Pikes Peak Region Trail Finder

Thanks to the efforts of Denver's Water for People, this young boy will have clean water to drink. He carries jerrycans of safe water from a small, protected spring in Rwanda.  Courtesy of Jake Norton

By Jason Blevins, The Denver Post

Sometime during his eighth consecutive day in waist deep "Quaker oatmeal" mud in Uganda's Rwenzori range, Colorado mountaineer Jake Norton began to question his nascent quest to climb the world's 21 tallest mountains. And he had 20 more to go.

"It was, for sure, one of the most grueling expeditions I've ever been on," said the Colorado College graduate who in 1999 famously joined a mission to uncover George Mallory​'s lost remains on Mount Everest​. "Never in a million years did I think the first one would be so brutal. It was relentless."

But Norton, who has long supported the notion that mountain climbing is much more than bagging peaks, is on a mission for more than mountaineering glory.

His inspiring Challenge21 project aims to use expeditions to the summit of the three highest peaks on all seven continents as a stage for illuminating the developing world's water and sanitation crisis.

The Triple Seven Summits has never been done. Fewer than 250 climbers have climbed the seven highest peaks on all the continents. The dream reflected the problem, Norton said.

"I wanted a big, long challenge that spanned many years and mirrors the struggles of the people we are trying to help," he said.

Aiming higher is part of Norton's scheme to not just raise $2.1 million for Denver's Water for People, but spend several years trumpeting Third World water woes in a single-minded crusade against water poverty.

Read more about Norton's challenge and see the list of peaks at the Denver Post website.