SA man reaches Everest summit

2004-05-21 21:50

Carel van Dyk

Cape Town - One of three Capetonians who have spent the past month on the rockfaces of Mount Everest reached the summit this week.

André Bredenkamp reached the peak on Thursday after a gruelling 20-hour climb.

Initially, Bredenkamp had hoped reach the summit on Sunday with Chris Drummond and Mike Nixon, but their plans were scuppered when Nixon came down with food poisoning.

The trio decided that Bredenkamp and Drummond would tackle the summit. However, during this attempt, Drummond fell and lost his backpack. He was not injured, but turned back.

The three property developers left for Tibet in April and they have attempted the northern approach to Everest. They are the only South Africans to have been given permits to climb the mountain this year.

But, all is not lost for Nixon, who will attempt the peak this weekend. If everything goes to plan, he should reach the summit by Tuesday.

Meanwhile, two other expeditions have lost team members in their attempts to reach the summit.

A Japanese woman, Shoko Ota, 63, died on Thursday.

According to reports, she lost consciousness about 350m below the summit of the 8 850m peak, and then stopped breathing.

- Die Burger