Eddie Bauer First Ascent guide Dave Hahn earned his 14th summit of Mt. Everest last season, pushing his streak of consecutive annual summits to eleven.  Climbing to the top once again, with calculated patience, earned this seasoned Everest guide the record for most Everest summits of any non-Sherpa. Hahn’s summit stats on big peaks such as Denali, Rainier and Vinson are also impressive, but his outlook on achievement is what really underscored the accomplishment.

“It was a slightly surreal day, as always, hanging out at 8,000 meters,” Hahn says in his characteristically understated tone. But in a season that saw avalanches, rockfall, and tragedy, and long lines of climbers on prime summit days, Hahn was called the “king of patience” for his efforts in leading the Eddie Bauer First Ascent summit team to a safe, successful summit. As we reflect on Hahn’s accomplishment last year, we also wish him good luck as he currently works his way up Everest toward the summit of the world’s tallest peak once again.

In celebration of the 50^th anniversary of the groundbreaking achievements of the Eddie Bauer-outfitted American Mount Everest Expedition, we asked every member of our Eddie Bauer First Ascent guide team who has reached the summit of the world’s highest peak to sum up the experience in 50 words or less. After the recent events on the mountain, Eddie Bauer guide Peter Whittaker, who comes from a lineage with a powerful connection to the mountain through the first American ascent of the world’s tallest peak—sent us his concise reflection on the leveling power of Everest.

Eddie Bauer First Ascent guide Melissa Arnot is currently working her way up Mt. Everest to attempt a fifth successful summit. Last year, on May 26, 2012, she earned the record as the first Western woman to summit the world’s tallest peak four times. This year’s climb has been even more complex and challenging. But her path to that achievement was a long one that started on Washington’s Mt. Rainier and included many lessons and realizations along the way—especially in a world and a profession still dominated by testosterone.

When Eddie Bauer guide Melissa Arnot climbed Everest to the tallest point on Earth on May 26, 2012—for the fourth time—she earned the record for most summits by any Western woman. Arnot is currently working her way up the mountain again, but the personal drive that got her to each summit remains a constant story in her success. As she remains focused on her objective during another hectic season on Everest, we dive into last season’s record-setting climb, the motivation behind her drive, and her take on Everest achievement.

Hawaii is not a secret destination in any respect, but when Eddie Bauer adventure kayakers Ben Stookesberry and Chris Korbulic hit the Islands, it was with an adrenaline itinerary that involved missions from big-wave surf kayaking on Oahu’s North Shore and dropping 120-foot Rainbow Falls to paddling up close and personal to the shoreline lava flows of the Kilauea volcano on the Big Island while filming for a Brazilian reality-TV series.

Fifty years ago this week, Jim Whittaker climbed shoulder to shoulder with Sherpa Nawang Gombu and became the first American to climb to the highest point on Earth. When asked by a reporter what his first thoughts were when standing on the summit of Everest, Gombu responded with four now-famous words: “How to get down.”

This week we are celebrating the 50^th anniversary of Jim Whittaker’s first American ascent of Mt. Everest on the Eddie Bauer-outfitted American Mount Everest Expedition. All spring, Whittaker’s epic 1963 story has been retold in compelling detail by media outlets from Outside Magzine and The Seattle Times to Rock and Ice and National Geographic.