JOURNEYS
FASTEST ASCENT OF THE TOP THREE HIGHEST
MOUNTAINS WITHOUT SUPPLEMENTARY OXYGEN (MALE)
Silvio Mondinelli (ITA) climbed Everest (8,848 m; 29,029 ft),
Kangchenjunga (8,586 m; 28,169 ft) and K2 (8,611 m;
28,251 ft) in 3 years 64 days, finishing on 26 Jul 2004.
The fastest ascent of the top three highest mountains
without supplementary oxygen (female) is 5 years
101 days, by Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner (AUT) on 23 Aug 2011.
FIRST ASCENT
OF EVEREST
AND K2 WITHOUT
SUPPLEMENTARY
OXYGEN (FEMALE)
Alison Hargreaves (UK)
topped Everest on
13 May 1995 – the first
undisputed ascent
of Everest without
supplementary oxygen
(female) – and K2 on
13 Aug 1995, again without
the use of supplementary
oxygen. Tragically, she was
killed while descending
from K2’s summit that
same day.
FASTEST TIME TO WIN THE SNOW LEOPARD AWARD
The Snow Leopard award is presented to climbers who
summit all five mountains of 7,000 m (22,965 ft) and above
located in the former Soviet Union. Andrzej Bargiel (POL)
did this in 29 days 17 hr 5 min on 16 Jul–14 Aug 2016. The
five peaks are: Pik Imeni Ismail Samani (7,495 m; 24,590 ft);
Jengish Chokusu (7,439 m; 24,406 ft); Qullai Abuali Ibni Sino
(7,134 m; 23,405 ft); Pik Yevgenii Korzhenevskoy (7,105 m;
23,310 ft); and Khan Tangiri Shyngy (7,010 m; 23,000 ft).
MOST 6,000‑M ANDES
MOUNTAINS CLIMBED
Brazilian resident Maximo
Kausch (UK) is attempting
to climb every one of the
6,000-m-tall (19,685-ft)
mountains in the Andes.
On 3 Jan 2017, he
summitted Nevado del
Plomo (6,070 m; 19,914 ft)
- his 74th successful climb.
The first person to
climb the 12 highest
Andes mountains was
Darío Bracali (ARG), ending
in 2004. He disappeared
on Dhaulagiri in 2008.
FASTEST TIME TO CLIMB THE SEVEN SUMMITS
INCLUDING CARSTENSZ (FEMALE)
Maria Gordon (UK) climbed the Seven Summits’ combined
Kosciuszko and Carstensz lists in 238 days 23 hr 30 min,
beginning with the ascent of Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania
and ending atop Mount Kosciuszko in Australia on 17 Jun
- She beat the previous best of 295 days, set by Vanessa
O’Brien (USA) in 2012–13. Gordon also skiied the last degree
of the North and South poles en route to the record.
Climbing
Mount Everest
remains an extremely
dangerous challenge.
The deaths-to-summit
ratio is around 4%, and
there are thought to be
more than 200
bodies on the (^) dead
mountain.
FIRST ASTRONAUT TO SUMMIT EVEREST
On 20 May 2009, former NASA astronaut Scott Parazynski (USA) successfully summitted
Everest, becoming the first person to travel in space and climb Earth’s highest mountain.
According to NASA, Parazynski participated in five space flights and spent more than 1,381 hr
in space, including 47 hr during his seven space walks. Before beginning his descent down
Everest, he left behind a small Moon rock that had been collected by the crew of Apollo 11.
MOST WOMEN ON EVEREST IN ONE SEASON
The spring climbing season of 2016 saw 68 women
summit Everest. The largest group by nationality was
Indian, with 15 climbers, while the USA ranked second
with 12 (including Vanessa Blasic, pictured right with
her expedition) and China third with eight.
The most women on Everest in one day is 22,
achieved on 19 May 2013.