73-yr-old Japanese woman Watanabe conquers Mt. Everest
KATHMANDU — A Japanese woman stunned the mountaineering world by successfully climbing the world’s tallest mountain at the age of 73, setting a formidable world record.
Tamae Watanabe set foot atop the 8,848-meter peak on May 19 from the north ridge route in Tibet.With this feat, Watanabe bettered her own record of being the oldest woman to climb the mountain.
On May 16, 2002, she successfully scaled the mountain from the southeast ridge route in Nepal, a record that stood for a decade until Watanabe herself broke it Saturday.Watanabe, a retired office worker from Yamanashi Prefecture, is among two Japanese women holding Mt. Everest records.
Junko Tabei, a member of the Japanese Women’s Everest Expedition team, secured her name in mountaineering history in 1975 by becoming the first woman to climb the mountain.
Watanabe was born on Nov 21, 1938, according to her travel documents lodged with her local organizers.She is among two septuagenarian women from Japan who attempted Everest this climbing season.
Eiko Funahashi, 72, attacked the mountain from the southeast ridge route, but she abandoned summit plans in late April due to health problems.
The oldest male to successfully climb Mt. Everest is Nepal’s Min Bahadur Sherchan, who achieved the feat in May 2008 when he was 76 years and 340 days old, according to Guinness Records.
The youngest person to climb the mountain is American Jordan Romero who made it to the top in 2010 when he was just 13 , reports KYODO.
