NO SMALL FEAT FOR A YOUNG MAN, LEAST OF ALL FOR A 73-YEAR-OLD WOMAN

In 2001, even after training hard for three months to withstand the high altitudes in Tibet, just hiking the short distance from the Rongbuk Monastery (elevation 16,498 feet) to the Mt. Everest mountaineer base camp (elevation 17,056 feet) left me exhausted and gasping for air. But Tamae Watanabe hiked and climbed from the base camp to the summit of Everest (elevation 29,035 feet) twice, first when she was 63, and now when she is 73. And I can't help but feel that if she's still around when she's 83, she'll try it again.

PENSIONER, 73, BECOMES OLDEST WOMAN TO CLIMB EVEREST… BEATING HER OWN RECORD IN THE PROCESS
By Rob Cooper

Mail Online
May 19, 2012

A 73-year-old pensioner has become the oldest woman to climb Mount Everest - beating her own record in the process.

Tamae Watanabe, from Japan, reached Everest's 8,850-meter-high (29,035 feet) summit from the northern side of the mountain in Tibet today with four other team members.

A decade ago she became the oldest women to reach the top at the age of 63 but today smashed that record.

Ang Tshering of the China Tibet Mountaineering Association in Nepal said that all the team members were in a good condition.

They are now making their way back to the base of the mountain.

Watanabe and her team left the last high altitude camp located at 8,300 meters (27,225 feet) on Friday night and climbed all night before reaching the summit this morning.

Weather conditions have improved throughout the week making the effort possible.

Teams have begun reaching the summit even from the Nepalese side in the southern of the mountain, according to Nepal's mountaineering department.

The first teams from the Nepalese side reached the summit on Friday, and many more made it today.

Weather conditions have been challenging this year, prompting several expeditions to cancel their plans to try to reach the summit.

May is considered the best month to climb Everest, when climbers get about two windows of good weather for their bid for the summit.

The oldest person to climb Everest is a Nepalese man, Min Bahadur Sherchan, who reached the peak in 2008 at the age of 76.