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Helmet Linzbichler conquered Everest almost entirely without oxygen, then 36 hours later ran a marathon from Base Camp to another camp further down the mountain. He's run a marathon at geographic North Pole, flying in and landing on the ice, and another marathon on the coast of Antarctica.

But Mount Garibaldi is proving to be something of a challenge.

The Austrian climber and long distance athlete was in Whistler last week to meet with long-time friend and fellow mountaineer Karl Ricker, and make another attempt at the Garibaldi peak. It's the last volcanic peak on this part of the coast that he has not summitted, and he needs it for his collection.

But once again the weather defeated his plans (you need at least three sunny days in a row when there's this much snow) so he went sightseeing instead - and stopped by the Pique office to talk about his lifetime of accomplishments - a list that few people can match.

Here's a short list of Helmut Linzbichler's accomplishments over 40-plus years:

• In 2008, at the age of 66, he became the third-oldest man to climb Everest and the oldest European. He also lugged an official soccer ball to the summit and threw it off to promote the UEFA European Football Championship events taking place that year in Austria and Switzerland.

• In 2009 he visited Antarctica, where he scaled Mount Vinson and became the oldest man to summit the highest mountain on all seven continents. ("For about three months," he laughed. "That record didn't stand very long.")

• In 2007 he reached the summit of Puncak Jaya in New Guinea, the highest peak in Oceana - often considered one of the hardest of the Seven Summit climbs because the final part of the ascent is all rock and you have to physically haul yourself up a sheer face to reach the summit. As a side note, he wasn't planning on joining the expedition, but injured his shoulder while snowboarding in 2006 and started to get into climbing again during the recovery.)

• Linzbichler has climbed all but one of the volcanoes in the Cascades Range between British Columbia, Washington and Oregon, with the exception of Garibaldi (which is technically in the Coast Range anyway).

• He's five peaks away from climbing to the highest point of every country on the continent of Europe - some of which are off-limits for military reasons, like the highest point in Cypress. The rest of the mountains are in Bosnia-Herzigovina, Kazakhstan, Ben Nevis in Scotland and the cliffs of Dingli on Malta.

• He's run at least one marathon in all 50 U.S. States, and climbed all 50 highest points (as well as visited every state capital).

• He's climbed all 54 mountains over 14,000 feet in Colorado, plus three mountains that aren't officially on the list of "fourteeners."

• He's completed all the major 100-mile runs in the U.S., including Western States and Wasatch.

• As a runner, he's closing in on 300 marathons and ultra runs. His most recent marathon was in Mongolia this past June.

• In 1992 he completed a footrace across the U.S., starting at Huntington Beach and finishing in New York. He ran 64 days, averaging two marathons per day.

As a high school teacher, Linzbichler hasn't always had the resources to travel and climb, so he's had to be creative - like joining scientific expeditions with various universities to get to remote places. He financed the entire Everest expedition after pitching the idea of bringing a soccer ball to the peak of the mountain to the UEFA (United European Football Association).

"It takes no time to write a letter, print it and send it out," he says with a shrug. "I had Everest completely financed a week later."

The Everest climb was a challenge for many reasons, not the least being the fact that the mountain was closed for several days while a Chinese expedition made several attempts to get an Olympic torch to the peak to commemorate the 2008 Summer Games.

"They tried three times and finally succeeded on May 8," Linzbichler recalls. "The next day they opened it and on May 10 there was a big rush to get up. Remembering the tragedy in 1996 (15 deaths in a storm) and the traffic and confusion on the mountain, I said no - let them go and we'll go a week later."

Linzbichler's group left Base Camp on May 20. Expeditions stop and rest at four camps on the way to the peak, staying for around 24 hours in each, then leave at night on the last day to make sure they'll reach the high point with enough daylight to get back down safely the next day.

There was a near disaster as Linzbichler's team forgot an oxygen bottle at Camp 3, but they went ahead anyway.

"I knew I was short of oxygen, but my sherpa, who watched me, was convinced I was strong enough," he said. "I didn't say a word and started climbing."

They left at 8 p.m. and reached the summit - the highest point of land on earth with an altitude of 8,848 metres - the next morning on May 28. His group stayed at the summit for 45 minutes, not using any oxygen, then began the descent back down.

"When we reached the south summit, I felt the cold creeping in," he said. "I knew instinctively that I had to move, though I was out of oxygen."

He reached an area called The Balcony at 8,500 metres when a sudden storm arrived. Visibility was okay, Linzbichler says, "but it was just ferocious winds. It lasted five or six hours."

The storm led to the death of a Swiss climber who was caught out and couldn't make it back to The Balcony in time.

By the time Linzbichler reached Camp 4 the wind was gone, but he was half frozen. He wasn't able to open the fly on his tent, so he started yelling until he was heard by another climber who came to his assistance. Once he was in his tent he was safe.

He used a little oxygen that he had stowed at the camp that night, and the next morning was without oxygen again as he descended. He made it to Camp 2 on the first day, then the next day made it down to Base Camp, where he promptly entered the Tenzing Hilary Marathon just 36 hours later - from Base Camp at 5,356 metres to the Sherpa town of Namche Bazaar at 3,446 metres. Not only did Linzbichler cross off another dream, but he also got down from the mountain a lot faster.

Linzbichler retired as a school teacher after a bout with cancer. He will turn 70 at the end of the summer. To celebrate his life and achievements his hometown is hosting a 35km run over a mountain pass to the north of his town.

"That's where it all started, my climbing history," he says.

After his birthday runs he plans to take things a little more slowly, chip away at a few of his goals and enjoy a bit of rest. That doesn't mean he's finished - he still has peaks in Europe to climb, marathons to run and, on the other side of the world, Garibaldi Mountain. While it should be a piece of cake at 2,678 metres, he seems to hit bad weather every time he visits.

"Maybe I'll get to it next year," he says. "There's no rush."