Submitted photo Pymatuning Valley High School and Youngstown State University graduate Mark Smith, 62, poses during his April 2021 attempt on Mount Everest, which at 29,032 feet, is the highest peak in Asia.

Freshly back from scaling Mount Vinson in Antarctica, Pymatuning Valley High School graduate Mark Smith sat in his dad’s home in Wayne Township, about 2 1/2 miles north of Gustavus, and talked about the challenges of the climb.

“I got a little bit of frostbite on my fingers and the tip of my nose, but that’s healed up OK,” said Smith, who at 62 is the “old man” of most any climbing group.

Mount Vinson is a mere 16,050 feet about sea level, but the average temperature during the December climb fell to 35 degrees below zero. “And that was their summertime,” Smith said.

Next up on the “Seven Summit Challenge” — climb the highest peak in each of the seven continents — is Mount Denali (Mount McKinley) in Alaska in June, the tallest North American peak at 20,310 feet above sea level. It will take about 25 days to climb, some of which is just getting to the mountain set back in a national park, Smith said.

Mount Elbrus in Russia and Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania will follow. Plus, there’s the rematch with Mount Everest, a climb that was cut short when his whole group was hit with COVID-19.

“I told my dad that I’ve completed 2.7 of the seven peaks,” he said.

Climbing rejuvenated the competitive juices of the boy from the flatlands of northeast Ohio. Neither southern Ashtabula County — where he grew up — nor Youngstown State University — where he earned his mechanical engineering degree — nor Warren — where he worked for Delphi Packard Electric before his job was transferred to Mexico — are known for their elevations.

“That was the very odd thing,” Smith said. “Growing up, I had no desire for hiking or camping. I was focused on competitive racing.”

ON THE TRACK

After Smith graduated from Pymatuning Valley in 1977, he set his course for YSU — and the dirt track.

“I used to race motorcycles for motocross,” he said. He started running bikes at age 14 and kept racing into his 20s. “I had a professional license for three years.”

The fast track slowed his studies. “I told my dad I was on the six-year plan. It’s what it ended up being with all the other stuff.”

He started in 1983 at Delphi Packard Electric in Warren. He was transferred to Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, when the automotive components company relocated in 2004 and changed its name to Aptiv. “I design new products and bring them to production,” he said.

Smith lives in El Paso, Texas, on the north side of the Rio Grande and commutes to Juarez on the south side of the river.

Between his bike days and mountain adventures, “I got married and raised two boys,” he said. The boys went on to be track stars and standout students.

Smith eventually divorced. He blames that in part on failing to feed his need for competitive challenges.

“I haven’t ridden a motorcycle since 1985,” he said. “My competitive nature doesn’t find satisfaction just riding through the woods and playing around. After about 10, 15 years, I was missing that. I think that caused a lot of problems. I need some kind of challenge.

“I was missing a lot of that energy and challenge.”

A NEW CHALLENGE

“I’ve lived in El Paso, Texas, 17 years and did hiking and backpacking. About three years ago, a friend asked me if I wanted to do some mountain climbing.”

In 2018, they traveled to Ecuador to climb three mountains, each about 20,000 feet.

By comparison, the highest point in Ohio is Campbell Hill in Logan County at 1,549 feet above sea level. Spruce Knob in eastern West Virginia, at 4,863 feet, is the highest peak in that state, as well as being the highest point of Spruce Mountain, the tallest ridge of the Allegheny Mountains that stretch across four states.

“That went really well,” he said. “That really hooked me, more of the personal challenge. I was able to do it. It surprised me because it was so high.

“From there, I wanted to go bigger and higher. For me, it was to challenge myself to go more.

“For motocross, I trained four days a week to race on Sunday. It was the preparation to planning and training to do something like that.”

For mountain climbing, he begins training two months out by riding his bicycle 30 to 90 minutes twice per week and hiking with a weighted backpack up a small, 2,000 foot mountain in El Paso two or three times per week.

“It’s mostly cardio and heavy backpack,” he said.

His climbing groups are mostly people in their 20s and 30s. “I’m at the tail end of this, trying to catch up,” he said.

Still, he accepted the challenge.

“My dad has a saying: ‘You don’t have anyone with you that’s saying you can’t do that.'”

Did the elder Smith do any climbing himself?

“No,” Robert Smith said. “Only on a stepladder. I don’t know why he picked that (mountain climbing).”

Still, Robert is proud to follow Mark’s adventures from afar and to tell anyone who wants to know about his son’s Seven Summit Challenge.

SEVEN SUMMITS

The first of the tallest peaks that Mark Smith conquered was Aconcagua in Argentina, the highest in South America at 22,838 feet above sea level.

In April 2021, Smith attempted the 29,032 feet of Mount Everest in the Himalayas in Asia. His group came close, making it to Camp 3 at 23,950 feet. But believing they were all suffering from altitude sickness, they were forced to descend without summiting.

“In hindsight, I found out I had COVID at the time, as almost everyone else (in my group),” he said. “I had a three-week hotel quarantine procedure. Before I could book a return flight, I had to have a negative test. That was a long trip — almost three months.”

A return trip is planned tentatively for April 2023.

After Mount Denali in June and Mount Elbrus in September, Smith plans to summit Mount Kilimanjaro, Tanzania, Africa, at 19,341 feet. That will leave Puncak Jaya, also called the Carstensz Pyramid, in New Guinea, Australia / Oceania, at 16,024 feet above sea level as the seventh summit.

Then Smith, the kid from, flat, flat, flat northeast Ohio, will figure out new competitive challenges to climb.