Webster next DSL speaker
PRESQUE ISLE — The University of Maine at Presque Isle will host Ed Webster — mountain climber, author, photo-journalist and veteran of seven Himalayan expeditions — as the next speaker in its 2011-12 University Distinguished Lecturer Series.
Ed Webster 
has achieved and survived the impossible — in 1988, he and three partners ascended a new, never-before-attempted route up Mt. Everest’s most dangerous, isolated side in Tibet with no sherpas, no radios and no oxygen.
Webster will share his riveting tale of human endurance and remarkable teamwork and provide a breathtaking slide show to accompany his story, during his presentation “Everest the Hard Way” on Wednesday, Feb. 8, at 7 p.m. in the Campus Center. The public is invited to attend a reception and book-signing event to be held in the Alumni Room immediately following his lecture.
Webster, the only New England mountaineer who has established a new route up Mt. Everest, has been rock climbing since he was 11.
He has experience at most of the major rock climbing areas in the United States, as well as significant rock climbs and first ascents in England, Wales, Scotland, France, Spain, Italy, Norway and Sweden.
Webster has written two definitive guidebooks, “Rock Climbs in the White Mountains of New Hampshire” and “Climbing in the Magic Islands to the Lofoten Islands of Arctic Norway.” Webster’s best-selling autobiography, “Snow in the Kingdom,” chronicles his experiences on Mt. Everest.
Following his talk, Webster will sign copies of “Snow in the Kingdom and Rock Climbs in the White Mountains of New Hampshire,” the go-to guidebook for New Hampshire rock climbing.
There also will be eight new color posters, including six portraits of Mt. Everest and the view from Mt. Everest, available for purchase.
The public is invited to be a part of this free event. For more information, contact the University’s Community and Media Relations Office at 768-9452.
