Tamae Watanabe is sitting on top of the world. Again. And Everest claims four others.
UPDATED: On Saturday, May 18, Tamae Watanabe became—at age 73—the oldest woman to summit Everest. This is an amazing accomplishment because (1) it is Everest, (2) she attacked the mountain from the difficult north face and (3) she broke her own record, set in 2002, when she was a spry 63-year-old. So congratulations to her....
You’re over 50, you’re outdoors, and it’s Friday
Old people have occult skills for opening bottles of beer. Chalk it up to experience, cunning, and a stubborn insistence on opening that bottle of beer dammit even when there isn’t a reasonable tool at hand. But they are too worldly to use the tricks of younger folk. They don’t use their teeth; they know...
104-year-old sets paragliding record
It’s been a good few weeks for achievements by people who are so old that—typically—each new breath would be considered something of a triumph . Fauja Singh finished the London Marathon in late April; he is 101. A week or so earlier, Peggy McAlpine reclaimed the record for the oldest person to take part in a...
101-year-old Fauja Singh finishes London Marathon
Fauja Singh has (again) broken the record for the oldest person to finish a marathon. The BBC reports that the 101-year-old Londoner (and proponent of ginger curry) posted a time of 7 hours and 49 minutes. That’s about a half-hour faster than his time at the 2011 Toronto Marathon, where he set the previous record...
Century-old Frenchman (with the body of a 75-year-old) sets biking record
There are many, many things to say about this, and there is nothing that is necessary beyond the following: at the age of 100, Robert Marchand—citizen of France, former inhabitant of Venezuela and former Canadian lumberjack—has just ridden a bike 15.1 miles. In an hour. That sets a new record because it...
Rainer Hertrich takes a break: The run of runs comes to an end
It’s over. Rainer Hertrich, the 50-year-old madman who had skied every day for 2,993 consecutive days, has stopped. The run of runs that started in 2003 is at an end, which means that Hertrich can finally claim his Guinness record for “Accumulated Vertical Descent in Consecutive Days on Telemark Gear.” ESPN...
AARP-eligible adventurer currently attempting first winter solo attempt of Denali
It’s probably too soon to be talking about Lonnie Dupre’s epic/insane attempt to be the first person to climb the highest peak in North America…in the winter…by himself. He’s still in the early stages of the ascent, at 12,300 feet, so it’s like talking about a no-hitter in the seventh...
Our vote for the Nat Geo adventurer of the year
The Age of Exploration—at least geographic exploration—is pretty much over. The white spaces have been filled in, by footprints or by Google Earth. But there is still plenty of adventure out there, and every year National Geographic lets us vote on who has done the best job of firing up...
Toward a new definition of extreme sports
Two stories this week raise the issue of what we are talking about when we talk about extreme sports. Typically, the term is used to describe anything really dangerous and really unusual: physical activities pursued by a few people at the far end of the bell curve of crazy. (Base...
So much of a good thing: skiing 365 days a year for eight years
There’s a point where the guy with an awesome idea becomes the guy with the epic ambition. And another point where his epic ambition becomes his white whale, his Daisy Buchanan, his driving and terrifying obsession. We’re not sure where Rainer Hertrich lands on that spectrum. At the moment,...
Put down the ginger curry and applaud Fauja Singh, 100-year-old marathoner
At age 100, British runner Fauja Singh completed Sunday’s Toronto Waterfront Marathon in 8:25:16, placing 3,850 out of 3,855. Which means first that he is a phenomenal athlete and second that five people had to slink home after the race and admit they were beat by someone who was born the...
Today’s John Muir Trail video suggests it’s a lark to hike 230 miles
Almost There – The Muir Project Given the number of people who hike California’s John Muir Trail, which runs along the backbone of the Sierra Nevada mountain range, and given the number of talented cinematographers in that part of the world, you would think that the internet would be awash with breathtaking videos of the...
