Climber Lives Life at Full Speed

A profile of One of Castro Valley's Own

By: Claudette Langley

The air in the Forum's waiting room got a bit of a zing to it last Wednesday when this wiry, muscled ball-of-energy exploded in the door and took a seat to be interviewed.

Marty Schmidt, 40, one of Castro Valley's own, who has been spanning the globe climbing just about every significant peak possible, had returned home for a visit. The professional mountain climber/guide happened to have sometime between expeditions to visit mom Mathilde and dad Leo at their Walnut Street home.

"I am on six week sweep through the western states visiting friends and family," said Marty Schmidt.

Caught up in the human whirlwind that is Marty Schmidt are his two children Denali,13, and Sequoia,10. Both son and daughter seemed quite pleased to part of their dad's adventures.

"You know where we are living?" asked Denali with a grin. "In dad's van." Marty Schmidt has for the past couple of decades not put down roots in one place, so vans work just fine for the traveler.

Denali and Sequoia's roots are a little deeper on a regular basis, they have been living in Denver for the past few years. But being true Schmidts they too are headed on a new life adventure - they are moving to New Zealand with their mom at the end of summer.

For the elder Schmidts, their youngest son Marty is at the same time a wonder and a heart attack waiting to happen.

"He has loved danger his whole life," said Mathilde Schmidt. "He used to climb these impossibly high trees and hang off roof tops."

According to mom he has definitely taken a different path from his older siblings.

And that path is for the most part thousands of feet in the air, to incredible elevations where the oxygen is almost nonexistant.

"I am one of the few 8,000 meter guides in the world," he said. "It's like going to the moon. Human movement and behavior change at 26,00 feet. You get to find out who you really are."

However, with Marty Schmidt who he is appears to be constantly evolving. In between teaching people to scale the walls and rock, he is working on getting a college degree.

"I don't know how long it will take me, but it just doesn't matter," he said. "It's the doing it that's important."

But it is a bit hard to imagine the edgy fellow sitting long enough to hear an entire lecture at school. It's even harder to figure out where he gets the time.

He just finished a two month climbing Mount Kanchenjunga. He and a team of seven others climbers from around the world tackled Kanchenjunga, which at more than 28,000 feet, makes it the third tallest moutain in the world. And Marty Schmidt made it to the summit of the peak that sits on the border of Nepal and Sikkim. The summit apparently had not been conquered since sometime in the 1950s.

The team started their ascent in April and on May 17 Marty Schmidt sent friends and family a written account of the adventure.

He said "Summit day of Kanchenjunga was on the 15th of May. What a day it was."

Being a Marty Schmidt means excitement and challenges in the air and on the ground. He got stuck in Kathmandu, Nepal when the royal family was allegedly murdered by the Nepalese prince.

Being back in the states must be a little tame for the human Tazmanian devil, but he and Denali and Sequoia look to be making the most of it. The kids and mom Mathilde Schmidt accompanied him to the Forum to listen and add their own anecdotes about Marty Schmidt.

"You know it's a good thing my dad's a climber, because I used to be afraid of heights, but I am not anymore," said Denali.

The attractive teen seemed pretty taken with the man who lives in vans and teaches the art of scaling cliffs, rocks, peak and just really big mountains.

When the boy was nine, he and his dad climbed the cables of Half Dome in Yosemite and spent the night. Sequoia too is learning her dad's trade, but apparently an injured knee has her a little sidelined this trip around. But working his way up everything from Mount Everest to K2 is pretty much the bulk of his life.

He has summited Denali (Mt. McKinley) in Alaska 25 times and Mount Aconcagua in Argentina 26 times. He has also climbed the two walls of El Capitan and Mt. Whitney in Washington is a regular venue.

And Marty Schmidt's exploits are far from the fertile imagination of an active mind his Web site has an impressive collection of recommendation letters from people worldwide.

"Marty is not only an internationally know professional mountaineering guide and skilled instructor... but also a highly sensitive person who adapts easily and tactfully to human situations," Carl Hoffman, a New Zealand professor said.

However, mountains weren't quite exciting enough for Marty Schmidt. From 1981 to 1985 he served as a para-rescueman with U.S. Air Force. "You ever see that movie the Perfect Storm, the scene where the fishermen are getting rescued? That's the kind of stuff I did."

But with para-rescuing well behind him, he has been concentrating on building up his business Marty Schmidt International Guiding (MSIG). "I have never had a client with frost bite or injuries, I make sure they are full prepared with all the right equipment and training before we move on to the really big stuff," he said.

Mathilde Schmidt, who is likely her son's biggest supporter gave MSIG a pitch.

"He needs some rich clients," she said. "Because someday he will make a big name for himself."

To contact MSIG call 303-887-2250 or visit www.sonic.net/~mtlion/msig.