Naomi Uemura
Encyclopedia
was a Japanese
adventurer. He was particularly well known for doing alone what had previously been achieved only with large teams. For example, he was the first person ever to reach the North Pole
solo, the first ever to raft the Amazon
solo, and the first ever to climb Mount McKinley
solo.
, now part of Toyooka, Hyōgo
, Japan. Shy by nature, he began climbing in college in the hope that mountaineering
would increase his self-confidence.
While still in his 20s, Uemura had climbed solo Mount Kilimanjaro
, Aconcagua
, Mont Blanc
and the Matterhorn
, had walked the length of Japan
and was a member of the first Japanese expedition to climb Mount Everest
and subsequent disastrous 1971 International Everest Expedition.
invaded his camp, ate his supplies, and poked his nose against the sleeping bag where Uemura lay tense and motionless. When the bear returned the next day, Uemura was ready and shot him dead. On the 35th day of the trip, Uemura had hunkered down on an ice floe with his malamutes
, when there was the roar of breaking ice and the floe cracked into pieces. He and his dogs were stranded on a tossing island of ice. After a night of terror, Uemura found a 3 foot (0.9144 m) ice bridge and raced to safety.
He persevered, and became the first ever to reach the Pole solo. Describing his 57-day push, he wrote, "What drove me to continue then was the thought of countless people who had helped and supported me, and the knowledge that I could never face them if I gave up."
In this trip he cooperated with the Canadian Air Force and received his supplies from its helicopter
s. After the trip he questioned such extensive support and decided to carry supplies on his own back.
Uemura dreamed of soloing across Antarctica and climbing that continent's highest peak, Vinson Massif
. In preparation, he did a three year solo dog run from Greenland
to Alaska
, then prepared to climb McKinley again solo in winter.
The difficulty of a winter ascent will be difficult to understand for people unfamiliar with Alaskan climbing, and nobody had successfully climbed any large Alaskan peak in winter until 1967, when Gregg Blomberg organized an expedition that got to the top of McKinley (Blomberg himself did not summit). This team lost one member and the rest of them almost died in a storm on the way down. Team member Art Davidson's book about the climb was named after that storm — Minus 148°.
There is a very large danger with glacier
travel, with even short treks across the ice. As an example, glaciers are often broken with cracks, called crevasse
s, that are often covered with snow and not visible. Because of this, an ascent is very difficult to manage without a team.
Uemura had developed a "self-rescue" device, bamboo
poles tied over his shoulders that would span any crevasse into which he fell and allow him to pull himself out. He planned a very light run, with only a 40 pounds (18.1 kg) pack plus sled. He kept his gear light by planning to sleep in snow caves, so he would not need a tent. He also skimped on fuel and planned to eat cold food.
He began his climb in early February, 1984, and reached the summit on February 12. Much later, climbers found the Japanese flag that he left at the summit.
There appeared to be high winds near the top, and the temperature was around -50 °F. Planes flew over the mountain but did not see him that day. He was spotted around 16600 feet (5,059.7 m) the next day (presumably on the ridge just above the headwall). However, complications with weather made further searching difficult.
It was likely that Uemura was running out of fuel at this point but because of his reputation, nobody wanted to send a rescue party for fear it would offend him. Doug Geeting, one of the bush pilots who had been "Uemura spotting" over the previous week, said "If it were anybody else, we'd have somebody [a rescuer] on the mountain already".
On February 20, The weather had cleared and Uemura was nowhere to be found. There was no sign of his earlier camp at 16600 feet (5,059.7 m), and no evidence that caches left by other climbers nearby had been disturbed.
Two experienced climbers were dropped at 14000 feet (4,267.2 m) to begin a search. Though another storm came in, they stayed on the mountain until February 26, finding a cave in which Uemura had stayed at 14000 feet (4,267.2 m) on the way up, but no sign of the climber himself. A diary found in the cave revealed that Uemura had left gear there in order to lighten his load on the summit push. He had also left his self-rescue poles back at 9500 feet (2,895.6 m), knowing he was past the worst crevasse fields. Most people figured he had fallen on his descent of the headwall and been hurt, died, and was buried by snow. Another theory is that he could have made it to 14200 feet (4,328.2 m) (which is the base of the headwall) and then fallen into one of the many crevasses there and perished.
A group of Japanese climbers arrived to look for the body. They failed, though they did locate much of the man's gear at 17200 feet (5,242.6 m).
The diary found in the 14000 feet (4,267.2 m) cave has been published in Japanese and English. It describes the brutal conditions that Uemura suffered – the crevasse falls, -40° weather, frozen meat, and inadequate shelter. The diary entries showed him to be in good spirits, and documented the songs he sang to stay focused on his task.
The last entry read,
He is remembered as not only a gifted climber and a driven adventurer, but also as a gentle, self-effacing man who cared about others. In the words of Jonathan Waterman,
Japanese people
The are an ethnic group originating in the Japanese archipelago and are the predominant ethnic group of Japan. Worldwide, approximately 130 million people are of Japanese descent; of these, approximately 127 million are residents of Japan. People of Japanese ancestry who live in other countries...
adventurer. He was particularly well known for doing alone what had previously been achieved only with large teams. For example, he was the first person ever to reach the North Pole
North Pole
The North Pole, also known as the Geographic North Pole or Terrestrial North Pole, is, subject to the caveats explained below, defined as the point in the northern hemisphere where the Earth's axis of rotation meets its surface...
solo, the first ever to raft the Amazon
Amazon River
The Amazon of South America is the second longest river in the world and by far the largest by waterflow with an average discharge greater than the next seven largest rivers combined...
solo, and the first ever to climb Mount McKinley
Mount McKinley
Mount McKinley or Denali in Alaska, United States is the highest mountain peak in North America and the United States, with a summit elevation of above sea level. It is the centerpiece of Denali National Park and Preserve.- Geology and features :Mount McKinley is a granitic pluton...
solo.
Early adventures
Uemura was born in HidakaHidaka, Hyogo
was a town located in Kinosaki District, Hyōgo, Japan.On April 1, 2005 Hidaka, along with the towns of Kinosaki and Takeno, all from Kinosaki District, and the towns of Izushi and Tantō, both from Izushi District, was merged into the expanded city of Toyooka and no longer exists as an independent...
, now part of Toyooka, Hyōgo
Toyooka, Hyogo
is a city located in the northern part of Hyōgo, Japan.As of 2008, the city has an estimated population of 90,443 and a density of 125 persons per km²...
, Japan. Shy by nature, he began climbing in college in the hope that mountaineering
Mountaineering
Mountaineering or mountain climbing is the sport, hobby or profession of hiking, skiing, and climbing mountains. While mountaineering began as attempts to reach the highest point of unclimbed mountains it has branched into specialisations that address different aspects of the mountain and consists...
would increase his self-confidence.
While still in his 20s, Uemura had climbed solo Mount Kilimanjaro
Mount Kilimanjaro
Kilimanjaro, with its three volcanic cones, Kibo, Mawenzi, and Shira, is a dormant volcano in Kilimanjaro National Park, Tanzania and the highest mountain in Africa at above sea level .-Geology:...
, Aconcagua
Aconcagua
Aconcagua is the highest mountain in the Americas at . It is located in the Andes mountain range, in the Argentine province of Mendoza and it lies west by north of its capital, the city of Mendoza. The summit is also located about 5 kilometres from San Juan Province and 15 kilometres from the...
, Mont Blanc
Mont Blanc
Mont Blanc or Monte Bianco , meaning "White Mountain", is the highest mountain in the Alps, Western Europe and the European Union. It rises above sea level and is ranked 11th in the world in topographic prominence...
and the Matterhorn
Matterhorn
The Matterhorn , Monte Cervino or Mont Cervin , is a mountain in the Pennine Alps on the border between Switzerland and Italy. Its summit is 4,478 metres high, making it one of the highest peaks in the Alps. The four steep faces, rising above the surrounding glaciers, face the four compass points...
, had walked the length of Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
and was a member of the first Japanese expedition to climb Mount Everest
Mount Everest
Mount Everest is the world's highest mountain, with a peak at above sea level. It is located in the Mahalangur section of the Himalayas. The international boundary runs across the precise summit point...
and subsequent disastrous 1971 International Everest Expedition.
The Pole
Uemura wrote that he almost gave up twice during his 1978 North Pole trip. On the fourth day of his trek, a polar bearPolar Bear
The polar bear is a bear native largely within the Arctic Circle encompassing the Arctic Ocean, its surrounding seas and surrounding land masses. It is the world's largest land carnivore and also the largest bear, together with the omnivorous Kodiak Bear, which is approximately the same size...
invaded his camp, ate his supplies, and poked his nose against the sleeping bag where Uemura lay tense and motionless. When the bear returned the next day, Uemura was ready and shot him dead. On the 35th day of the trip, Uemura had hunkered down on an ice floe with his malamutes
Alaskan Malamute
The Alaskan Malamute is a generally large breed of domestic dog originally bred for use as a utilitarian dog and later an Alaskan sled dog. They are sometimes mistaken for a Siberian Husky, but in fact are quite different in many ways...
, when there was the roar of breaking ice and the floe cracked into pieces. He and his dogs were stranded on a tossing island of ice. After a night of terror, Uemura found a 3 foot (0.9144 m) ice bridge and raced to safety.
He persevered, and became the first ever to reach the Pole solo. Describing his 57-day push, he wrote, "What drove me to continue then was the thought of countless people who had helped and supported me, and the knowledge that I could never face them if I gave up."
In this trip he cooperated with the Canadian Air Force and received his supplies from its helicopter
Helicopter
A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by one or more engine-driven rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forwards, backwards, and laterally...
s. After the trip he questioned such extensive support and decided to carry supplies on his own back.
Mount McKinley
In August 1970, Uemura climbed Mount McKinley solo, becoming the first person ever to reach the top alone. He did this quickly and with a light pack (8 days up, versus an average of 14 days or so; 55 pounds (24.9 kg) pack, versus an average probably twice that). August is after the end of the normal climbing season. While the weather he faced was not terrible, the mountain was almost empty with only four other people on it. Though many people have climbed McKinley alone since Uemura, most do it in the middle of the climbing season.Uemura dreamed of soloing across Antarctica and climbing that continent's highest peak, Vinson Massif
Vinson Massif
Vinson Massif is the highest mountain of Antarctica, lying in the Sentinel Range of the Ellsworth Mountains, which stand above the Ronne Ice Shelf near the base of the Antarctic Peninsula. The massif is located about from the South Pole and is about long and wide. At the highest point is Mount...
. In preparation, he did a three year solo dog run from Greenland
Greenland
Greenland is an autonomous country within the Kingdom of Denmark, located between the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Though physiographically a part of the continent of North America, Greenland has been politically and culturally associated with Europe for...
to Alaska
Alaska
Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...
, then prepared to climb McKinley again solo in winter.
The difficulty of a winter ascent will be difficult to understand for people unfamiliar with Alaskan climbing, and nobody had successfully climbed any large Alaskan peak in winter until 1967, when Gregg Blomberg organized an expedition that got to the top of McKinley (Blomberg himself did not summit). This team lost one member and the rest of them almost died in a storm on the way down. Team member Art Davidson's book about the climb was named after that storm — Minus 148°.
There is a very large danger with glacier
Glacier
A glacier is a large persistent body of ice that forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. At least 0.1 km² in area and 50 m thick, but often much larger, a glacier slowly deforms and flows due to stresses induced by its weight...
travel, with even short treks across the ice. As an example, glaciers are often broken with cracks, called crevasse
Crevasse
A crevasse is a deep crack in an ice sheet rhys glacier . Crevasses form as a result of the movement and resulting stress associated with the sheer stress generated when two semi-rigid pieces above a plastic substrate have different rates of movement...
s, that are often covered with snow and not visible. Because of this, an ascent is very difficult to manage without a team.
Uemura had developed a "self-rescue" device, bamboo
Bamboo
Bamboo is a group of perennial evergreens in the true grass family Poaceae, subfamily Bambusoideae, tribe Bambuseae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family....
poles tied over his shoulders that would span any crevasse into which he fell and allow him to pull himself out. He planned a very light run, with only a 40 pounds (18.1 kg) pack plus sled. He kept his gear light by planning to sleep in snow caves, so he would not need a tent. He also skimped on fuel and planned to eat cold food.
He began his climb in early February, 1984, and reached the summit on February 12. Much later, climbers found the Japanese flag that he left at the summit.
Disappearance
On February 13, 1984, he spoke by radio with Japanese photographers who were flying over the mountain, saying that he had made the top and descended back to 18000 feet (5,486.4 m). He planned to reach base camp in another two days, but never made it.There appeared to be high winds near the top, and the temperature was around -50 °F. Planes flew over the mountain but did not see him that day. He was spotted around 16600 feet (5,059.7 m) the next day (presumably on the ridge just above the headwall). However, complications with weather made further searching difficult.
It was likely that Uemura was running out of fuel at this point but because of his reputation, nobody wanted to send a rescue party for fear it would offend him. Doug Geeting, one of the bush pilots who had been "Uemura spotting" over the previous week, said "If it were anybody else, we'd have somebody [a rescuer] on the mountain already".
On February 20, The weather had cleared and Uemura was nowhere to be found. There was no sign of his earlier camp at 16600 feet (5,059.7 m), and no evidence that caches left by other climbers nearby had been disturbed.
Two experienced climbers were dropped at 14000 feet (4,267.2 m) to begin a search. Though another storm came in, they stayed on the mountain until February 26, finding a cave in which Uemura had stayed at 14000 feet (4,267.2 m) on the way up, but no sign of the climber himself. A diary found in the cave revealed that Uemura had left gear there in order to lighten his load on the summit push. He had also left his self-rescue poles back at 9500 feet (2,895.6 m), knowing he was past the worst crevasse fields. Most people figured he had fallen on his descent of the headwall and been hurt, died, and was buried by snow. Another theory is that he could have made it to 14200 feet (4,328.2 m) (which is the base of the headwall) and then fallen into one of the many crevasses there and perished.
A group of Japanese climbers arrived to look for the body. They failed, though they did locate much of the man's gear at 17200 feet (5,242.6 m).
The diary found in the 14000 feet (4,267.2 m) cave has been published in Japanese and English. It describes the brutal conditions that Uemura suffered – the crevasse falls, -40° weather, frozen meat, and inadequate shelter. The diary entries showed him to be in good spirits, and documented the songs he sang to stay focused on his task.
The last entry read,
- "I wish I could sleep in a warm sleeping bag. No matter what happens I am going to climb McKinley."
Legacy
Like many great adventurers, Uemura gave frequent public lectures and wrote about his travels. His adventure books for children were popular in Japan.He is remembered as not only a gifted climber and a driven adventurer, but also as a gentle, self-effacing man who cared about others. In the words of Jonathan Waterman,
[Just as remarkable] as his solo achievements was his sincere modesty and unassuming nature. Another part of his greatness lay in his deep interest in everyone he met.
Notable climbs
- 1968 Mount Sanford, Alaska, USA. Solo ascent, fourth ascent of peak, topping out on Sept 19, 1968.
Trivia
Naomi Uemura was a licensed radio amateur operator, signed as JG1QFW. He used amateur radio communication during his expeditions.Sources
- The Rescue Season, Bob Drury 2001
- To The Top of Denali, Bill Sherwonit 2000
- High Alaska : A Historical Guide to Denali Mount Foraker and Mount Hunter, Jonathan Waterman 1989
- http://www.the-north-pole.com/answers/a7.html
- http://maui.ksbe.edu/faculty/keduell/extracredit/Women%20in%20Sports%20Complete%20file/Naomi%20Uemura.doc