Tamae Watanabe : Oldest Woman to Climb Mount Everest

A 73-year-old Japanese woman has become the oldest female to scale Mount Everest, breaking the record she set a decade ago. 

Tamae Watanabe, a retired office worker who lives at the foot of Mount Fuji, Japan's tallest mountain, led a team of four on the assault on the northern face of Everest on Saturday.

Mount Everest

Ms. Watanabe and her team set out from their last high-altitude camp, at a height of 27,225 feet, late on Friday and climbed all night, Ang Tshering, a sherpa who coached the climbers, told The Daily Telegraph.

"She's a very strong climber and has always been very active," Sherpa Tshering said from the headquarters of the China Tibet Mountaineering Association in Khatmandu.
"She has always loved the mountains and has been climbing in the Japanese Alps and around the world for many years," he said.

Since the mid-1970s Watanabe has climbed some of the most famous mountains in the world, including no fewer than five of the 14 peaks that are more than 26,246 feet high. Read more info HERE. 

Wikipedia: 

Ms. Tamae Watanabe

Tamae Watanabe (Japanese 渡辺 玉枝, Watanabe Tamae; born 21 November 1938 Yamanashi Prefecture) is a Japanese mountain climber. After completing study at Tsuru University she worked as public office employee of Kanagawa Prefecture. It was at this time, at age 28, she began mountain climbing. 

In 1977 she climbed Mount McKinley. She then climbed Mont Blanc, Mount Kilimanjaro and Aconcagua. After her retirement she returned to her hometown and in May 2002 she became the then oldest woman to climb Mount Everest. 

Ten years later, in May 2012, she broke her own record, when she, now at the age of 73, again scaled Mount Everest.

Here's the YouTube video of Tamae Watanabe... 

Published on Jun 29, 2012
CNN's Kyung Lah speaks to Tamae Watanabe who, at 73, is the oldest woman to climb Mount Everest.

Happy watching!  

xoxo, 

Mommy Myraine