The first thing you notice about Dave Mauro — if he’s wearing shorts — is the massive tattoo decorating his right shin. At first glance, it appears to be a random collection of squiggly lines and characters, but closer inspection reveals dates, names and elevations. Each line is a mountain. Each date and elevation, a summit — representing the seven highest mountains on Earth.
Dave summited Mount Everest on May 20, 2013. In doing so, he became only the 65th American to climb the Seven Summits — the highest point on each of Earth’s continents.
What, then, does mountaineer Dave Mauro do when he’s not climbing mountains? He writes about climbing. He works as a financial planner in Bellingham. He golfs with comedian Ryan Stiles and spent several years performing improv at the Upfront Theater.
As an original cast member of the Upfront, Dave performed improv shows every week for about seven years. He was recruited by Ryan Stiles in the theater’s early days. “He talked me into giving it a try and of course, I got hooked. He is so incredibly good at what he does,” Dave says. “I had passable functional skills, but he’s got true talent. And there is a difference.”
But it takes more than passable functional skills to climb Earth’s tallest mountains. It takes courage and motivation, continuous training, and perseverance.
Reaching the Seven Summits wasn’t always on Dave’s to-do list. He didn’t start climbing until age 44. “It kind of came to me more than me going to it,” Dave explains. He was going through “one of life’s low ebbs” when his brother-in-law, Ty Hardt, approached him about climbing Denali. An accomplished climber and filmmaker based in Anchorage, Ty wanted to film a documentary about the climb and invited Dave along.
Having “retired” from climbing after summiting Mount Baker in 1993, Dave needed some convincing. He didn’t believe that he could make it to the top of North America’s highest peak. But Ty believed in him. “It was really the only good thing I had in my life to hold onto,” Dave admits. “Looking back I realize now that a guy who feels he’s got nothing to lose is actually a pretty dangerous guy.”
And so, he went. Climbing Denali was life-changing for Dave, and with one down, he resolved to tackle the remaining six continental summits.
Like Denali, Dave had his doubts about Everest. In “Reaching the Sky: From Bellingham to Mount Everest,” Dave admits, “I had re-read Jon Krakauer’s ‘Into Thin Air’ and decided I would never climb Mount Everest.” But after reaching his sixth continental summit — Carstensz Pyramid — Dave knew he could take on Everest. Dave writes, “the notion of climbing it seemed inexplicably doable…I would put my fear aside and reach for the sky.” And reach the sky, he did — at 29,029 feet.
From training for the climb at Bellingham Athletic Club to raising money for the Bellingham Boys and Girls Club, Dave kept home in mind at every step along the way. He set out with a goal to raise one dollar for every vertical foot of Mount Everest and ended up exceeding the goal by raising over $32,000.
The Boys and Girls Club kids were very supportive. “They would draw pictures of a mountain with me on the side of it and an abominable snowman chasing me,” Dave recalls. “One little 8-year-old by the name of Lily…apparently had seized upon the financial aspect of what I was doing. Her picture had me on the side of Everest with dollar bills literally shooting from my chest. Like I’m an ATM at 20,000 feet, here comes the money!”
Three years after Everest, Dave has readjusted to “normal” life in Bellingham. “I think it’s the greatest city in the world and I love it more every year I live there,” Dave says. These days, he climbs a little closer to home. Dave explains, “For fun, I pick a fight with a big mountain once a year.” Last year he summited Mount Rainier, and this year he’s leading a climb at Mount Hood. He also plans to publish a book about his climbing adventures.
“I spent about two years writing a book about the seven year period of my life where I was climbing the continental summits,” Dave says. Having already written the book, he hopes it will be picked up by a publisher soon. He anticipates spending some time on the road, doing book talks and promotion. Ultimately, Dave wants to have an impact on his readers. “You want to be heard. And you think it matters because it can have some kind of an impact on people’s lives,” Dave says. “I want that book to live.”
