Together on Top of the World

The Remarkable Story of the First Couple to Climb the Fabled Seven Summits

Contributors

By Phil Ershler

By Susan Ershler

By Robin Simons

On Sale
Apr 2, 2007
Page Count
320 pages
ISBN-13
9780446194402

On May 16, 2002, Phil and Susan Ershler reached the top of Mt. Everest and became the first couple in history to scale the fabled Seven Summits. What made their achievement all the more remarkable was that Susan was not a mountain climber, but a high-powered Fortune 500 executive who had never hiked or climbed until she met Phil at the age of 36.

Phil, a professional mountain guide who was the first American to summit Everest from its treacherous north face, had climbed his whole life with Crohn’s disease, a chronic, debilitating illness. Adding to these challenges, just before their final summit, Phil was diagnosed with colon cancer, and the resulting surgeries and complications were expected to end his career.

This is Susan and Phil’s story: a tale of love set in the mountains, a story of triumphal highs and devastating lows in quest of a seemingly impossible dream.

Formats and Prices

Price

$8.99

Price

$11.99 CAD

Phil Ershler

About the Author

Phil and Susan Ershler live in Kirkland, Washington.

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Susan Ershler

About the Author

Susan Ershler knows a thing or two about taking things to new heights. Ershler and her husband Phil, a professional mountain guide, received worldwide media attention including Good Morning America, Today, CNN, and the New York Times after becoming the first couple in history to conquer the Seven Summits, the highest mountain on each of the world’s seven continents.  Ershler had only started climbing in her mid-30s, training by climbing the 35 stories in her high-rise office building on her lunch hour for a year — with a 40-pound pack on her back. When a cancer diagnosis threatened to end Phil’s mountain-climbing, the couple set out on their remarkable Seven Summits journey, which culminated at the top of Mount Everest — 29,035 feet — on May 16, 2002.

Ershler, the fourth American woman to climb the Seven Summits and 12th American woman to climb Mt. Everest,  also has vast experience as a successful business and sales executive. During her 23-year corporate career she has held leadership positions in several Fortune 500 companies, leading teams to sales records, beating quotas from $1 million to $600 million. Ending as a vice president of sales for a multi-national telecommunications company, she was responsible for the company’s fast-growing Internet division.

 

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