Amid rising deaths on Mount Everest, Watanabe becomes oldest woman to scale it

Tamae Watanabe, a 73- year old woman hailing from Japan, reached the summit of Mt Everest, becoming the oldest female to scale the peak and breaking her own record which she set around ten years ago. Besides, this weekend turned out to be a rush hour for 150 climbers who climbed Mt Everest. However, the weekend was also unfortunate as four climbers lost their lives while struggling to climb the highest peak of the world.

“Ha Wenyi, 55, was the fourth to have died over the weekend as hundreds of climbers finally had a chance to make their bid for the summit when high winds at the top of the mountain lifted for a few days. An unnamed Nepalese climber is still missing,” the Guardian reported.

The report also stated that Ha Weny, 55-year old Chinese climber, was found dead on North side of the peak. Three climbers were already dead on the peak before Weny’s dead body was located.

Watanabe led her team to the summit of Mt Everest. Her team of climbers was coached by Sherpa Ang Tshering. Reports suggest that the team set out to scale the highest peak of the world from their last camp on Friday afternoon and continued climbing all night despite the odds.

"She's a very strong climber and has always been very active," Sherpa Tshering was quoted as saying in a report. "She has always loved the mountains and has been climbing in the Japanese Alps and around the world for many years."

Watanbe has scaled most treacherous peaks during the last fifteen years. In addition to her latest adventure she has climbed 5 peaks, going more than 26,000 feet above sea level. The oldest man who had scaled Mt Everest is Min Bahadur Sherchan of Nepal. He was 76-year old when he set the record.

Reports suggest that weather on the mountain has been extraordinarily temperate. Snowfall was very low on the Nepalese side and this raised the danger of falling stones at several spots on course to the top.

The recent deaths at Mt Everest bring the total death toll on the mountain to 8 this year. The year has been full of activity on the mountain. Thirty two expeditions were reported involving 750 climbers who set out for adventure on the highest peak of the world.