Oldest American, Fastest Woman on Everest Return Safely

紀錄上最年長的美國人與最快登上聖母峰的女姓安全歸回

A retired attorney from Chicago who became the oldest American to scale Mount Everest, and a Hong Kong teacher who is now the fastest female climber of the world's highest peak, on Sunday returned safely from the mountain where climbing teams have struggled with bad weather and a coronavirus outbreak.

一位美國芝加哥退休律師以及一位香港女教師，近期內分別刷新了最年長攻聖母峰頂的美國人及最快登上世界最高峰的女登山者記錄。歷經惡劣天氣及新冠狀病毒疫情爆發，兩人的登山隊於週日（編按： 2021 年 5 月 30 日）終於下山平安返回。

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Oldest American, Fastest Woman on Everest Return Safely
VOA News｜East Asia Pacific
May 30, 2021 07:22 AM(source)

Oldest American, Fastest Woman on Everest Return Safely

紀錄上最年長的美國人與最快登上聖母峰的女姓安全歸回

May 30, 2021 07:22 AM

Associated Press

  VOA News 搶先看 

週日（編按： 2021 年 5 月 30 日）兩位攀登聖母峰的登山者個別打破了兩項世界紀錄。75 歲的亞瑟 • 繆爾（Arthur Muir）成為最年長成功登頂的美國人，打破了比爾 • 伯克（Bill Burke）在 67 歲時締造的紀錄。另一項紀錄則由 45 歲的香港人曾燕紅以不到 26 小時的時間登上聖母峰，刷新了女性最快攻頂的紀錄。嚴峻的新冠疫情與惡劣的天氣讓許多登山隊打退堂鼓，只有百位登山客不畏困難成功登峰。

A retired attorney from Chicago who became the oldest American to scale Mount Everest, and a Hong Kong teacher who is now the fastest female climber of the world's highest peak, on Sunday returned safely from the mountain where climbing teams have struggled with bad weather and a coronavirus outbreak.

Arthur Muir, 75, scaled the peak earlier this month, beating the record set by another American, Bill Burke, at age 67.

Tsang Yin-hung, 45, of Hong Kong scaled the summit from the base camp in 25 hours and 50 minutes, and became the fastest female climber. The record of 10 hours and 56 minutes is held by a Sherpa guide, Lakpa Gelu.

A climbing accident on Everest in 2019, when Muir hurt his ankle falling off a ladder, did not deter him from attempting to scale the peak again. He began mountaineering late in life, and said he was scared and anxious during his latest adventure.

"You realize how big a mountain it is, how dangerous it is, how many things that could go wrong. Yeah, it makes you nervous, it makes you know some anxiety there and maybe little bit of scared," Muir told reporters in Kathmandu.

"I was just surprised when I actually got to there (the summit) but I was too tired to stand up, and in my summit pictures I am sitting down," he said.

Muir began mountaineering at age 68 with trips to South America and Alaska before attempting Everest in 2019, when he fell off the ladder.

Climbing was closed last year due to the pandemic.

Married and a father of three, Muir has six grandchildren. The last one — a boy — was born while he was still in the mountains during his current expedition.

Tsang made only two stops between the base camp, located at 5,300 meters, to the 8,849-meter summit to change, and covered the near vertical distance in 25 hours and 50 minutes.

She was lucky because there were barely any climbers on the way to the highest camp at South Col. After that, on her way to the summit, she met only climbers making their descent, which did not slow her speed climb.

There are only a few days of good weather left on the mountain this year, when hundreds of climbers line up to the summit, many having to wait for a long time in the traffic jam on the highest trail.

"I just feel kind of relief and happy because I am not looking for breaking a record," she said. "I feel relieved because I can prove my work to my friends, to my students."

She made a previous attempt on May 11, but bad weather forced her to turn back from a point very close to the summit. She then returned last Sunday.

"For the summit, it is not just your ability, team work, I think luck is very important," she said.

An outbreak of the coronavirus among climbers and their guides at the Everest base camp has forced at least three teams to cancel their expeditions. But hundreds of others have pushed through attempting to scale the summit, at a time Nepal is in lockdown battling its worst surge in COVID-19.