73-Year-Old Woman Scales Mount Everest

Tamae Watanabe breaks age record, again

By John Johnson, Newser Staff

Posted May 19, 2012 8:18 AM CDT

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73-Year-Old Woman Scales Mount Everest — In this May 9, 2002, file photo, Tamae Watanabe, right, of Japan poses with a photograher on the foot of Mt. Everest in Nepal. She's climbed it again. (AP Photo/Office Seven Summits, File)

A 73-year-old Japanese woman became the oldest female to climb Mount Everest today, reports AP. Tamae Watanabe reached the summit this morning with four companions after an all-night climb. Best part: Watanabe held the previous record, too—after a climb she made a decade ago. The oldest person to climb Everest is a 76-year-old Nepalese man who set the mark four years ago. (Of course, Freddie Wilkinson yesterday argued that real bravery is not climbing Everest; click to read his argument.)