involved.

Doug Dvorak (51:29.455)
Excellent. So your dream climbing partner living or historical.

Eva Steinwald (51:34.71)
Jimmy Chin. I would love to climb with him. So if you’re watching, you better reach out to me.

Doug Dvorak (51:41.433)
All right, Jimmy Chin. Awesome. I have grown. have been engaged in your story and your vision of Seven Summits by 70. My guest has been Eva Steinwald from Boise, Idaho. She is on a quest in the next seven years to summit all seven summits, the top and highest on each one of the seven continents. Eva, I know you you do a lot of things. You’re a real estate professional. You own a karate studio. You’re a black belt. You might do some speaking. If our pod.

Cast listeners want to reach out to you, how can they get in touch?

Eva Steinwald (52:20.174)
There’s different ways. I’m happy to give my email, but also I’m on Instagram and Facebook. And Instagram and Facebook, it’s the same. It’s 7 summits, the letter X, 70.

Doug Dvorak (52:34.547)
Numeral seven, summits.

Eva Steinwald (52:37.388)
Summits the letter x 70.

Doug Dvorak (52:40.205)
X 70 numeral. So seven summits X seven zero. Awesome. Thank you so much, Eva. It’s been a high honor and privilege. And thank you to our Mission Possible podcast community. Check us out on mission possible dot biz. Like us, subscribe and thank you for your time. Carpe Diem.