2026-10-19T18:18:33-06:00

Retro Replay collage reading A DS Climbed Mt. Everest, Gaming at 26,000 Feet, with a silver Nintendo DS and mountain expedition imagery.

An illustrated collage of the handheld and its mountain adventure; not a photograph from the expedition.

A Nintendo DS Climbed Mt. Everest: Gaming at 26,000 Feet

dadmin October 19, 2026 #RetroReplayFYI, Retro Blog 🕰️ Leave a comment

After a day of climbing on Everest, there could still be hours to fill before morning. Neal Mueller and Chris Grubb packed an answer to that problem in 2005: Nintendo DS systems. They could play against each other wirelessly, draw pictures and send messages while waiting for the next day’s work.

The little handhelds turned out to be rather better expedition companions than their plastic shells might suggest. A contemporary report in Climbing placed their use as high as the 26,000-foot South Col camp. That’s a long way to take your multiplayer session.

The climbers behind the handhelds

Mueller was 27 and living in Chaska, Minnesota, when he made the trip. He and climbing partner Chris Grubb were working toward the Seven Summits, the highest mountain on each continent. By the time Mueller spoke with Minnesota Public Radio that June, they had only Australia’s Mount Kosciuszko left on their list. Everest had meant two months away, starting with the flight to Nepal. Suddenly, packing something to play during all that time doesn’t sound quite so strange.

Portrait of Everest climber Neal Mueller, smiling in a black jacket — Neal Mueller, one of the two climbers who took Nintendo DS systems to Everest in 2005. Later portrait from Mueller’s website.

Something to do when the climbing stops

Wired covered their plans that April, with Mueller explaining the appeal of having something to play after a demanding day. The climbing could stop for the night without sleep arriving on cue. Local wireless play gave the pair something to do together in the meantime.

An open original-model Nintendo DS in blue, showing its two screens and controls. — The original Nintendo DS model, shown here in blue. Photo: Evan-Amos; this is a hardware reference, not an expedition photograph.

The original DS was a wonderfully odd little box for the job: a clamshell, two screens and local wireless play. You could sit near another player and have an argument about a game instead of watching the evening crawl past.

Retro Replay FYI stating a Nintendo DS climbed Mt. Everest, carried by climbers to the 26,000-foot South Col camp rather than the summit. — The DS expedition story, checked against the contemporary Climbing report.

The DS kept going

The Climbing report, preserved on Mueller’s website, said the DS units performed flawlessly and were recharged with portable solar cells. The pair had also brought eight backup units. They weren’t exactly leaving their evening entertainment to chance.

On June 2, Mueller reached the summit, but the same report specifies that he went without a game machine. The DS’s documented gaming trip stopped at South Col. Mueller had one last climb to make without it.

Sources

Minnesota Public Radio: Minnesotan Neal Mueller on climbing Mount Everest (June 24, 2005), for Mueller, Grubb and their Seven Summits plans.
Neal Mueller’s website: portrait photograph.

Climbing: “Super Mario meets Everest”, contemporary magazine clipping preserved by Neal Mueller, for South Col, solar charging, backup units and the summit clarification.
Wired: “Sky-High Gamers Go to Extremes” (25 April 2005), for Mueller and Grubb’s plans and the appeal of wireless games during downtime.
Archived Kotaku: “DS Survives Everest: Expedition Update”, the supplied historical link. The details used here are checked against the contemporary sources above.
Evan-Amos: original-model Nintendo DS photograph, for the hardware image.