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Oldest ozzie woman Jan Smith at 68 summits Everest

JohnK

27-May-2012
8:22:03 PM

Looks like Jan Smith from Melbourne just summited Everest at age 68 with SummitClimb and became the oldest Australian woman to do so.

http://summitclimb.com/new/default.asp?linktype=r&mtype=smenu&vid=17&nid=184#27may

From the news reports, Jan smith would have become the oldest in the world had it not been for Tamae Watanabe from Japan who broke her own record and summited a few days ago at the amazing age of 73!!

egosan

27-May-2012
9:51:55 PM

At the risk of being called mean spirited:

Well Whoopdie fukin do.

Another tourist put their money down, threw the dice and came up with a summit.
Good on her. She didn't roll snake eyes.

In a season of especially bad weather, press and luck on Everest. More discarded oxygen bottles, tents, fixed lines and bodies litter the mountain.

This woman succeeded in her petty ambition. Why should anyone care except to be angry at the despoliation our planet for our avarice?

... well yea. Mean Spirited.

Wollemi

27-May-2012
9:55:51 PM

June 2011;

'Amazingly, the mother of three has not given up on her dream, and said she might one day try to climb Mount Everest from the northern, Tibetan, side, having now failed twice from the south. She conceded she would have to overcome a few obstacles at home.'

http://www.theage.com.au/travel/travel-news/life-lessons-as-67yearolds-everest-bid-falls-flat-20110622-1gfia.html#ixzz1w4P1szy8

The news of Jan's success may be up against reportage of 2 years ago;

'The China Tibet Mountaineering Association (CTMA), the organization that regulates climbing activities in Tibet, issued new regulations on June 10 (2010) that set age limitations on Mt. Everest. The decision bans climbers under the age of 18 and over 60 from climbing the world's tallest peak...'

http://www.alpinist.com/doc/web10s/newswire-everest-age-limits

beryllium

27-May-2012
10:56:11 PM

On 27/05/2012 egosan wrote:
>At the risk of being called mean spirited:
>
>Well Whoopdie fukin do.
>
>Another tourist put their money down, threw the dice and came up with
>a summit.
>Good on her. She didn't roll snake eyes.
>
>In a season of especially bad weather, press and luck on Everest. More
>discarded oxygen bottles, tents, fixed lines and bodies litter the mountain.
>
>
>This woman succeeded in her petty ambition. Why should anyone care except
>to be angry at the despoliation our planet for our avarice?
>
>... well yea. Mean Spirited.

Mean spirited? Nah. Jealous? Yeah.

Good job, ladies. I was reading a great article on Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner in a recent issue of National Geographic and the determination, ambition and fighting spirit of these women are an inspiration.

I pity those who are in constant need to put a dampener on other people’s amazing achievements.


wallwombat

27-May-2012
11:21:34 PM

If she is a climber, I am impressed.

If she is a wealthy high altitude tourist, being dragged up by a team of sherpas , then i couldn't care less.

Most of the people the summit Everest, every year, aren't climbers.

Anyway, at 68, she deserves a big congratulations, anyway.

Full stop!

Well done.!

Is she a good sort?

One Day Hero

28-May-2012
12:40:01 AM

On 27/05/2012 beryllium wrote:
>
>Mean spirited? Nah. Jealous? Yeah.
>
Are you serious? Have you seen the photos of that queue? Are you really saying that you're jealous of those clowns who were standing there for 2hrs freezing their toes off (literally) waiting for a turn?

>I pity those who are in constant need to put a dampener on other people’s
>amazing achievements.
>
I pity those whose dreams are so unimaginative that the circus of everest is their best idea. Seconding a route can barely be considered proper climbing, let alone running a jumar up km's of fixed line, then returning to a tent which was carried, erected and stocked by a paid servant. Do these clowns even melt their own water, or is that handled for them as well?

egosan

28-May-2012
7:52:28 AM

On 28/05/2012 One Day Hero wrote:
>Do these clowns even melt their own water,
>or is that handled for them as well?

Careful ODH you may be cutting close to bone there.

Our aptly named friend has had more to say on the subject:

On 4/10/2011 Beryllium wrote:
>I went with a local company, Fernando Grajales. Going with them really
>alleviated all the stress of trying to work out the logistics. Base camp
>is well facilitated with internet, porters and medical facilities. Hot
>showers are available for around $10US.

For Christ sake! Really? Hot showers at 4100m. I thought camping at Lake Catani was a little luxurious to be called camping.

>I’d like to give it another shot but definitely not this year though.
>If I were to do it again, I’d bring a water filtration system. At the higher
>camps you need to melt snow for water which can be a little dirty due to
>the mountain being quite dusty. This can be off putting when you have to
>drink at least 4 litres of water a day to combat altitude sickness and
>dehydration.

No, that is called Ass to Mouth disease. It will leave you very dehydrated as well. Too many tourists leaving little brown presents in the snow up there.

On 27/05/2012 beryllium wrote:
>Mean spirited? Nah. Jealous? Yeah.
>
>I pity those who are in constant need to put a dampener on other people’s
>amazing achievements.

No need at all to damp anyone's amazing achievements. You want amazing? Look up Göran Kropp.

Some might say there is virtue in pointing out the Emperor has no cloths. I get too much pleasure to call it virtue.

You, lady, are naked.

Any up for the 2013 season? Book now:

http://www.patagonicas.com/schedule-and-rates/
http://www.mountainguides.com/everest-south.shtml

You can have your own personal sherpa and if you are a racist you can reserve a western guide, instead.


Superstu

28-May-2012
8:36:52 AM

On 28/05/2012 egosan wrote:
>No, that is called Ass to Mouth disease. It will leave you very dehydrated
>as well. Too many tourists leaving little brown presents in the snow up
>there.

Hey those little frozen brown cairns are a useful navigation aid in a white out. Managed to navigate down off Mera Peak in a pooey blizzard thanks to those little track markers!


cruze

28-May-2012
9:17:29 AM

Whilst I personally have no desire to summit Everest (by fair means or foul) I think that there is still adventure on Everest. The adventure lies in pushing your own personal boundaries. Even if your support crew melted snow, fixed lines, helped you wipe your bum, etc. you still have to deal with reduced oxygen levels (even if augmented by bottled oxygen) and intense cold. To most deskjockeys this will be testing their limit in much the same way that Clinton tested himself on his Stradbroke Island tyrolean - putting yourself in an unfamiliar situation and dealing with it as it comes. And I have respect for the majority of people that summit for this reason. After all, I think that life is all about testing your limits in whatever shape or form - whether it be dogging your way up your grade 30 (20, 15) sports project, running it out, competing in a race, tendering for a project, etc.

Where I think that the boundary is crossed, is where people feel the need to self-publicise their achievements. Perhaps the division in the climbing world about the multitude of people that summit Everest every year is more centred around the lack of humility shown by those that summit and how they report their inner growth as some outward achievement. Just my Kiwi 2c worth (current exchange rate yet to be factored in).


MisterGribble

28-May-2012
9:33:12 AM

Look chaps,

You could say that anyone who has ever tied on a rope and got from the bottom to the top of something is engaged in a pointless exercise involving their ego and the Australian tax payer can be relieved they didn't have to pay for an expensive helicopter rescue..

For the record Jan Smith climbed Cho Oyu 3 years ago and this was her 3rd attempt on the big hill. She set herself a target and never gave up. No different to dogging the living daylights out of something and then redpointing it. Let he who hath not sinned cast the first stone.

Give credit where it's due, a fine achievement.

Mike Bee

28-May-2012
10:07:14 AM

On 28/05/2012 MisterGribble wrote:
>For the record Jan Smith climbed Cho Oyu 3 years ago and this was her
>3rd attempt on the big hill. She set herself a target and never gave up.
>No different to dogging the living daylights out of something and then
>redpointing it.

There is a difference, redpointing means you finally led that project after dogging the living day lights out of it. You did the whole thing yourself, without weighting the rope. Jugging up Everest without even carrying your own gear doesn't count as redpointing, thus doesn't have the same level of achievement.

GoUp!

28-May-2012
10:30:20 AM

Following fixed lines on a big mountain is not too dissimilar to a high altitude obstacle rope course. Very little decision or actual climbing required though still personally rewarding to be in such an amazing environment. But if you're honest to yourself then the sense of achievement has a bitter taste - that's what I thought anyway when I did one of the popular guided technical routes in Nepal.


cruze

28-May-2012
10:40:04 AM

On 28/05/2012 Mike Bee wrote:
>On 28/05/2012 MisterGribble wrote:
>>For the record Jan Smith climbed Cho Oyu 3 years ago and this was her
>>3rd attempt on the big hill. She set herself a target and never gave
>up.
>>No different to dogging the living daylights out of something and then
>>redpointing it.
>
>There is a difference, redpointing means you finally led that project
>after dogging the living day lights out of it. You did the whole thing
>yourself, without weighting the rope. Jugging up Everest without even carrying
>your own gear doesn't count as redpointing, thus doesn't have the same
>level of achievement.
Yeah, on my deathbed I would rather recount the time I climbed to the top of some scungy cliff at Nowra without slumping onto the bolts (finally, took me 8 weekends of efforts over two years, but hell yeah I ticked... what grade was that again???) than look back at standing on the highest point in the world.... [really?]

Will_P

28-May-2012
10:44:15 AM

On 27/05/2012 beryllium wrote:
'I was reading a great article on Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner in a recent issue of National Geographic and the determination, ambition and fighting spirit of these women are an inspiration.'

Not a comment on Jan Smith, but c'mon, there's no real comparison here - an oxygenless ascent of K2 (making her the 1st woman to climb all 14 8000m+ peaks sans 02) and an ascent of Everest on a commerical trip with 02 via the standard route? It's great that you find inspiration in it, but it's apples and oranges.

One Day Hero

28-May-2012
11:18:14 AM

On 28/05/2012 cruze wrote:
>To most deskjockeys this will be testing their limit in much the
>same way that Clinton tested himself on his Stradbroke Island tyrolean

That comparison is just bullshit Cruze!

On the one hand you have events taking place in what must be one of the most 'left behind' cultures on earth. Where the naive, trusting locals slog away at all the hard work, take most of the risks, and get largely ignored by the climbing press (who are all mates of the "pro guides"). Meanwhile, a bunch of shameless self promoters jet in from wealthier locales, swan around talking about all the stuff they climbed 20yrs ago, do fuch all of the actual guiding work, but take the lion's share of the fame and fortune.

And you're trying to compare that situation with guided expeditions on Everest? I don't see the link at all!


cruze

28-May-2012
11:28:41 AM

classic


MisterGribble

28-May-2012
11:35:38 AM

Oh my stars, can we link this to having dogs in the Grampians as well .....


Eduardo Slabofvic

28-May-2012
12:55:34 PM

On 28/05/2012 One Day Hero wrote:
>Meanwhile, a bunch of shameless self promoters jet in from wealthier locales,
>swan around talking about all the stuff they climbed 20yrs ago, do fuch
>all of the actual guiding work, but take the lion's share of the fame and
>fortune.

Yeah, that's what I thought of Simey's movie as well.

pecheur

28-May-2012
1:01:51 PM

On 28/05/2012 Eduardo Slabofvic. wrote:
>On 28/05/2012 One Day Hero wrote:
>>Meanwhile, a bunch of shameless self promoters jet in from wealthier
>locales,
>>swan around talking about all the stuff they climbed 20yrs ago, do fuch
>>all of the actual guiding work, but take the lion's share of the fame
>and
>>fortune.
>
>Yeah, that's what I thought of Simey's movie as well.

+1 GOLD!

Pity those poor oppressed locals doing all the work putting up fixed lines for rich tourists.


Eduardo Slabofvic

28-May-2012
2:05:53 PM

On 28/05/2012 pecheur wrote:
>>Pity those poor oppressed locals doing all the work putting up fixed lines
>for rich tourists.

Its enough to make you weep

There are 59 messages in this topic.