After becoming the youngest climber to scale the highest mountains on all seven continents, an 18-year-old US woman is set to tackle another challenge -- starting college in the fall.
Samantha Larson of Long Beach, California, flew from Mount Everest to Kathmandu yesterday on her way home with her father, David Larson, a 51-year-old anesthesiologist who climbed the world's highest peak with his daughter.
"I was really happy to be there and I was happy to be going down too," Larson said about her thoughts when she reached the 8,850m summit of Mount Everest last Thursday.
PHOTO: EPA
She became the youngest foreign woman to scale Everest, the Nepalese Mountaineering Department said. A 15-year-old Sherpa girl from Nepal was the youngest ever to climb the peak.
Larson said Everest was "much harder, longer and higher" than the other peaks she has scaled in the past.
"There were a lot of difficult moments. It was a long trip, it was hard in general," she said. "It was one big challenge."
"I never gave up hope completely," she said. "Deep down I thought I would make it."
She said she was 12 when she climbed Mount Kilimanjaro in Africa. Since then she has scaled the highest peaks on all seven continents, also called the "Seven Summits."
"It kind of happened. It was a gradual thing," she said of mountaineering.
Larson is set to start classes at Stanford University in the fall. She graduated from high school last year, but put off attending college for a year so she could scale some of the world's tallest peaks with her father.
Completing the climb in Nepal makes Larson the youngest person to have completed the "Seven Summits" challenge, breaking a record set last year by then 20-year-old British climber Rhys Miles Jones.
Freezing toes have forced a Dutchman to abandon his bid to conquer Mount Everest while wearing shorts, his spokesman said.
"Iceman" Wim Hof, who claims to have special abilities to withstand the cold, nevertheless managed to set an altitude record for scantily-clad climbing, his spokesman said.
"He set a new world record by going up to 7,400m in his shorts," Willibrord Frequin said yesterday.
"He had trouble with his toes; that's why he had to stop. They were almost frozen," he said, adding that Hof was making his way back down the 8,848m peak.
"He is very disappointed, but happy he got the new record," Frequin said.
Hof has already performed several feats of endurance in extremely cold conditions, including a barefoot run in the Arctic Circle.
But temperatures high on Everest can fall to as low as minus 30oC, with the human body also subjected to lower oxygen levels.
The Kansas City Chiefs wrapped up a brief visit to Brazil on Friday with a season-opening loss to the Los Angeles Chargers, but despite the defeat, the team outshone their divisional rivals in the fight for the hearts and minds of Brazilian fans. In Sao Paulo for just the second-ever NFL game in the city, Chiefs players — especially quarterback Patrick Mahomes and tight end Travis Kelce — were treated as major celebrities throughout their stay, turning Corinthians Arena into a scene reminiscent of the Chiefs’ Arrowhead Stadium. Before kickoff, crowds of fans gathered around the Chiefs’ tunnel, eager to catch a
New Zealand stayed firm at their Eden Park fortress to claim an attritional 24-17 win over South Africa in a heavyweight clash between the world’s top two rugby sides yesterday. Under pressure after conceding a first-ever defeat on Argentine soil against the Pumas two weeks ago, the All Blacks responded with a performance of grit and discipline to stretch their unbeaten run at their Auckland stronghold to 51 matches. Two well-taken tries by Emoni Narawa and Will Jordan set up a 14-3 lead at halftime before Quinn Tupaea grabbed a third five-pointer for the hosts 13 minutes from time. Well-held for most of
Mikel Merino on Sunday scored a hat-trick as a majestic Spain thumped Turkey 6-0 away in World Cup qualifying, while a brilliant Florian Wirtz free-kick helped Germany beat Northern Ireland 3-1 to get their bid up and running. European champions Spain were in unstoppable form in the central Turkish city of Konya, claiming their second biggest-ever away win in World Cup qualifying as Arsenal midfielder Merino scored his first professional hat-trick. Barcelona playmaker Pedri Gonzalez opened the scoring inside six minutes and later completed the scoring, with Ferran Torres netting the visitors’ other goal. The quality of Merino’s strikes was remarkable, with his
The Wallabies trusted their instincts to keep pushing for a late try instead of a potential equalizing penalty goal late in their Rugby Championship Test match yesterday against Argentina, with prop Angus Bell scoring the clinching try in the sixth minute of added time to give Australia a comeback 28-24 win. The Wallabies were awarded three kickable penalties after the 80th minute, but kept pushing in search of the match-winning try, which was finally delivered by an unlikely hero in reserve prop Bell. “It’s just relieving,” Bell said. “It’s just awesome we could get the win in the end; not go for
RSS