In a season of summit firsts, Ingólfur Geir Gissurarson became the fifth, and so far oldest, Icelander to summit Everest, while the first ascent via the North Face by and Icelander was underway by Leifur Örn Gissurarson.
Geir Gissurarson reached the top of the 8,848m high Himalayan peak on May 21st, exactly 16 years after Björn Ólafsson, Einar Stefánsson and Hallgrímur Magnússon became the first Icelanders to summit the world’s highest mountain.
“I think it’s great that Leifur is trying that route,” famous explorer, Haraldur Örn Ólafsson said in an interview with Fréttablaðið.
However, at 51, Ingólfur is still a spring chicken. If 81-year-old Min Bahadur Sherchan of Nepal and his 80-year-old rival Yuichiro Miura of Japan, both currently in Everest Base Camp on the South Side of the mountain, reach the summit this season, a new record would have been set for the oldest person summiting. Presently it is held by Min Bahadur Sherchan, a Nepalese who reached the summit on 25 May 2008 at the age of 76 years 340 days.
2013 has already seen five records or firsts set on the mountain, including; first Saudi woman, first Pakistani women, first Moroccan and first twins (Indian sisters).
The next record that could be set is by Vilborg Arna Gissurardóttir, the first Icelandic woman to reach the South Pole, who is now planning to climb the world’s seven highest summits.