If you’ve every fancied tackling mighty Mount Everest, the fact that an 80 year old has just completed the ascent should spur you on!
Eighty year old Yuichiro Miura from Japan reached Everest’s summit at 8,848 meters in May 2013, to coincide with the 60th anniversary of the very first ascent. Miura is a professional mountaineer with many major climbs under his belt and at 80 years and 223 days old, his recent effort has been recognised by the World Record Academy and Guinness World Records. Miura was born in 1932 and was accompanied up Everest by his son and a team of eight other climbers to the top of the world.
This is not the first time that Yuichiro Miura has held the record – in 2003 at 70 years old he broke the record and then set out again to reclaim his title in 2008 when he was 75. He is also the first person to ski on Everest in 1970 when he descended 4,200 vertical feet. The video of this spectacular feat was released under the name ‘The Man Who Skied Down Everest’ and is truly inspiring. Miura’s feat is all the more impressive considering that fact that he has undergone heart surgery a reported four times. Great lesson in life – don’t let anything hold you back. And time to start eating whatever he’s eating!
And if you wondered who the oldest woman to climb Everest is, I can confirm that it’s a fellow Japanese lady by the name of Tamae Watanabe. She scaled Everest on 16 May 2002 aged 63 years and 177 days old (or shouldn’t that be young!) Her achievement is also recognised by Guinness World Records and both climbs are frankly, a huge inspiration.
