Ed is widely regarded as this country's foremost high-altitude mountaineer. He is familiar to many from the 1996 IMAX Everest Expedition documentary, and in 2002 he was awarded the historic Lowell Thomas Award by the Explorer's club for outstanding achievement in the field of mountaineering. In winning the award, he joined an elite group of climbers including Sir Edmund Hillary, the first person to reach the peak of Mount Everest.

Viesturs has successfully reached the summits of all 14 of the world's 8000-meter peaks without supplemental oxygen, an 18 year project he christened, Endeavor 8000.