Tomiyasu Ishikawa, 71, of Kariya, Aichi Prefecture, reached the summit of Mount Vinson Massif, the tallest mountain in Antarctica, on January 21, his family said Sunday.
By reaching the top of the 4,897-meter peak, Ishikawa is believed to be the oldest person to have conquered the tallest mountains on all seven continents. The previous record was held by Ramon Blanco of Spain, who was 70 years and eight months old when he finished climbing all seven peaks.
Ishikawa, chairman of a mountaineering association in Aichi Prefecture, left Japan on January 7 and joined a party of non-Japanese climbers at a base camp at the 2,200-meter point before his summit attempt.
Ishikawa climbed Mount Everest in 2002 at the age of 65, setting a new record at that time for the oldest climber to conquer the 8,848-meter mountain. He then set out on his attempt to conquer the tallest peaks on the world's seven continents. He reached the summit of 5,895-meter Mount Kilimanjaro in Africa, the sixth peak, in September 2007.
Ishikawa was born November 11, 1936.
(C) The Japan Times
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Earlier Report from Aichi Voice
Sporting Goods Shop Owner Tomiyasu Ishikawa
Tomiyasu Ishikawa was born in Aichi Prefecture in 1936. He is a member of the Japanese Alpine Club; vice-chairman of a federation of mountaineering clubs in Aichi, representative of the Hekiryo alpine club, and a member of the Silver Turtles.
He formed the Hekiryo club in his hometown of Kariya when he was 22, and climbed Mt. Hotaka that winter. At 29, he opened Hotaka Sports, a sporting-goods store specializing in mountain-climbing equipment, in Kariya. While running the store, Ishikawa conquered several of the world's most famous peaks. He has logged a succession of daring ascents and continues to take on 8,000-meter peaks even after turning 60. He made his first 8,000-meter-grade ascent in 1991, when he scaled Tibet's Cho Oyu (8,201 meters). He climbed Everest (8,848 meters) and Dhaulagiri (8,167 meters) in 1994, Shisha Pangma (8,008 meters) in 1995, Manaslu (8,163 meters) in 1996, and Gasherbrum II (8,035 meters) in 1998. Ishikawa's Everest ascent at age 57 made him the oldest Japanese, and the second-oldest person worldwide, to accomplish this feat.Photo by Kisaburo Iwamatsu, Text by Jun Nakahara
