MOUNTAINEER WAS FIRST WOMAN TO TOP EVEREST
Scaled tallest peaks in more than 70 countries
Junko Tabei, a Japanese mountaineer who became the first woman to reach the world’s highest peak when she climbed Mount Everest in 1975 and who scaled the tallest mountains in more than 70 countries, died Oct. 20 at a hospital near Tokyo. She was 77.
The cause was stomach cancer, her family said on her website.
Tabei, who became fascinated with climbing as a child, battled cultural norms throughout her life as she completed a decadeslong quest in 1992 by reaching the top of the “Seven Summits,” or the highest peak on each continent.
But it was her determined effort to ascend the world’s highest mountain that cemented her reputation as one of the world’s most notable alpinists, male or female. She spent years preparing for her Everest expedition, financing much of it through her work as a technical editor and by giving piano lessons and teaching English.
Tabei defied the expectations of traditional Japanese society as she organized an all-female team of climbers. As she journeyed to the Himalayas in Nepal, she left her three-year-old daughter at home with her husband in suburban Tokyo.
“When we asked for financial support for our expedition, I was told many times, ‘Women shouldn’t be climbing Everest,’ ” she recalled in a 2003 interview with Agence France-Presse. “They told me bluntly, ‘Forget about climbing. Rather than that, why don’t you just take care of your kids?’ ”
Tabei eventually obtained financing from a Japanese newspaper and television network, which ultimately led to conflicts on the trail.
On May 4, 1975, she and her team were sleeping in their tents, at an altitude of more than 6,400 metres, when they were jolted awake by an avalanche. Tabei was partly covered in snow and lost consciousness before Sherpa guides pulled her to safety by her ankles.
“As soon as I knew everyone was alive,” she told Sports Illustrated in 1996, “I was determined to continue.”
Male journalists chronicling the trek wanted to turn back, and Tabei had to pull rank to continue.
“If you climb with men, there are so many troubles,” Tabei told The Washington Post in 1991. “I had to say, ‘I am the leader, and I determine that — even if you are the sponsor.’ I wanted to concentrate on climbing, and here I had to worry about these other issues. Since then, I haven’t had sponsors. I’m much happier.”
Despite injuries to her back and legs, the 4-foot-10 Tabei forged up the mountain, sometimes on her hands and knees, before becoming the first woman to reach the summit of Everest, on May 16, 1975. She unfurled a Japanese flag and stayed at the top of the world for 50 minutes before beginning her descent, which was as treacherous as the climb.
Tabei continued her mountaineering expeditions around the globe for decades. After Everest, she climbed Africa’s highest peak, Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, in 1980. She reached the summit of Aconcagua in Argentina in 1987, followed a year later by Mount McKinley (now Denali) in Alaska. She scaled Europe’s tallest peak, Mount Elbrus in Russia, in 1989.
In 1991, she climbed Antarctica’s Vinson Massif, then finished the last of the Seven Summits in 1992 by ascending Carstensz Pyramid (also known as Puncak Jaya) in Indonesia.
“The winds never calm down just because women are climbing,” she said in 2003. “Nature’s conditions are the same for everybody.”
“Life is not forever,” she told The Washington Post in 1991. “I don’t think people should leave behind a fortune, or things. When I die, I want to look back and know that my life was interesting.”
People shouldn’t leave behind a fortune, or things. When I die, I want to look back and know that my life was interesting.