SAWT BEIRUT INTERNATIONAL

| 26 April 2024, Friday |

U.S. and Hong Kong climbers set new records on Mount Everest

Hiking officials reported on Friday that climbers from Hong Kong and the United States have set new records as they scaled Mount Everest this week.

75-year-old Arthur Muir became the oldest U.S. citizen to climb the world’s highest peak at 8,848.86-metres (29,031 feet) on Sunday, according to an official from the company that organised the expedition.

Separately, Hong Kong’s Tsang Yin-Hung, 45, scaled the peak in less than 26 hours, the shortest time taken by any woman after starting from the base camp. Usually, climbers get to spend many days in various camps before reaching the peak.

Garrett Madison, expedition leader at the Madison Mountaineering company told Reuters from the base camp that “Arthur Muir is the oldest American at 75 years old to summit Mount Everest.”

Muir beat the record set by Bill Burke, who became the oldest U.S. national to climb the mountain at the age of 67 in 2009.

Tsang set out from the base camp at 1:20 PM local time (0735 GMT) on Saturday and reached the top at 3:10 PM the following day, said Gyanendra Shrestha, a Nepal government official, who returned from the base camp.

She beat the record set by Nepali woman Phunjo Jhangmu Lama in 2017, who climbed Everest in 39 hours and 6 minutes.

    Source:
  • Reuters