Dawes Eddy

I sure am getting bad at staying up to date on this…and getting worse.  Of course since I’m in my second semester of the year now, maybe I’ll tend to do more in the spirit of procrastination

Back on November 4th, 09, I went to a presentation on the Gonzaga campus.  The presentation was titled “An Evening With Dawes Eddy” and was his slide show on his successful summit of Everest.  You’re probably thinking that must have been pretty cool…oh there’s more…on May 20th, 2009, Dawes became the oldest American to summit Everest! Turns out he’s  just the average Joe, working at a cement factory in Spokane WA!…well sort of…

After the presentation, the doctor who studied him both before, and after the expedition gave a summary of his findings, and it turns out Dawes was built for the task.  I believe the first thing he said in beginning his presentation was that he wanted to “Thank his parents for giving him good genes”…and rightly so!  Not everyone is built to function like Dawes at altitude…he is able to absorb oxygen into his blood stream more efficiently than normal, and has the physical stamina to do it (also because he has been fit nearly his entire life).  One of his main messages was to stay fit, so you will live long, and be able to happily take on any adventure that might come across your path.

This isn’t to say it’s a healthy thing to climb Everest though…the doctor mentioned a few things (that escape me after such a gap in time) but one I remember was that his body had actually began to destroy his heart itself to get energy.  His body-fat stores were so low, his body had began to literally eat itself in an act of survival.  This isn’t due to his age either I should mention…it’s what happens to people in the “death zone.”

The pictures were absolutely incredible, and I have to say, it was a view on Everest I have never seen in any book or movie…dramatized or factual.  One of his pictures showed the Khumbu icefall with a large cornice above it that Dawes himself had only been on a day beforehand (I believe).  Then a few pictures just moments later that showed the entire mass cascading down over the icefall, “dusting” a few climbers, and killing a sherpa.  I’m sure it was more to him than just another tragedy, but the way he mentioned it, made it seem like although extremely tragic, it was part of the gambling game…as if it were a battle or something.  It was a sobering section of his show to say the least.

Another shocking portion was his last camp before the summit.  I’ve seen pictures and movies of this camp, but never before like this.  I had never fully grasped the placement of this camp until seeing his pictures.  It appeared as though they were camped on a vertical snow slope…like the ledges they had cut in were only just barely keeping the tents there, and nothing more.  I remember hearing a story of a woman (I believe) falling to her death in the night after leaving her tent with only booties on, and sliding uncontrollably thousands of feet…from this picture I now understand why.

The last picture that made a lasting impression was his slide of the Hillary Step.  This is the crux of the climb…a ~40ft-nearly vertical climb of rock just before the summit.  This is generally an aided climb with fixed ropes that the climbers can then Jumar up, but it was a sight to see.  He told us about how he navigated it with a climb, then traverse, then climb…it made me nervous watching it…all at 28,840ft!  Most would have trouble with this on the ground at sea level, but at 66years old, Dawes tackled this at more than 5 miles above sea level!!!

He told us he spent almost an hour (I believe…maybe 40mins?) at the summit watching the sun rise, and I can only imagine what he was feeling…must have been the most beautiful sight and feeling a human can experience…CONGRATULATIONS DAWES!!!

It turns out he only held the title two days before someone a year older (67) from America summited, and became the new oldest American to summit, but no bother…I am still rediculously impressed (it didn’t seem to hurt Dawes’ excitement over the achievement much either).  One of the best pictures was of Dawes (the oldest American), and Johnny Collinson (the youngest American at 17 from Utah) standing together.

(Image was taken from this page LINK)

What an awesome thing to have seen Dawes in person…and that he lives in the same city is such a coincidence.

*     I wrote this so long after the presentation that my facts may not be totally correct, but if anyone has any corrections please let me know.