Samantha Larson, 18, who also became the youngest foreigner to climb the world’s highest mountain, broke the age record of the “seven summits” challenge that was set last year by a Briton, Rhys Miles Jones, who achieved the feat at 20.
The seven peaks include Kosciuszko in Australia, although some mountaineers say that Carstensz Pyramid in Indonesia should supplant it on the list. Just to make sure, Miss Larson plans to climb it in August. The other mountains are Elbrus in Russia; Mount McKinley in Alaska; and Vinson in Antarctica.
Miss Larson graduated near the top of her school and has a place at Stanford University. She once lugged her oboe on a trek and practised it in snowy conditions so that she was ready for a school concert on her return. She is a member of the Pacific Symphony Youth Orchestra. On the 22,841ft Aconcagua in Argentina she studied algebra at 16,000ft.
Miss Larson began posting reports on her Everest climb last month, and continued blogging until she was more than halfway up the mountain.
Miss Larson’s blog does not read like those of most teenagers. “We’ve tried to hold on to our fitness these past few days by doing some sort of activity each day,” she wrote from Base Camp before the ascent. “We’ve been ice climbing in a really neat cave near base camp, and we’ve also been on hikes up to Camp One.”
No comments:
Post a Comment