Then, on Saturday, in a feat of even more incredible badassery,  73-year-old Tamae Watanabe of Japan reached the summit of Mount Everest  becoming the oldest woman to ever climb the mountain (the oldest man was a Min Bahadur Sherchan of Nepal, who did it at 76).

Several factors make this accomplishment even cooler than it first appears.

• Wanatabe was already the oldest woman in the world to summit Everest, having climbed the mountain at the age of 63. She smashed her own record by 10 years just for the hell of it.
• She left the last high altitude camp Friday night and climbed all night long, arriving at the summit on Saturday morning.
• Conditions on Everest have been harsher than normal this year, causing many teams of fit young climbers to cancel their expeditions, but this didn’t stop Watanabe.
• It was windier than usual on Saturday when Watanabe reached the peak and descended.
• Three others climbers died in summit bids (while a fourth may have died after simply losing it) on the south side mountain over the weekend, climbing at the same, or almost the same, time as Watanabe. Watanabe was, however, on the north side.

I have been mulling the idea for some time now. Ever since I realized that climbing Mount Everest is a test of physical endurance, rather than technical climbing skill, I’ve considered trying it.

Tamae Watanabe has inspired me. It is official–I must climb Mount Everest before I die. Preferably, within the next five years to ensure that Mount Everest isn’t the place that I die.

Lead photo by Darcy McCarty

***This photo is not of of Tamaei Watanabe nor of Mount Everest and is purely for illustrative and inspirational purposes.***

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Considering the time of day and severity of the avalanche, it’s a miracle that only one person was badly hurt. The only person on the trail, which will have more than 50 hikers on it at at certain times of day, was Nima Sherpa, a Nepalese cook who was swept into crevasse.

Immediately after the avalanche a head count of all Everest teams was done, which required communication in five languages. It was determined that the man was missing, and all Everest teams pitched in to search for him. He was found in the crevasse, was hoisted out, and was evacuated by helicopter. Nima Sherpa had three broken ribs, two broken vertebrae, and had almost bitten right through his tongue.

That sounds pretty awful, but given that this avalanche could have potentially killed dozens, the climbers on Everest are counting their blessings.

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In 1963 Will Unsoeld and Tom Hornbein’s made a historic traverse of Mount Everest, the first traverse (climbing and descending by different routes) of any Himalayan peak. To do this they had to ascend Everest’s treacherous West Ridge. This year North Face athletes Conrad Anker and Corey Williams plan to recreate that expedition.  In this video Mark Jenkins, climber and award-winning author, gives the pair a “50:50 and chance of summiting or dying”.

I’m looking forward to following the expedition on NatGeo. Good luck boys!

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