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thursday

Think you’re an “adventurer,” huh? What, did you strap the mountain bike on top of the Subaru last week and head out to West Virginia? Maybe you climbed one of those adorable rock faces out there at Seneca Rocks, too. Well, Ed Viesturs isn’t impressed. He’s climbed every last “8,000er”—all 14 mountains 8,000 meters (26,247 feet) or higher, including Everest, K2, and a dozen others you haven’t heard of—becoming the first North American to do so. And he did it all without a breath of supplemental oxygen. Now, the 47-year-old Rockford, Ill., native has written his memoirs, No Shortcuts to the Top: Climbing the World’s 14 Highest Peaks, an enthralling look at not only his triumphs but the tragedies that haunt top-level mountaineering. Viesturs discusses and signs copies of his work at 7 p.m. at Olsson’s Books & Records, 2111 Wilson Blvd., Arlington. Free. (703)525-4227. (Mike DeBonis)