Couple in record-breaking seven summit climbs

By MICHAEL McCARTHY

A British climber and her Australian husband have become the first married couple to scale the seven summits, the seven highest peaks on the seven continents.

When Jo and Rob Gambi reached the 5642m top of Mt Elbrus in the Russian Caucasus last month they achieved one of the ultimate feats in modern-day mountaineering - and doing it together made it even more special.

In scaling Mt Everest and six other towering peaks, they set a string of climbing records that will take a lot of beating - and a lot of time, money, and gruelling fitness training for anyone who wants to try.

Starting with Denali in Alaska, the 6914m peak formerly known as Mt McKinley, the highest mountain in North America, they tackled the highest summits in Africa (5895m Kilimanjaro in Tanzania), Antarctica (4820m Mt Vinson), South America (6962m Aconcagua in Argentina), Australia (2228m Mt Kosciusko) and then the ultimate challenge, Everest (8848m, straddling Nepal and Tibet).

They rounded it off with Elbrus, which is now generally regarded as Europe's highest peak.

It is not a commonplace feat.

Jo Gambi, a 35-year-old physiotherapist and fitness enthusiast from Penn in Buckinghamshire, and her 46-year-old husband Rob, an Australian fund manager and surfer who has lived and worked in London for the past decade, did not know if they would succeed when they thought they would take a long mid-career break to go climbing and considered the seven summits as a goal.

They were even less sure when their first attempt at high-altitude training in Nepal had to be cut short when Rob suffered an obstructed bowel in the mountains and his life was saved only by an emergency helicopter evacuation.

But after months of recuperation, they started again and reached the top of Denali on June 12 last year.

They reached the top of Kilimanjaro - not fully snow-covered - just over six weeks later on July 30, and then headed for the Antarctic.

Mt Vinson was scaled on December 15, in temperatures of nearly minus 60C degrees.

They crossed to South America and managed to scale Aconcagua, the highest mountain in the world outside Asia, on January 26, which they found the most difficult, when Jo fell ill and nearly gave up.

They reached the top of Mt Kosciusko on March 5, in a single day, before setting their sights on Everest, which they reached on May 24.

When they reached the top of Elbrus on July 20 they set what they believe are various records.

They believe they are the first couple to climb all seven summits together as a married couple, having both reached each summit at precisely the same date and time, and reached the summits of all seven on the first attempt.

They believe they are the fastest couple to complete the seven summits, with the fourth-fastest time in the world overall of one year and 38 days (measured from first to last summit dates), and they also believe Jo Gambi is the fastest woman to complete the feat.

It is likely to be verified by the website 7summits.com, which keeps details of all attempts.

The Gambis believe the whole series of climbs cost them more than £100,000 ($274,490).

- INDEPENDENT