NEPAL: A 73-year-old Japanese woman has become the world's oldest woman to climb Mount Everest, repeating her own record set ten years ago

Record ID: 858748

  • Title: NEPAL: A 73-year-old Japanese woman has become the world's oldest woman to climb Mount Everest, repeating her own record set ten years ago
  • Date: 26th May 2012
  • Summary: KATHMANDU, NEPAL (MAY 25, 2012) (REUTERS) ***BEWARE FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** SIGN OF ASTREK CLIMBING WALL WITHIN THE PREMISES OF ASIAN TREKKING AGENT JOURNALISTS GATHERING GUINNESS RECORD HOLDER TAMAE WATANABE POSING FOR PHOTOGRAPHS VARIOUS OF WATANABE PROCEEDING TO THE VENUE OF NEWS CONFERENCE WATANABE AT PHOTOCALL POSING WITH FLOWER BOUQUET WATANABE BEING CONGRATULATED WITH SCARF WATANABE BEING CONGRATULATED WITH SCARF BY YOUNG GIRL (SOUNDBITE) (English) FORMER PRESIDENT OF NEPAL MOUNTAINEERING ASSOCIATION, ANG TSHERING SHERPA, SAYING: "Congratulations, Watanabe San. You are the symbol of courage, bravery and encourage, you are the source of inspiration for the millions of people in your own country and others as well." TRANSLATOR BRIEFING WATANABE VARIOUS OF WATANABE HANDING OVER FRAMED GUINNESS RECORD CERTIFICATE TO ANG TSHERING SHERPA (SOUNDBITE) (Japanese), TAMAE WATANABE, RECORD HOLDER, SAYING: "I am getting such a nice present, I am feeling very happy." MORE OF WATANABE POSING WITH CERTIFICATE (SOUNDBITE) (Japanese) GUINNESS RECORD HOLDER, TAMAE WATANABE, SAYING: "There was severe wind. It has become somewhat difficult compared to ten years earlier. Because of the chilly wind the ascent has become more difficult."
  • Embargoed: 10th June 2012 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Nepal
  • City:
  • Country: Nepal
  • Topics: Quirky,Light / Amusing / Unusual / Quirky
  • Reuters ID: LVAE0DOQ03CPJCU5CHKHE0XU61TB
  • Aspect Ratio:
  • Story Text: For the second time, a Japanese woman has become the world's oldest woman to climb Mount Everest, beating her own record set 10 years ago.
    Seventy-three-year-old Tamae Watanabe reached the 8,850 metre (29,035 feet) summit with a Japanese partner and three Nepali Sherpa guides on Saturday morning, according to Ang Tshering Sherpa, who runs the Asian Trekking company and provided logistics to the team.
    She scaled the peak from the Tibetan side of the mountain.
    Watanabe became the oldest woman to climb the mountain back in 2002 aged 63.
    On Friday (May 25) her new record was officially recognized by the Guinness World Records.
    "Congratulations, Watanabe San. You are the symbol of courage, bravery and encourage, you are the source of inspiration for the millions of people in your own country and others as well," former president of the Nepal Mountaineering Association, Ang Tshering Sherpa, said.
    Watanabe said thanked them for "such a nice present" and described the conditions on the mountain during her summit.
    "There was severe wind. It has become somewhat difficult compared to ten years earlier. Because of the chilly wind the ascent has become more difficult," she said.
    Despite her age, Watanabe has vowed to continue climbing.
    "Since I live near Mount Fuji I am very keen on mountain climbing, but I feel the high mountains like those of Nepal may be a little difficult and problematic, but I will continue climbing small peaks," she said.
    Mount Everest straddles the Nepal-Tibet border.
    It has been scaled by 3,700 people since New Zealander Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay Sherpa first climbed it in 1953.
    The list of climbers includes a blind person, a man with an artificial limb, a 13-year-old American boy and a 76-year-old Nepali man.
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