Caradog Jones

Caradog "Crag" Jones (born 1962) is a noted Welsh climber. While he has achieved a number of firsts on peaks around the world, he is most well known for being the first Welshman to reach the summit of Mount Everest, a feat he achieved on 23 May 1995, at the age of 33. As such he was the 724th climber to reach the summit. The final ascent was made with Michael Knakkergaard-Jorgensen, the first Dane to the summit. At 33, Jones was the same age as Edmund Hillary when he reached the summit, and indeed this was achieved virtually 32 years on to the day.

Jones was born and bred in Pontrhydfendigaid, a village near Tregaron, Ceredigion, in mid-Wales.

Jones and Jorgensen were part of a larger world team, led by Henry Todd of the UK, and using Himalayan guides. Other members of the team were Paul Deegan (UK), Graham Ratcliffe (UK), Sean Smith (UK), Anatoli Boukreev (Kazakhstan), Mozart Catao (Brazil), Nicolas Chappaz (France), Waldemar Niclevicz (Brazil), Ryszard Pawlowski (Poland) and Nikolai Sitnikov (Russia).

The first of the team to reach the summit was Ryszard Pawlowski, on 12 May, other groups following on 14 May and 17 May. Jones and Jorgensen formed the last group, reaching the summit on 23 May.

The team took the northern route (North Col – North East Ridge) following that of the former fatal expedition of George Mallory and Andrew Irvine in 1924, and their climb was equally plagued by poor weather. After three nights spent at the highest camp, their food and oxygen ran out. However, they learned on the radio that some abandoned oxygen bottles lay about 500 ft (150 m) above them, left by another expedition. They were also fortunate to find sufficient food, though bizarrely were joined by an American at this point, who, lost from another expedition, had overheard them on the radio. The American was, however, not in a good state physically, and Jones had to resort to threats to prevent him from tagging along and jeopardising the push to the summit. There were, in fact, a lot of climbers on the mountain at the time – Jones was the 61st person to reach the summit in the month of May 1995 alone, and indeed the following day saw American Jeff Shea and two Sherpas on the summit, with the monthly May total in 1995 reaching 75 successful ascents.

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