Danish mountain climber sets seven summits record
20/12/2005 12:07
Soeren Gudman of Denmark has climbed the highest peaks on the seven
continents faster than anyone else, Ritzau news bureau reported on
Monday.
Gudman became not only the first Dane to complete the Seven Summits
challenge last week, he also did it faster than anyone else.
According to
Ritzau, Gudman completed the feat of ascending the highest mountains on the
seven continents last Wednesday, as he reached the summit of Antarctica's Mount
Vinson.
Gudman, a 44-year-old engineer, began his quest 194 days earlier,
reaching the summit of Mt. Everest on June 4. On July 2, he ascended Alaska's
Mt. McKinley. Europe's highest peak, Mt. Elbrus in Russia, fell on July 24. The
next high point came on September 5, when he topped Australia's
Kosciusko.
Twenty-five days later, on September 30, he was looking out from
Africa's highest peak Mt. Kilimanjaro. After ascending Aconcagua in Argentina
less than a month later, on October 26, only Mt. Vinson remained.
According
to Norwegian news service NTB, Gudman beat the previous record, held jointly by
Gary Ball and Rob Hall, both of New Zealand, by 20 days.
Another variant of
the Seven Summits includes Carstenz Pyramid instead of Kosciusko. The record in
that feat is 297 days, held by England's Andrew Salter.
Gudman intends to
ascend Carstenz Pyramid in January, beating Salter's record by three months, the
report said.
Xinhua News
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