Expeditions · Company records 2026
Climbing the Seven Summits Review 2026: Everest Prices, Owner and a Record Score of 41
Climbing the Seven Summits scores 41/100 as a company record, eighth of the nine mountaineering companies scored: the Seattle company founded by Mike Hamill in 2018 prices five Everest tiers for 2027, from USD 62,995 to USD 134,995, but publishes no phone number, no financial protection and no independent review. This record covers the company behind the guiding, not the mountain: who owns it, its 51 named guides, what each tier costs, the payment and cancellation terms, support, the safety facts it prints and the gaps. Our Everest and Seven Summits indexes linked below rank the climbs; this page scores the company.
Verified 26 September 2026 · climbingthesevensummits.com climb, guide, about, privacy, insurance and payments pages · Alan Arnette · Justia trademark filings · Trustpilot and Tripadvisor (both checked, neither found)
Is this your company? Correct a fact. Climbing the Seven Summits can correct any line of this record through the contact page. Corrections are logged with the previous value kept, and the score moves only if the evidence does.
How Climbing the Seven Summits scores: 41 out of 100
Climbing the Seven Summits scores 41 out of 100: priced Everest tiers and a large named guide roster, held back by no phone number, no financial protection and no independent review. Its joint first place at 78 on our Seven Summits operator index is not a contradiction: that index scores what each climb includes and discloses, such as price, guide ratio and oxygen, while this record scores what a buyer can check before paying, and Climbing the Seven Summits publishes no protection, no reviews and no phone line.
| Criterion | Points | Out of | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| Planning depth | 19 | 25 | Its guides page names 51 guides, among them Tendi Sherpa and Pega Sherpa, both IFMGA certified, with 19 Everest summits for Tendi (8 of 8). Founder and owner Mike Hamill lists six Everest summits and 13 on 8,000 m peaks (4 of 4). 12 countries and territories across its climbs (3 of 5). The Denali schedule runs day by day; no hotel is named for any climb (3 of 5). Founded in 2018, when Hamill left IMG, as reported by Alan Arnette; its own site gives no founding year (1 of 3). |
| On-the-ground cover | 7 | 20 | No phone number at all: contact is by form or email (0 of 7). The only address it publishes is in Seattle, home to its US climbs; in Nepal it works through Tendi Sherpa's company, TAGNepal, as Alan Arnette reported (5 of 8). Its own guides lead Denali at two climbers per guide; on Everest the guiding depends on the tier bought (2 of 5). |
| Pricing transparency | 15 | 20 | Six climbs priced, from Kilimanjaro at USD 6,495 to Everest at USD 62,995 to 134,995 across five tiers for 2027 (6 of 8). Inclusions listed for Everest, Denali, Vinson and Carstensz but not for Aconcagua or Kilimanjaro (2 of 5). US dollars with dates or seasons (4 of 4). A 25% deposit, the balance 120 days before, and all payments non-refundable, on its Application Process and Payments page (3 of 3). |
| Review evidence | 0 | 20 | No Tripadvisor or Trustpilot listing; the success and satisfaction figures on its own reviews page are self-reported (0 of 12). No second platform (0 of 4). No dated independent review (0 of 4). |
| Financial protection | 0 | 15 | A US company. No USTOA membership, no seller of travel number and no trust account statement found (0 of 15). |
| Total | 41 | 100 | Company record score, 26 September 2026. |
Climbing the Seven Summits publishes five Everest price tiers and a roster of 51 named guides, several with quantified summit records. It does not publish a phone number, a graduated cancellation scale or a financial protection scheme, and its own pages give three different, unreconciled accounts of how often its climbers reach the summit.
The evidence record
The record holds 17 facts about Climbing the Seven Summits, each with its source and grade. Grade A means the company's own site or terms; grade B means a registry, review platform, awarding body or major press; grade C means a secondary source not confirmed elsewhere. Every line was read on 26 September 2026 unless its source says otherwise.
| Attribute | Value | Source · grade |
|---|---|---|
| Company | Climbing the Seven Summits, LLC; no state of formation is stated anywhere on the site | About us · A |
| Registered or head office | 6519B 34th Ave SW, Seattle, WA 98126 (map), the only address published anywhere on the site, and only on its privacy policy, not its contact page | Privacy policy · A |
| Founded | 2018, by Mike Hamill immediately after leaving International Mountain Guides, where he had led private Everest expeditions; corroborated by a Climbing the Seven Summits, LLC trademark filed 23 May 2018. Its own About Us page states only Hamill's personal "20+ years" of guiding and "six complete Seven Summits circuits", not a founding year for the company | Alan Arnette · B; Justia trademark filing · B |
| Owner and leaders | Mike Hamill, styled "Founder & Owner"; a stated record of six Everest summits, 13 summits above 8,000 metres across three mountains, and more than 120 expeditions led over 20-plus years | About Mike Hamill · A |
| Guides | 51 guides named on a dedicated index; two named with certification, Tendi Sherpa and Pega Sherpa, both IFMGA guides; other profiles, such as Robert Jantzen and Willie Webster, name no certification, and Webster's carries no summit count at all | Guides index · A |
| Presence | No CTSS-employed office outside the US; Nepal climbs run through Tendi Sherpa's company TAGNepal, its partner since the 2018 founding; other regions are represented only by named individual guides, with no office address for Argentina, Tanzania, Indonesia or Antarctica | Alan Arnette · B; Tendi Sherpa · A |
| Phone and support | No phone number anywhere on the site: contact is by an inquiry form, a "Request a Phone Call" link, or email only | Contact · A |
| Climbs and countries | 12 countries and territories across its climbs, from Nepal and Antarctica to Ecuador and China; product types run from the Seven Summits and 8,000m peaks to treks, courses, polar Last Degree skiing and private custom climbs | All our climbs · A |
| Prices | Six climbs priced for current or 2027 seasons: five Everest tiers from USD 62,995 to USD 134,995, and Aconcagua, Denali, Vinson, Kilimanjaro and Carstensz Pyramid | Everest cost guide · A |
| Deposit and balance | A 25% deposit confirms a place on a CTSS expedition; the remaining 75% balance is due 120 days, or four months, before departure | Application process and payments · A |
| Cancellation | A flat rule, not a sliding scale: "all payments made to Climbing the Seven Summits are non-refundable and non-transferable", stated to apply regardless of illness, injury, weather or other circumstance | Application process and payments · A |
| Financial protection | No USTOA membership, no state seller-of-travel number and no trust or escrow account statement found anywhere on the site; USTOA's own directory pages could not be opened to confirm or rule out membership independently | Insurance · A |
| Reviews | No Trustpilot profile exists for its domain and no Tripadvisor listing could be found under its name or domain; its only published figures are self-hosted testimonials on its own reviews page | Reviews · A |
| Safety facts as printed | A guide ratio is published only for Denali, two clients to one guide; no oxygen flow rate or bottle count anywhere; three different, unreconciled sets of summit success figures across three of its own pages (see the safety section below) | Denali · A |
| Memberships | No company-level membership claim found, no AMGA accredited-business claim and no TAAN or Nepal Mountain Guide Association membership stated for the company itself; individual guides hold personal IFMGA, Wilderness First Responder and AIARE qualifications | Guides index · A; Big Tendi Sherpa · A |
| Our other pages | Ties for first at 78/100 on our Seven Summits operator index, on a tie-break with Adventure Consultants for price transparency | Seven Summits index · Everest operators |
| Elbrus and Mont Blanc | Elbrus expeditions are suspended "due to geopolitical circumstances"; Mont Blanc is offered instead as what CTSS calls an "acting Seventh Summit", though Mont Blanc is not one of the seven summits under the Bass, Messner or Kosciuszko lists | Elbrus · A |
Who owns Climbing the Seven Summits?
Climbing the Seven Summits is owned by its founder, Mike Hamill, who started the company in 2018 immediately after leaving International Mountain Guides, where he had led private Everest expeditions.
At launch he partnered with Tendi Sherpa's company, TAGNepal, as Alan Arnette reported in 2018; Tendi Sherpa remains CTSS's current sirdar. CTSS's own About Us page never states when the company itself was founded, describing only Hamill's personal "20+ years" of guiding and "six complete Seven Summits circuits", which a reader could mistake for the company's own age. Where CTSS sits against the other mountaineering companies is set out on our Seven Summits operator index and Everest expedition operators index.
Who guides a Climbing the Seven Summits expedition
Climbing the Seven Summits names 51 guides on a dedicated index, led in Nepal by sirdar Tendi Sherpa, though the depth of each guide's published record varies widely.
Tendi Sherpa is named with 19 Everest summits since 2004 and an IFMGA qualification from 2011, and Pega Sherpa with 13 summits above 8,000 metres, also IFMGA certified. Robert Jantzen, who guides Aconcagua, Vinson and Ecuador, names no formal guide certification but 50 Rainier summits; Willie Webster's profile carries only a general "experienced expedition mountaineer" description, with no certification or summit count at all. What an IFMGA qualification actually covers is explained in our guide to what to expect on an expedition.
How much does a Climbing the Seven Summits climb cost?
Climbing the Seven Summits prices its 2027 Everest tiers from USD 62,995 for a Sherpa-supported climb to USD 134,995 for a private international guide, both over 58 days. All prices were read on 26 September 2026 on CTSS's own climb pages.
| Climb | Region | Length | From, per person |
|---|---|---|---|
| Everest, Sherpa Supported | Nepal | 58 days | USD 62,995, 2027 |
| Everest, IFMGA Sherpa Team | Nepal | 58 days | USD 64,995, 2027 |
| Everest, Personal Sherpa | Nepal | 58 days | USD 67,995, 2027 |
| Everest, private Nepali or Western guided team | Nepal | 58 days | USD 79,995, 2027 |
| Everest, private international guide | Nepal | 58 days | USD 134,995, 2027 |
| Aconcagua 360 team climb | Argentina | 15 to 21 days | USD 9,495, 2026 season |
| Denali standard team climb | United States | 25 days (sample schedule) | USD 16,995; the two 2027 team dates shown are sold out, next available date 2028 |
| Vinson team climb | Antarctica | 16 days | USD 56,495, December or January departure |
| Kilimanjaro team climb | Tanzania | 10 to 12 days | USD 6,495, Machame route |
| Carstensz Pyramid | Indonesia | 14 days | USD 24,995; no season stated on the page as re-checked |
A custom "Everest The Formula" tier is priced "by request" rather than published. Inclusions are listed with the Everest, Denali, Vinson and Carstensz prices but not with Aconcagua or Kilimanjaro. Elbrus is suspended, and CTSS instead offers Mont Blanc as what it calls an "acting Seventh Summit". What that substitution means for a Seven Summits campaign is in our guide to mountain destinations worth planning around.
Climbing the Seven Summits booking terms and financial protection
Climbing the Seven Summits takes a 25% deposit, wants the balance 120 days before departure, and states that every payment is non-refundable and non-transferable however the expedition ends.
| When you cancel | What you pay |
|---|---|
| At any point after paying | The full amount already paid; CTSS states this applies regardless of illness, injury, weather or other circumstance |
This Application Process and Payments statement is the only cancellation-related wording found on the site; the URL its footer would be expected to use for a terms and conditions page does not resolve. No USTOA membership, seller-of-travel number or trust account statement could be found on its insurance page or elsewhere. How that compares with other operators is in our Seven Summits operator index.
Support before and during a Climbing the Seven Summits expedition
Climbing the Seven Summits publishes no phone number at all: contact is by an inquiry form, a "Request a Phone Call" link, or email, and its in-trip updates come through public dispatch blog posts.
Evacuation is stated as the client's own responsibility; CTSS requires proof of medical and evacuation insurance and recommends Global Rescue or IMG's TravelLX on its insurance page, without providing either itself. Choosing that cover is covered in our guide to high-altitude trekking insurance.
Safety facts Climbing the Seven Summits prints
Climbing the Seven Summits prints a guide ratio for one of its climbs, no oxygen figures at all, and three different accounts of its own summit success rate.
| Safety fact | What Climbing the Seven Summits prints | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Oxygen allocation | No flow rate or bottle count published anywhere; the Everest cost guide excludes only "extra oxygen beyond allocation", implying an unstated base allocation exists | Everest cost guide |
| Guide and Sherpa ratio | Published only for Denali, at two clients to one guide with a maximum of six climbers; Everest is sold through tier names such as "Sherpa Supported" and "Personal Sherpa" rather than a stated ratio | Denali |
| Rescue and medical cover | Evacuation is the client's own responsibility; CTSS requires proof of medical and evacuation insurance and recommends Global Rescue or IMG's TravelLX, without providing either itself | Insurance |
| Summit and safety claims | Three unreconciled figures across three pages: "91% expedition summit success, 80% overall client summit success" on About Us; "90% (2024), 84% (2025), 86% (2026 projected)" on its Everest page; "93% of CTSS climbers gave 5-star reviews in 2025, 96% rated their guide 5 stars, 82% climber summit rate" on its reviews page | About us; Everest; Reviews |
These facts are reported because a climber paying tens of thousands of dollars should see them before booking; the rubric does not score them for any of the ten mountaineering companies in this batch.
What Climbing the Seven Summits reviews say
No independent review platform shows a rating for Climbing the Seven Summits at all: it has no Trustpilot profile, and no Tripadvisor listing could be found under its name or domain.
Its own reviews page publishes self-hosted testimonials and figures, such as 93% of climbers giving five-star reviews in 2025, which are not independently audited and do not count as review evidence under this site's rubric. Why cruise and expedition reviews tend to collect on some platforms and not others is explained in our guide to review platforms.
Who Climbing the Seven Summits suits, and who it does not
Climbing the Seven Summits suits a climber choosing by price within one Everest ladder, from a Sherpa-supported tier at USD 62,995 to a private international guide at USD 134,995, including an explicit "Spouse-Friendly" line for partners of mixed experience.
Its Spouse-Friendly positioning and its Alpine Academy and Masters Mountaineering courses suit a less experienced climber building toward a Seven Summits attempt. It suits less well a buyer who wants a phone number, a stated financial protection scheme, or a single, reconciled figure for how often its climbers reach the summit. What an Everest permit costs, and which proposed rules are not yet law, is set out in our Everest cost guide.
Booking Climbing the Seven Summits: the decisions that come next
Whichever Climbing the Seven Summits tier a climber books, the card used for the deposit, the flight to the mountain and any insurance claim are the climber's own decisions.
| Decision | What matters for a CTSS climb | Where we cover it |
|---|---|---|
| Paying the deposit | A 25% deposit on the USD 62,995 Sherpa Supported Everest tier is close to USD 15,750; the card used decides the purchase cover that comes with it. | Best luxury travel credit cards; Amex Platinum vs Chase Sapphire Reserve |
| Reaching the mountain | Everest departures start from Kathmandu, Denali from Talkeetna and Vinson from Punta Arenas; the long-haul seat is the traveller's own choice. | Best business class airlines; best first class airlines |
| Airport time | A long connection through Kathmandu or Santiago is where a lounge pays for itself. | Credit cards with airport lounge access |
| A delayed flight | A delayed flight from a UK or EU airport can carry fixed compensation of up to £520 or €600; CTSS's own non-refundable terms will not wait for a claim to clear. | AirHelp vs ClaimCompass vs Skycop vs Flightright |
| Nights either side | CTSS names no hotel anywhere on its site, so a traveller checking in before or after a climb chooses the property alone. | Hilton Diamond vs Marriott Titanium vs Hyatt Globalist |
| Choosing the tier | Five Everest tiers run from Sherpa-supported to a private international guide; a prior climb above 7,000m is proposed in Nepal's Tourism Bill but is not yet law. | Everest cost guide; High-altitude trekking insurance guide |
Where CTSS stands on Uncompromised Travel
Climbing the Seven Summits appears on two of our mountaineering pages and holds a ranked position on both.
| Page | Position | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Everest expedition operators (2027) | Priced: five tiers, USD 62,995 to USD 134,995 | That page states a 5-to-1 client ratio for the IFMGA team tier, which this record could not independently confirm on CTSS's own site |
| Seven Summits operator index | Joint 1st, 78/100, tied with Adventure Consultants | A different rubric: it scores price and safety disclosure, not what a buyer can check before paying, and CTSS publishes no protection, no reviews and no phone line |
Alternatives to CTSS to compare
The closest alternatives are Adventure Consultants for the company it ties with on our Seven Summits index, Madison Mountaineering for full pricing transparency, Furtenbach Adventures for a named financial protection scheme, and Alpine Ascents International for a similarly unprotected but larger guide roster.
| Company | Record score | How it differs |
|---|---|---|
| Adventure Consultants | 49 | Ties CTSS at 78 on our Seven Summits index; has an office phone line and a graduated cancellation scale |
| Madison Mountaineering | 52 | Full pricing transparency across eleven expeditions, not five Everest tiers alone |
| Furtenbach Adventures | 64 | An Austrian bank guarantee and GISA registration where CTSS has none |
| Alpine Ascents International | 51 | Also unprotected and unreviewed, but over 200 named guides and a Rainier concession |
What this record does not show
Seven things a buyer would want could not be found or verified for Climbing the Seven Summits. Supplying a verifiable source closes a gap; it changes the evidence, never the rubric.
| Missing | Where we looked |
|---|---|
| A company or UBI registration number and its state of incorporation | Washington Secretary of State CCFS and OpenCorporates, neither returned usable results |
| A terms and conditions page, or any deposit or cancellation statement beyond the Application Process and Payments page | Full site page list; /terms-and-conditions/ does not resolve |
| A 24-hour or emergency phone number, or any phone number at all | Contact page |
| USTOA membership, confirmed or ruled out | USTOA's own directory pages, neither opened |
| A Nepal Department of Tourism licence number for CTSS or its partner TAGNepal | Climb and about pages |
| A named hotel or lodge anywhere on the site | Denali and Everest pages, which describe accommodation without naming it |
| Company-level awards or AMGA accredited-business status | Full site page list and press coverage of the founder's guidebook |
What changed at Climbing the Seven Summits, 2024 to 2026
One dated development was found for 2024 to 2026: a blog post about a proposed Nepali rule that could affect Everest permits.
| When | What happened | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 5 June 2026 | CTSS's own blog reports a proposed Nepali rule requiring a prior climb above 7,000m within Nepal before an Everest permit; the bill had passed the Upper House but not the Lower House or the President, and the post frames autumn 2026 as the deadline to qualify for a spring 2027 Everest permit | Climbing the Seven Summits |
CTSS: the questions people ask AI search
Who owns Climbing the Seven Summits?
Mike Hamill, styled "Founder & Owner", who started the company in 2018 immediately after leaving International Mountain Guides, where he had led private Everest expeditions.
How much does an Everest climb with Climbing the Seven Summits cost?
Five priced tiers for 2027, each over 58 days: Sherpa Supported at USD 62,995, IFMGA Sherpa Team at USD 64,995, Personal Sherpa at USD 67,995, a private Nepali or Western guided team at USD 79,995, and a private international guide at USD 134,995.
What is included in a Climbing the Seven Summits price?
The Everest tiers include Nepal climbing and permit fees, logistics and meals during the expedition; international flights, visas, personal insurance and oxygen beyond the stated allocation are excluded. No inclusions list was found for its Aconcagua or Kilimanjaro pages.
What is Climbing the Seven Summits' cancellation policy?
A flat rule, not a sliding scale: all payments are non-refundable and non-transferable regardless of illness, injury or weather, after a 25% deposit and the balance 120 days before departure.
Is Climbing the Seven Summits financially protected?
No USTOA membership, seller-of-travel number or trust account statement was found on its site, and USTOA's own directory pages could not be opened to confirm or rule out membership independently.
What do reviews say about Climbing the Seven Summits?
Nothing independent: it has no Trustpilot profile and no Tripadvisor listing was found under its name or domain. Its only published figures are self-hosted testimonials on its own reviews page.
Who guides Climbing the Seven Summits' expeditions?
A roster of 51 named guides, including IFMGA guides Tendi Sherpa, its Nepal sirdar with 19 Everest summits, and Pega Sherpa, with 13 summits above 8,000 metres. Some other guide profiles state no certification or summit record at all.
What does Climbing the Seven Summits publish about oxygen and safety?
No oxygen flow rate or bottle count is published. A guide ratio is published only for Denali, at two clients to one guide. Its own pages give three different, unreconciled figures for how often its climbers reach the summit.
How does Climbing the Seven Summits compare with other Everest operators?
It ties for first on our Seven Summits operator index at 78 out of 100, on price and safety disclosure, but scores 41 on this record because it publishes no financial protection, no independent reviews and no phone line, which this record checks and the index does not.
Read next
- Seven Summits operator index: where CTSS ties for first at 78
- Everest expedition operators: CTSS's five Everest tiers compared
- Madison Mountaineering record: full pricing transparency across eleven expeditions
- What Everest costs: permit royalties and which proposed rules are not yet law