Peter Athans
Encyclopedia
Pete Athans is one of the world's foremost high-altitude mountaineer
s. He is best known for being one of only three non-sherpa
(Dave Hahn
and Ed Viesturs
being the others) to summit Mount Everest
seven times, and has appropriately earned the moniker "Mr. Everest". He first attempted to climb Everest in 1985 via the West Ridge. Unfortunately, he was unsuccessful, and further attempts in 1986, 1987 and 1989 were similarly fated. In 1990, on an expedition that included Scott Fischer
and Wally Berg
, he was at last successful.
Pete Athans is one of several western Himalayan guides who have adopted Nepal
as a second home, and who have taken up the cause of the Sherpa people and their culture.
the David A. Sowles Memorial Award
.
The next year, Athans removed the body of a friend - Bruce Herrod, a South African climber who had perished just weeks after the 1996 disaster, from the climbing route high up on the mountain. He found Herrod hanging upside down by the climbing ropes that the photographer had been using to make his way down the dangerous Hillary Step section of the mountain, just below the summit. Four expeditions had climbed past his body before the removal of Herrod's body, which was cut loose and pushed over the edge. Athans returned the camera and ice axe of the dead climber to his family. The last pictures Herrod took, shortly after 5PM the night he summitted, were of himself, on the summit, smiling that he had at last reached this goal.
Mountaineer
-Sports:*Mountaineering, the sport, hobby or profession of walking, hiking, trekking and climbing up mountains, also known as alpinism-University athletic teams and mascots:*Appalachian State Mountaineers, the athletic teams of Appalachian State University...
s. He is best known for being one of only three non-sherpa
Sherpa people
The Sherpa are an ethnic group from the most mountainous region of Nepal, high in the Himalayas. Sherpas migrated from the Kham region in eastern Tibet to Nepal within the last 300–400 years.The initial mountainous migration from Tibet was a search for beyul...
(Dave Hahn
Dave Hahn
Dave Hahn is a professional mountain guide, ski patroller, journalist and lecturer. On May 20, 2011 he reached the summit of Mt. Everest for the 13th time - the most for a non-Sherpa climber. Among Hahn’s other notable accomplishments are his 27 summits of Vinson Massif, Antarctica’s highest mountain...
and Ed Viesturs
Ed Viesturs
Edmund Viesturs, known as Ed Viesturs is one of the world's premier high-altitude mountaineers. He is one of only 26 people and the only one from the United States to have climbed all eight-thousander peaks...
being the others) to summit 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...
seven times, and has appropriately earned the moniker "Mr. Everest". He first attempted to climb Everest in 1985 via the West Ridge. Unfortunately, he was unsuccessful, and further attempts in 1986, 1987 and 1989 were similarly fated. In 1990, on an expedition that included Scott Fischer
Scott Fischer
Scott E. Fischer was an American climber and guide, and the first American to summit 27,940-foot Lhotse, fourth highest mountain in the world.-Career:...
and Wally Berg
Wally Berg
Wally Berg is a mountaineer from the United States.Berg was the first American to summit Lhotse in 1990 and he solo'd Cho Oyu in 1987. He has summited Mount Everest four times....
, he was at last successful.
Pete Athans is one of several western Himalayan guides who have adopted Nepal
Nepal
Nepal , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked sovereign state located in South Asia. It is located in the Himalayas and bordered to the north by the People's Republic of China, and to the south, east, and west by the Republic of India...
as a second home, and who have taken up the cause of the Sherpa people and their culture.
Rescues
In 1996 he was a key participant in the rescue of several climbers during the May 1996 Everest Disaster. For his efforts the American Alpine Club awarded him and his partner Todd Burleson and Anatoli BoukreevAnatoli Boukreev
Anatoli Nikoliavich Boukreev, , was a Kazakhstani climber who made ascents of seven of the 8,000 metre peaks without supplemental oxygen. In total he made 18 successful ascents on peaks above 8000 m . Boukreev was lost under an avalanche on Annapurna...
the David A. Sowles Memorial Award
David A. Sowles Memorial Award
The David A. Sowles Memorial Award is the American Alpine Club's highest award for valour, bestowed at irregular intervals on mountaineers who have "distinguished themselves, with unselfish devotion at personal risk or sacrifice of a major objective, in going to the assistance of fellow climbers...
.
The next year, Athans removed the body of a friend - Bruce Herrod, a South African climber who had perished just weeks after the 1996 disaster, from the climbing route high up on the mountain. He found Herrod hanging upside down by the climbing ropes that the photographer had been using to make his way down the dangerous Hillary Step section of the mountain, just below the summit. Four expeditions had climbed past his body before the removal of Herrod's body, which was cut loose and pushed over the edge. Athans returned the camera and ice axe of the dead climber to his family. The last pictures Herrod took, shortly after 5PM the night he summitted, were of himself, on the summit, smiling that he had at last reached this goal.