Yuichiro Miura: 80 on Everest
One never to give up, the former record holder for the oldest Everest summit, Japanese climber Yuichiro Miura, is now targeting another summit at age 80 - in 2013. This according to a report today from AFP. He wants to climb the north this time after previously completing two successful south-side climbs.
Late last week he lost his record to Nepalese Min Bahadur Sherchan who produced birth certificates to verify his claim that he was the oldest person to top out Everest with his summit last year. He was 76 at the time.
Miura-san is most famous for being the man who skied down Everest in the 1970 documentary, "The Man Who Skied Down Everest." It reveals what climbing Everest was like before the crowds and commercial expeditions.
He did not ski Everest proper, he actually skied the Lhotse face. Using a parachute as drag, he skied 6,600 feet in two minutes and 20 seconds, and then fell another 1320 feet when he stopped just below the bergschrund at the base of the face. You have to rent the film. Sadly, eight Sherpas died during his expedition, which left Miura-san devastated.
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November 23, 2009
Welcome to Alan Arnette's Blog
Recently while designing new business cards, I considered my title. With my early retirement after 30 years in high tech, I needed a new title and “retired” just didn’t fit.
I considered many choices but couldn’t settle on just one. Thus these three made it on the card: Speaker, Mountaineer, Alzheimer’s Advocate. And with this new blog for Outside, I probably need to add writer.
Hi, I’m Alan Arnette and welcome to my blog. Some of you may know me from my own climbs and annual coverage of Mt. Everest on my website www.alanarnette.com. With this new blog for Outside, I hope to share my own adventures plus my thoughts on the world of mountaineering. And there is another objective; but let’s wait for a moment on that.
As a speaker, I am not the traditional motivational speaker but rather talk about my career of running global businesses through the eyes of my mountaineering adventures.
As a mountaineer, and I use that term loosely, I have been on 20 major climbs around the world since I started at age 38. I have climbed well above 6000 meters ten times and Everest three times with my best being 8400m, but that’s another story.
While I am fond of saying that I have turned back from more summits that stood on; my passion is climbing in all forms. And yes, I smile at the thought of blizzards, -40 nights and waist deep snow.
And for my last title, Alzheimer's Advocate, this is what my life is all about now. This disease has no cure, impacts over 30 million worldwide and took two of my aunts plus my mom, Ida, this past August. Today, my climbing is to raise awareness and research funds so that our children’s generation will never experience this robber of memories and lives.
In that spirit, I am planning to climb the 7 Summits with my partners the Alzheimer’s Association, International Mountain Guides and Outside Online to raise $1 million. I call my effort “Memories are Everything: The 7 Summits”. All donations go directly to Alzheimer's organizations and zero to me.
The climbs are open to qualified climbers and guided by IMG’s professionals. However we still need a corporate sponsor to reach the millions of followers to generate the million dollars.
Meanwhile, I continue to climb all 58 Colorado 14ers, with 52 summits thus far. Longs Peak is my favorite with over 50 climbs and 17 summits - a great training peak for the bigger and more difficult climbs.
Also, I am ramping up my annual coverage of the 2010 spring Everest season. As I have done in the past, I will interview climbers and guides, bring focus to expeditions who emphasize safety and conservation plus track the teams as they work their way to the late May summit windows. You can read my 2009 coverage on my site.
You can expect to read on this blog about Everest, my own climbs and other mountaineering topics. Thanks for coming along and let's go climbing!
Climb On!
Alan
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October 28, 2009
Jaws Is Real
Swimmers are being warned to stay out of the waters near Stradbroke Island, Australia, after a 10-foot great white shark, which had been caught on a drum-line, was nearly ripped clean in half by what is being estimated to be a 20-foot great white.
The shark in the horror movie Jaws was 25 feet long.
--Dave Costello
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September 23, 2009
Gear Junkie Going to Everest
Stephen Regenold, a.k.a. The Gear Junkie, will be traveling to Mt. Everest April 2010 to report on the Expedition Champion team, led by Jamie Clarke. Regenold will not be trekking up the mountain, though--he will remain at Base Camp at 17,700 feet. It will take a week to trek to BC, and Regenold will be testing gear, as usual, along the way. He will be joined by fellow journalist Stephanie Pearson, an Outside magazine contributing editor and Outside Online's Gear Girl.
--Aileen Torres
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May 21, 2009
Oldest and Youngest American Summit
Seventeen-year-old Johnny Collinson from Snowbird, Utah became the youngest American to summit Everest, and Dawes Eddy, 66, of Spokane, Washington became the oldest American to bag the peak. Collinson reached the top with Damien Benegas on May 19th, and Eddy peaked the next day with IMG.
The two are pictured together above.
--Joe Spring
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Apa Sherpa Summits Everest 19th Time
Apa Sherpa set a new world record for the most summits of Everest with his 19th trip to the top. The 5'4 120-pound Sherpa from the village of Thame carried a sacred vase to the top of the mountain and a flag that said, "Stop Climate Change. Let the Himalayas Live!" For more information on Apa, check out this article in his hometown Salt Lake Tribune. For more on Sherpas that live in the U.S., check out Christian DeBenedetti's November 2007 article, "Give Me Your Tired, Your Poor, Your Hale, Hearty, Tough-As-Nails, Acclimatized-At-Birth Mountain People..."
--Joe Spring
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May 12, 2009
Everest: Latest On Sherpa's Death
Poor weather continues to plague Everest climbers. The First Ascent team made the best of it and climbed to Advanced Base Camp. Most teams are hunkered down in a holding pattern, or descending from higher camps.
There's more news surrounding the tragic death of the sherpa cook yesterday morning. According to IMG expedition leader Eric Simonson, who has been in touch with local sherpas, this is the third or fourth poisonings in the Khumba area in the last six months. The word around camp is that somebody is selling poisoned whiskey with counterfeit tax labels attached (labels are required by Nepalese law). An investigation is being conducted by Liaison Officers at Base Camp.
We'll see what they turn up. In the meantime...
"The Everest whiskey business is grinding to a standstill," Simonson said.
--Kyle Dickman
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Lack Of Swell Holding Up Billabong Pro
Three foot waves and windy conditions have resulted in the second straight lay day at the Billabong Pro Tahiti. This is the third time in four days the event has been delayed, with four surfers still waiting for their first round ripping to commence.
“We thought the swell would have filled in by now but it hasn’t hit yet so we’ve called competition off for today,” Luke Egan, Billabong Pro Tahiti Contest Director, said. “We’re monitoring some swell energy that could be filling in over the next few days so we’ll be back tomorrow to make another call.”
Event officials are calling for a moderate WSW swell today. Look for a possible 7:30 a.m. start tomorrow. For more info go to billabongpro.com.
--Ivan Miller
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May 11, 2009
Everest: Bad Weather and Bad News
Bad weather has socked in Everest, putting a brief delay on many teams summit hopes. Dave Hahn and the First Ascent crew had a training climb planned to Advanced Base Camp but were forced to turn back. IMG's team on the South Col woke to more snowfall and are returning to Base Camp where the majority of climbers are anxiously waiting out the storm.
A second tragedy has hit the mountain. Last night, there was the death of a sherpa cook and the near fatal poisoning of another after the pair consumed bootleg whiskey made with methyl alcohol. The bad weather prohibited a helicopter rescue and despite efforts from in camp doctors the status of the surviving sherpa remains uncertain.
In related news, IMG will organize a relief fund to support the family of Lhapka Nuru Sherpa, who was lost last week during the avalanche and is presumed dead. If you wish to support his family, send tax deductible donations to AFFIMER-Lhapka Fund. You can mail directly to AFFIMER P.O. Box 155, Ashford, WA 98304 USA.
--Kyle Dickman
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May 08, 2009
Everest: Avalanche Hits Climbers
An ice fall on the morning of May 7 led to major problems on Everest. IMG sherpas reported an avalanche sweeping off the west shoulder and onto the lower icefall. Twenty two climbers were in the vicinity of the avalanche when it released. Austrian Walter Lasser was blown into a crevasse by an accompanying powerful blast of wind, one climber was knocked unconscious and there was a resulting helicopter rescue of those injured. After the successful rescue, climbers searched for two and half hours for the missing Lhakpa Sherpa, but found only one boot and his backpack. Since then, subsequent search teams have returned to the glacier; no further evidence has been upturned. Lasser continues to report chest pains and has called off his summit attempt.
The accident took place soon after the first westerner, Britain's David Tait, summitted, according to EverestNet. Though the death dampens the mood, many teams are planning their summit push for the coming week. Depending on weather, Peak Freaks is hoping to summit on May 16 or 17 and IMG has a tentative plan to reach Camp 3 in the coming days. Teams on the north side are planning mid-May summit as well.
--Kyle Dickman
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