Yasuko Namba
| Yasuko Namba | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
Yasuko Tanaka February 2, 1949 Ōta City, Tokyo, Japan |
| Died | May 11, 1996 (aged 47) Mount Everest, Nepal |
| Cause of death | Hypothermia |
| Resting place | Japan |
| Nationality |
 Japan
|
| Alma mater | Waseda University, School of Humanities and Social sciences |
| Known for |
Oldest woman to complete the Seven Summits up to 1996 |
| Spouse(s) | Kenichi Namba |
Oldest woman to complete the Seven Summits up to 1996
Oldest woman to climb Mount Everest up to 1996
Yasuko Namba (難波 康子 Nanba Yasuko?, February 2, 1949 – May 11, 1996) was the second Japanese woman (after Junko Tabei) to reach all of the Seven Summits including Everest, where she died. Namba worked as a businesswoman for Federal Express in Japan, but her hobby of mountaineering took her all over the world. She first summitted Kilimanjaro on New Year's Day in 1982, and summitted Aconcagua exactly two years later. She reached the summit of Denali on July 1, 1985, and the summit of Mount Elbrus on August 1, 1992. After summitting the Vinson Massif on December 29, 1993 and the Carstensz Pyramid on November 12, 1994, Namba's final summit to reach was Mount Everest. She signed on with Rob Hall's guiding company, Adventure Consultants, and in April 1996 began her acclimatization on the world's highest mountain.
On May 10, 1996, the 47-year-old Namba reached the summit of Everest, becoming the oldest woman to do so (her record was later beaten by Anna Czerwińska of Poland who summitted Everest at age 50). She was still high on the mountain rather late into the afternoon, and was descending when a blizzard struck. Namba, fellow client Beck Weathers, and their guide Mike Groom from Adventure Consultants and clients from Scott Fischer's Mountain Madness were stuck on the South Col, while a whiteout prevented them from knowing where their camp was located. Groom later said that Namba insisted on putting her oxygen mask on despite the fact that she had run out of oxygen. Both Namba and Weathers were so weak that the two guides (Groom and Neal Beidleman from Mountain Madness) had to support them. Although the group tried to head to the camp, the guides soon realized it was pointless and dangerous, and waited for a break in the storm.
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