AFSPC Airman scales Mount Everest

Colorado Springs’ Pikes Peak towers an impressive 14,115 feet above sea level, but one member of Headquarters Air Force Space Command had his sights set higher, about 15,000 feet higher.

Lt. Col. Peter Solie, the 43-year-old Chief of the AFSPC Space Safety Division, reached the summit of Mount Everest May 17 at 7 a.m. on his ancestral Norwegian Independence Day, after nearly two months of climbing with a team of 15 other clients.

“I was anxious and excited,” said Colonel Solie as he began his climb after a seven-day trek to Everest Base Camp (EBC). “The first time I saw the mountain was jaw dropping.”
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