Everest 2013: Interview with Dawes Eddy – going strong at 70

This interview with Dawes Eddy is one of an ongoing series I do each season with Everest climbers. Not the famous, case sponsored ones who get plenty of publicity but the regular people, no who often have full time jobs, full time families and climb for the love of the climb. I welcome suggestions for anyone climbing in 2013 I should interview. Now here’s Dawes:

The last time on Everest he lost 10 pounds off his  5′ 8″, 130 pound body, 8%. A loose rule of thumb is that if you lose 10%, you will probably not summit. Well Dawes Eddy did summit in 2009, becoming the oldest America to summit at the time – at a young 66 years old.

And now he is going back – at age 70.

This Spokane native, knows what he is getting into. He seems to have a body, and lifestyle, designed to live forever. Well maybe not forever but Dawes is doing everything he can not to live his golden years sitting in a chair watching television.

For the past 23 years, his year round training routine includes running 8 miles three days a week, regardless of the weather, twice a week he puts in an hour with weights and swims 40 minutes.

His favorite training peak is nearby Mt. Rainier with 65 climbs including 40 summits. His is quite intimate with Rainer coming close to death during a long fall down a very icy  Gibraltar Chute in 1999. He broke his leg during that 2,000 foot fall but recovered and was back up there several months later.

All this training allowed Dawes to climb the summit push on Everest from the South Col to the summit in a very swift 7 hours and 38 minutes in 2009.

Dawes is part of an exclusive Everest American Senior Men’s Club that includes Bill Burke who claimed the American male age record by summiting only two days after Dawes at age 67.  Some of the other members include John Dahlem, at 66 and 10 month who summited with his 40 year old son Ryan in 2010, Joe Drnek age 65 summited in 2010, Don Healy, 65 also in 2010 and Sherman Bull at age 64, summited in 2001.

Carol Masheter at age 61 is the oldest American woman to summit back in 2008. The oldest woman to summit was Japanese Tamae Watanabe, age 73, in 2012 from the north.

But setting the bar for everyone is Nepali Min Bahadur Sherchan who in 2008 summited at age 76. Not to be left out, Japanese Yuichiro Miura who has summited twice since turning 70, once owned the age record will try to regain it with his attempt this year at age 80. You may know Miura as being the “Man who Skied Down Everest” in 1970. 

However, all of this is not without risk, in 2011, Nepali Shailendra Kumar Upadhyaya died during his attempt to set the record, he was 82. In 2004, American Nils Antezana, age 69, summited but died on the descent.

But Dawes is not climbing for a record (but will be the oldest America to summit Everest if he succeeds), he is just going for the sake of health, climbing and the joy of pursuing his passion. Here’s Dawes:

Q: Dawes, you are 70 and have already summited Everest. Why again?

  I love adventure and a challenge and my Everest climb in 2009 provided me with both.  The 45 minutes I spent on the summit watching the sunrise was a very moving experience, which I would like to repeat.  Chronologically, I’ll be four years older, but my definition of aging is defined as loss of function.  My loss of conditioning and aerobic capacity the past 4 years has been minimal and I want to demonstrate that with the proper lifestyle choices, all things are possible into a person’s 70’s and beyond.

Q  On your website you promote a healthy lifestyle to slow the aging process. What are the critical components of this plan?

Based on my personal experience the medical doctors have it right.  Their advice to eat a well-balanced diet heavy on fruits and vegetables and to engage in physical exercise on a regular basis is right on the mark.  I’ve been following their advice for over 40 years and am currently in much better physical condition than I was 50 years ago.  Thanks to a quality diet and vigorous exercise, I currently weigh 2 lbs. less than when I graduated from high school in 1961.

Q: This will be your second climb of Everest. Will you do anything differently the time?

My plan is to maintain as high a level of endurance and aerobic capacity as possible and the acclimatization will take care of itself when I get to the mountain.

Q: In 2012, you summited Denali in only 12 days (usually takes 21). How?

We summited on the 12th day, but then it took us 3 more days to get back to the airfield.  Fifteen days is still a respectable time and we were very lucky with the weather.  We were the 2nd to the last plane to get out back to Talkeetna and the climbers behind us had to wait 3 more days to get out due to weather.

Q: I often see a correlation between marathon runners and successful mountaineers. You have run over a dozen marathons, a dozen Half Ironman Triathlons, a 34.4 mile ultra-marathon and a 100 K Ultra marathon. How does this help with your high altitude climbing?

I’ve always enjoyed endurance athletics like marathons and triathlons and training for those activities has directly contributed to my success as a mountain climber.  I am amazed at what a person’s body is capable of if given the proper training and conditioning.

Q: 2012 was a difficult year on Everest with rockfall and bad weather, any concerns for 2013?

I try not to worry too much about things I have no control over.  I worry about getting myself ready for the mountain and hope the mountain will be ready for me.

Q: Any other thoughts for us followers this year?

My anxiety level was high before my first climb of Everest in 2009 because I didn’t know what I was getting myself into and it’s high now before my second climb because I know what I’m getting myself into.

He will be climbing from the north side with Asian Trekking. We are all cheering for you Dawes! You can read more about Dawes on his site.

Climb On!
Alan
Memories are Everything