The IRONMAN Group Chief Executive Officer Scott DeRue has accomplished one of the most extraordinary achievements a climber can do – reaching the peak of the highest mountain on each of the seven continents.
The 48-year-old completed his quest by summiting Australasia’s highest peak, Puncak Jaya or Carstensz Pyramid, ending a 17-year journey that began will a climb of Kilamanjaro, Africa’s largest mountain, in 2007.
Since then DeRue has climbed South America’s Aconcagua (2010), North America’s Denali (2011), Antarctica’s Mount Vinson (2019) and Europe’s Mount Elbrus (2019).
The most notable achievement of his campaign came in 2013 when he climbed the tallest mountain in the world, Mount Everest.
DeRue’s ‘crazy adventure’
Summing up his exploits on Instagram following his seventh ascent, DeRue said:
7 summits, 17 years, 60 team members, and countless memories that will last a lifetime! I am truly blessed.
“This week, @terray_s, Poxy, and I summited Carstensz Pyramid, the finale on my quest for the seven summits, aka the tallest mountain on each continent.
“Carstensz is a magical mountain, but as always, it’s the people who make the adventure so very special. @terray_s who guided me through every step. Poxy, our local guide, who joined us for his 117th summit of CP. @garrettmadison1 who made this trip happen for me. @lenkavacval and @janpolacekcom who made our downtime in base camp so much fun. Michael, who shared his 7th summit with me on the same day. So many great memories and new friends.
“There are truly no words to express how grateful I am for all the people who supported me on this crazy adventure. Without you, this does not happen. Thank you!”
Kona / Nice dilemma for IRONMAN chief
DeRue’s focus now will be on a busy IRONMAN season, with the professional calendar getting under way on March 23 with IRONMAN 70.3 Geelong.
He’s now a year into his tenure and one big talking point concerns the current rotation of the IRONMAN World Championship between its spiritual home in Kona, Hawaii and Nice in France.
Racing to keep up: Is social media making us train harder?
