biography
pronunciation:
[waymoora]
| sex:
| male
|
| lived:
| (1942–84)
|
| biography:
| Explorer and mountaineer, born in Tajima region, C Japan. He started climbing as a student at Meiji University, Tokyo. After solo ascents of Mont Blanc, Kilimanjaro, Aconcagua, and Mt McKinley, he reached the summit of Everest with Teruo Matsura in 1970, becoming the first person to reach the highest peak on five continents. In 1978 he made a solo dog-sled journey of 450 mi from Ellesmere I to the North Pole, then immediately undertook a 1600 mi N–S traverse of Greenland using 16 dogs. He led the Japanese attempt to climb Mt Everest in the winter of 1981. He completed the first winter ascent of the West Buttress Route of Mt McKinley, and is presumed to have died during the descent, although his body was never found. |
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