How Atmos™ Rewards took a mountaineer from Seattle to the Seven Summits of the world
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How far can Atmos™ Rewards take you? For Nate, an Atmos™ Titanium member and lifelong Seattleite, the answer reaches far beyond the Pacific Northwest. What began as a childhood love for the outdoors eventually carried him to the highest summits on Earth.
Nate grew up like many Seattle residents: marveling at Mount Rainier on beautiful bluebird days and traveling on Alaska Airlines. “We flew Alaska Airlines everywhere; it’s the only airline I remember being on as a kid,” he said.
As he got older, he graduated to travel as a Mileage Plan (now Atmos Rewards) member and an Alaska Airlines credit cardholder, building his bank of rewards on family vacations, during business travel and through everyday purchases. And every time his flight took off from Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, he’d stare out the window and track the aircraft’s altitude against Mount Rainier in the distance.
“Growing up, Rainier was a big part of my life. My childhood was filled with hiking and camping all over the Pacific Northwest – including Mount Rainier National Park. That peak was in the backdrop of my most cherished memories with my parents, while I was studying at the University of Washington, and it was even the name of our family dog.”
The mountain’s significance to Nate deepened in early 2016, when it became the first high-altitude climb he completed just three weeks after his father passed away.
“My dad always said he wanted his ashes somewhere with a view of Rainier, so my sister and I decided to do him one better: I carried him to the summit and gave him a forever view from the top,” he said. “It still makes me emotional to think that he never got to see me climb my first mountain, but bringing him with me made it feel like we climbed it together.”
That day changed Nate. Standing atop Rainier, the highest peak in Washington’s Cascade Range at 14,410 feet, “rewired his brain,” he shared, sparking a new love for mountaineering.
From then on, Nate devoted his free time and spare energy to building the strength and endurance needed for bigger, more technical mountains across the Cascades, the Andes, the Himalayas and the Alps. He used the loyalty rewards he’d saved to book travel on Alaska Airlines to cities like Anchorage, Los Angeles, Dallas and Miami, as well as to international gateways through the oneworld® alliance, including London, Doha, Buenos Aires, São Paulo and more.
“I wanted to test my limits, see how my body performed and challenge myself at higher elevations. And then one day, a friend who had been pursuing the Seven Summits invited me on an Aconcagua (Argentina) expedition. After two hard weeks and a brutal push to 7,000 meters, we both summited – and instead of just checking this one box, I set my sights on a new endeavor.”
Over the next decade, every workout completed, purchase made, Alaska Airlines flight flown and Atmos point earned moved him closer toward one audacious goal: climbing the Seven Summits, the highest mountain on each continent.
“Finishing all Seven Summits is about as rare as going to space; the number of people who’ve done it are only in the hundreds,” he explained. “The Seven Summits isn’t just about standing on the highest peaks in the world; it’s about proving you can consistently show up, adapt and perform in the most extreme environments on the planet.”
His journey took him from a rare 30 minutes alone on the summit of Mount Everest to dragging a 50‑pound sled through minus‑40‑degree storms on Alaska’s Denali. He crossed conflict zones to reach Mount Elbrus in Russia, climbed Antarctica’s frigid Vinson Massif while recovering from pneumonia and finished Aconcagua in Argentina (his first successful trek in the lineup) after a bout with COVID‑19. He snapped a selfie after completing the most technical route on Mount Kilimanjaro and thought of his mom as he took in the view from Papua New Guinea’s Carstensz Pyramid. He even expanded his list to include two alternative peaks in the Seven Summits series: Europe’s Mont Blanc and Australia’s Mount Kosciuszko.
No matter where Nate found himself, he could always count on two constants: his lucky base layer and his Atmos Rewards benefits. He redeemed points for premium travel to arrive rested and ready for grueling climbs, and he used his Titanium perks and access to oneworld lounges to ease the stress of traveling with fragile gear and elaborate itineraries.
“Alaska Airlines and the oneworld network didn’t just get me to these mountains – they became a big part of my story and the thread connecting home to the farthest edges of the map. I genuinely couldn’t have done this without them,” he said. “And Atmos Rewards made this global challenge not only financially and logistically feasible, but also helped the world feel more open to me in the process.”
Now back in Seattle, Nate has returned to traveling for business on Alaska’s domestic network, enjoying slower days with friends and family and doing nonprofit work for the Everest Alliance Nepal, an organization focused on protecting the Himalayas and the communities that call them home. “The mountains have given me a lot. It’s time to return the favor,” he said.
When asked what’s next, he shrugged. “There are always more mountains: K2, Alpamayo, Nanga Parbat. They will always be there. I haven’t planned my next big adventure yet, but I know one thing for sure: Alaska Airlines, oneworld and Atmos Rewards will be a part of it.”
Editor’s note: All photographs depicting the subject were supplied by the subject himself, who also provided permission for their use.
