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Ranking in 7summits list, either CP or K | : | 19 |
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Ranking in Carstensz Pyramid list | : | 11 |
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Ranking in Kosciuszko list | : | 14 |
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First name | : | Junko |
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Family name | : | Tabei |
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Gender | : | female |
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Country of origin | : | Japan |
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Date of Birth | : | 1939-09-22 |
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Name of first summit | : | Everest |
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Date of climbing the first summit | : | 1975-05-16 |
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Name of final summit in Carstensz list | : | Elbrus |
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Date of final summit in Carstensz list | : | 1992-07-28 |
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Name of final summit in Kosciuszko list | : | Elbrus |
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Date of final summit in Kosciuszko list | : | 1992-07-28 |
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Date of climbing Kilimanjaro | : | 1985-01-16 |
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Date of climbing Elbrus | : | 1992-07-28 |
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Date of climbing Aconcagua | : | 1987-01-07 |
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Date of climbing Denali | : | 1988-06-12 |
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Date of climbing Vinson | : | 1991-01-19 |
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Date of climbing Everest | : | 1975-05-16 |
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Date of climbing Carstensz Pyramid | : | 1992-06-28 |
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Date of climbing Kosciuszko | : | 1991-11-23 |
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Climbed Carstensz Pyramid? | : | Yes |
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Climbed Kosciuszko? | : | Yes |
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Total time including Carstensz Pyramid | : | 17y,074d |
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Total time including Kosciuszko | : | 17y,074d |
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Age when finished with CP | : | 52y,310d |
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Age when finished with K | : | 52y,310d |
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Website | : | http://village.infoweb.ne.jp/~jtabei/eigo.htm |
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Additional Info | : | "I can't understand why men make all this fuss about Everest--it's only a mountain." -— Junko Tabei
First attracted to climbing at the age of 10, Japan's Junko Tabei began climbing in earnest in 1962 after graduating from Showa Women's University with a degree in English literature. Since then, she has had a wide-ranging mountaineering career, climbing over seventy major peaks around the world. She also Formed women's mountain climbing club"Ladies Climbing Club:JAPAN (LCC)"in 1969.
She is perhaps best known as the first woman to summit Everest (1975); in 1992, she became the first woman to reach the summits of the highest peaks on all seven continents as well.
Tabei has received numerous awards, including the Gurkha Dakshina Bahu, the highest award in Nepal, and currently directs the Himalayan Adventure Trust of Japan, an organization dedicated to the preservation of the mountain environment.
She was born in 1939, the fifth daughter in her family, in a small town in North Japan. She began climbing at ten years old despite being labeled as weak and frail.
Only 4 feet and 9 inches tall, she's one of the biggest climbers around.
She has slowed down her climbing career, and is concentrating on her family. She is married with a daughter and a son. Junko has scaled sixty-nine major mountains by the age of fifty-three. Tabei still aspires to climb the highest mountain in every country.
25th Feb 2003:
from http://www.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/getarticle.pl5?nn20030225b7.htm
At age 63, with a husband and two children, Tabei says she is nowhere near giving up her favorite pastime, which began at the age of 10 when she went on a summer trek to Nasu, Tochigi Prefecture, with her homeroom teacher.
"I returned from Patagonia for television shooting two days ago. In May, I'm planning a 10-day trip to Cuba, where I'll climb a 2,000-meter mountain, and in the summer I'm going to Turkey," she said earlier this month.
"I met my husband on a mountain, so my family has always been very supportive. I'm going to continue climbing until I'm incapable. Maybe when I'm 70 I'll slow down, but until then, I'll keep going and do whatever my body can handle," she said.
As a child growing up in Fukushima Prefecture, Tabei, the youngest of seven siblings, had weak lungs and often came down with a high fever and pneumonia. She never considered herself an athlete.
She got serious about mountain climbing soon after graduating from college, where she had her first rock-climbing experience. She chose the sport because it allowed her to work at her own pace and was noncompetitive.
What the 152-cm-tall Tabei appreciates most about climbing is its simplicity. Her daily workout consists only of stretching, eating properly and walking with custom-made shoes.
"Anyone with a pair of feet who can walk can climb," she said. "The most important thing is not being concerned about having the money, time or skills to climb, but the desire. Don't think too hard. Just do it."
Although Tabei admits climbing involves life-threatening risks and that there have been times when she's considered quitting altogether, the unseen beauty of nature and its unlimited healing power have lured her back each time.
"The mountain teaches me a lot of things. It makes me realize how trivial my personal problems are," she said. "It also teaches me that life should not be taken for granted.
"When I'm exhausted at the end of the day, I'm thankful that I'm at least safe and alive. When my child gets a bad grade on a test, I tell myself it's not a big deal. I don't gripe. I'm able to look at the bigger picture. Climbing has changed my values."
Tabei said mountaineering has also taught her to become a more humble person and less accustomed to the age of modern technology, in which devices "can be turned on or off with a single switch" and people complain when something breaks down without warning.
"Once you're in the mountains, there's no convenience store to run to when you're hungry," she joked.
Tabei is director of the Himalayan Adventure Trust of Japan, an organization dedicated to preserving mountainous environments, and she travels around the country to talk about her passion.
She schedules seven or eight overseas tours a year in addition to her monthly visits to mountains in Japan, including skiing trips.
Aside from the two-plus years she spent away from climbing owing to pregnancy, Tabei's yearly agenda since 1970 has always focused on scaling mountains and making friends in the process.
When asked how she would really like to be referred to after already being dubbed a "housewife climber" and "Everest mommy," Tabei was quick to reply with a smile: "I'm a free spirit. Call me the free spirit of the mountains."
A full list of her summits can be found here:
http://village.infoweb.ne.jp/~jtabei/eigokaigainotozanreki.htm
Links:
http://www.steponline.com/everest/junko_tabei.asp |
