Daniel Mazur

Last updated
Daniel Lee Mazur
Dan-Mazur.jpg
Born1963
Illinois, USA
NationalityAmerican
British
Education Brandeis University (PhD)
University of the West of England
University of Montana (BSW)
Missoula Vocational Technical College
OccupationMountain Climber
Known forMountain Climbing, Rescue, Charity Work

Daniel Lee Mazur is a mountain climber, expedition leader, and philanthropist who has ascended nine of the world's highest summits, including Mount Everest and K2. In addition, he is known for several high altitude mountain rescues: the 1991 rescue of Roman Giutashvili from Mount Everest, [1] the rescue of Gary Ball from K2 in 1992, [2] the rescue in 2006 of Australian climber Lincoln Hall from Mount Everest, [3] and the rescue of British mountaineer Rick Allen from Broad Peak in 2018. [4]

Contents

In 2018, Mazur was awarded the Sir Edmund Hillary Mountain Legacy Medal "for remarkable service in the conservation of culture and nature in mountainous regions". [5]

Early life

Mazur grew up in Deerfield, Illinois. [1] His family are of English and Polish ancestry. [6] Mazur completed his BSW from the University of Montana in 1988 [7] and read for his PhD in Social Policy Analysis from Brandeis University at the University of the West of England, with a thesis titled Accessory Dwelling Units: Affordable Apartments, Helping People Who Have Low Income and People Who Are Aging In Single Family Housing. [8]

Career

Mazur took an interest in mountaineering and the outdoors from a young age, inspired by his grandfather who homesteaded in Montana. [9] Mazur has led more than 11 expeditions to Everest [9] and was a leader of Greg Mortenson's team that attempted to summit K2 in 1993, featured in the book Three Cups of Tea. [10] He was noted for tweeting live updates from Everest Camp 1 during the April 2015 Nepal earthquake. [11]

Rescue cases

Roman Giutashvili rescue

Having reached the summit of Mount Everest on an expedition together with Anatoli Boukreev in 1991, Mazur was involved in an early rescue of Georgian climber Roman Giutashvili from just below the summit of Everest. [12]

Gary Ball rescue

In 1992 on K2, Mazur and his team worked together to rescue Gary Ball from 8300 meters. Gary was struck down by a pulmonary embolism. The rescue took several days, descending technical ground, and rescuers included Rob Hall, Scott Fischer, Ed Viesturs, Neal Beidleman and Jon Pratt [13]

Lincoln Hall rescue

At 7:30 am on May 26, 2006, Mazur and his fellow ascending climbers Andrew Brash (Canada), Myles Osborne (UK) and Jangbu Sherpa (Nepal) were eight hours into their planned ascent to the summit up the North Ridge of Mount Everest. They were climbing along a severe ridge line that dropped off 10,000 feet to one side and 7,000 feet to the other. Two hours below the summit, conditions seemed perfect. There was no wind and no clouds, and they were feeling strong and healthy.

At an altitude of approximately 28,000 feet, when rounding a corner on the trail to the summit, the team encountered Lincoln Hall. Hall, an Australian climber, had been 'left for dead' by his own expedition team on the descent from the summit the previous day. After collapsing, failing to respond to prolonged treatment and being unable to walk, he was now sitting alone on the trail. He was found with his jacket around his waist, no hat and no gloves, and without any of the proper equipment for survival in such conditions. The group determined that he was suffering from symptoms of cerebral oedema, frostbite and dehydration as he was hallucinating, mumbling deliriously and appeared generally incoherent in his responses to offers of help.

The rescuers replaced the hat, jacket and gloves Mr. Hall had discarded, anchored him to the mountain, and gave him their own oxygen, food and water. They radioed Hall's team, who had given him up for dead, and convinced them he was still alive and must be saved. Mr. Hall's team leader had already called his wife the night before to tell her that Hall was dead. The rescuers arranged for Sherpas from Mr. Hall's team to ascend and help with the rescue. For four hours, Mazur's team stayed to care for Mr. Hall. Phil Crampton coordinated the rescue from the high camp at 26,000 feet, and Kipa Sherpa was the liaison to Lincoln Hall's team at advance base camp at 21,000 feet.

Extended stays at extreme altitude are risky even when planned in advance and when climbers have all the supplies they need. By using their own survival supplies to sustain Hall, going to the summit after so many hours spent helping Hall was out of the question. Staying there to care for Hall, they took a risk the weather would turn for the worse and they might even not have sufficient oxygen and food to support themselves on the way down. In abandoning their own attempt on the summit in order to save Hall's life, epitomized the noblest traditions of mountaineering. Mazur said of his team abandoning their summit attempt, "The summit is still there, and we can go back. Lincoln only has one life." [14]

Several print [15] as well as television documentaries [16] [17] tell the story in detail. Their actions were underscored by the death of British climber David Sharp a few days earlier, a solo climber who had been terribly sick and other mountaineers who passed by him on their way to the summit.

Rick Allen rescue

During the 2018 Broad Peak Expedition, Mazur and his team rescued Rick Allen, a British climber who disappeared at night near the summit and whose teammates reported him dead and descended with Rick's satellite phone. Mazur and team found Rick Allen alive and brought him down to base camp three days later. [18]

Community and environmental engagement

Each year Mazur leads and organizes groups of volunteers to visit, bring supplies, medicines, health care and education to the Himalayas. [19]

Awards and honours

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">K2</span> 2nd-highest mountain on Earth

K2, at 8,611 metres (28,251 ft) above sea level, is the second-highest mountain on Earth, after Mount Everest at 8,849 metres (29,032 ft). It lies in the Karakoram range, partially in the Gilgit-Baltistan region of Pakistan-administered Kashmir and partially in the China-administered Trans-Karakoram Tract in the Taxkorgan Tajik Autonomous County of Xinjiang.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mount Everest</span> Earths highest mountain

Mount Everest, is Earth's highest mountain above sea level, located in the Mahalangur Himal sub-range of the Himalayas. The China–Nepal border runs across its summit point. Its elevation of 8,848.86 m was most recently established in 2020 by the Chinese and Nepali authorities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sherpa people</span> Tibetan ethnic group

The Sherpas are one of the Tibetan ethnic groups native to the most mountainous regions of Nepal and Tibetan Autonomous Region. The term sherpa or sherwa derives from the Tibetan-language words ཤར shar ('east') and པ pa ('people'), which refer to their geographical origin in eastern Tibet.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cho Oyu</span> 6th-highest mountain on Earth, located in Nepal and China

Cho Oyu is the sixth-highest mountain in the world at 8,188 metres (26,864 ft) above sea level. Cho Oyu means "Turquoise Goddess" in Tibetan. The mountain is the westernmost major peak of the Khumbu sub-section of the Mahalangur Himalaya 20 km west of Mount Everest. The mountain stands on the China Tibet–Nepal Koshi Pradesh border.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scott Fischer</span> American mountaineer (1955–1996)

Scott Eugene Fischer was an American mountaineer and mountain guide. He was renowned for ascending the world's highest mountains without supplemental oxygen. Fischer and Wally Berg were the first Americans to summit Lhotse, the world's fourth highest peak. Fischer, Charley Mace, and Ed Viesturs summitted K2 without supplemental oxygen. Fischer first climbed Mount Everest in 1994 and later died during the 1996 blizzard on Everest while descending from the peak.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ed Viesturs</span> American mountain climber

Edmund Viesturs is an American high-altitude mountaineer, corporate speaker, and well known author in the mountain climbing community. He was the first American climber to ascend all 14 of the eight-thousander mountains, and the 5th person to do so without supplemental oxygen. Along with Apa Sherpa, he has summitted eight-thousanders on 21 occasions, including Mount Everest seven times.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rob Hall</span> New Zealand mountaineer (1961–1996)

Robert Edwin Hall was a New Zealand mountaineer. He was the head guide of a 1996 Mount Everest expedition during which he, a fellow guide, and two clients died. A best-selling account of the expedition was given in Jon Krakauer's Into Thin Air, and the expedition has been dramatised in the 2015 film Everest. At the time of his death, Hall had just completed his fifth ascent to the summit of Everest, more at that time than any other non-Sherpa mountaineer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alison Hargreaves</span> 20th-century British mountain climber

Alison Jane Hargreaves was a British mountaineer. Her accomplishments included scaling Mount Everest alone, without supplementary oxygen or support from a Sherpa team, in 1995. She soloed all the great north faces of the Alps in a single season—a first for any climber. This feat included climbing the difficult north face of the Eiger in the Alps. Hargreaves also climbed 6,812-metre (22,349 ft) Ama Dablam in Nepal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Timeline of Mount Everest expeditions</span>

Mount Everest is the world's highest mountain, with a peak at 8,849 metres (29,031.7 ft) above sea level. It is situated in the Himalayan range of Solukhumbu district, Nepal.

Lincoln Ross Hall OAM was a veteran Australian mountain climber, adventurer and author. Lincoln was part of the first Australian expedition to climb Mount Everest in 1984, which successfully forged a new route. He reached the summit of the mountain on his second attempt in 2006, miraculously surviving the night at 8,700 m (28,543 ft) on descent, after his family was told he had died.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Sharp (mountaineer)</span> British mountain climber (1972–2006)

David Sharp was an English mountaineer who died near the summit of Mount Everest. His death caused controversy and debate because he was passed by a number of other climbers heading to and returning from the summit as he was dying, although a number of others tried to help him.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peter Hillary</span> New Zealand mountain climber

Peter Edmund Hillary is a New Zealand mountaineer, philanthropist, and writer. He is the son of adventurer Sir Edmund Hillary, who, along with mountaineer Tenzing Norgay, completed the first successful ascent of Mount Everest. When Peter Hillary summited Everest in 1990, he and his father were the first father/son duo to achieve the feat. Hillary has achieved two summits of Everest, an 84-day trek across Antarctica to the South Pole, and an expedition guiding astronaut Neil Armstrong to land a small aircraft at the North Pole. He has climbed many of the world's major peaks, and on 19 June 2008, completed the Seven Summits, reaching the top of the highest mountains on all seven continents, when he summited Denali in Alaska.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1996 Mount Everest disaster</span> Death of eight climbers

The 1996 Mount Everest disaster occurred on 10–11 May 1996 when eight climbers caught in a blizzard died on Mount Everest while attempting to descend from the summit. Over the entire season, 12 people died trying to reach the summit, making it the deadliest season on Mount Everest at the time and the third deadliest after the 23 fatalities resulting from avalanches caused by the April 2015 Nepal earthquake and the 16 fatalities of the 2014 Mount Everest avalanche. The 1996 disaster received widespread publicity and raised questions about the commercialization of Everest.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Garrett Madison</span> American mountaineer and guide (born 1978)

Garrett Madison is an American mountaineer, guide and expedition leader. Madison began guiding professionally in 1999 on Mount Rainier and has reached the summit of Mount Everest 13 times. His company, Madison Mountaineering, specializes in climbs on Mount Everest and other high altitude peaks, operates on the highest peaks on all seven continents, and also provides training programs and summit climbs in Washington State.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ang Dorje Sherpa</span> Nepalese sherpa (born 1970)

Ang Dorje (Chhuldim) Sherpa is a Nepalese sherpa mountaineering guide, climber, and porter from Pangboche, Nepal, who has climbed to the summit of Mount Everest 22 times. He was the climbing Sirdar for Rob Hall's Adventure Consultants expedition to Everest in spring 1996, when a freak storm led to the deaths of eight climbers from several expeditions, considered one of the worst disasters in the history of Everest mountaineering.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Norman Hardie</span> New Zealand climber (1924–2017)

Norman David Hardie was a New Zealand climber who was one of the climbers on the 1955 British Kangchenjunga expedition who first reached the summit of the 8,586-metre (28,169 ft) mountain, the third-highest mountain in the world.

Gary Ian Ball was a New Zealand mountaineer who summited Mount Everest twice, in 1990 and 1992.

References

  1. 1 2 Bartley, Nancy (19 November 2006). "Risking It All". Seattle Times. Retrieved 11 February 2024.
  2. ↑ Viesturs, Ed (1993). "RUSSIAN-AMERICAN K2 EXPEDITION". The American Alpine Club. Retrieved 11 February 2024.
  3. ↑ Lauer, Matt (26 June 2006). "Miracle on Mount Everest". NBC. Retrieved 11 February 2024.
  4. ↑ "Rick Allen rescued by drone in descent off Broad Peak". PlanetMountain. July 2016. Retrieved 11 February 2024.
  5. ↑ "Dan Mazur tapped for tenth Sir Edmund Hillary Mountain Legacy Medal". Sir Edmund Hillary Mountain Legacy Medal. Mountain Legacy. Retrieved 12 June 2020.
  6. ↑ "Your Climb and Trek Leaders". SummitClimb. Retrieved 11 February 2024.
  7. ↑ "University of Montana Commencement Program, 1988". University of Montana. 6 November 1988. Retrieved 11 February 2024.
  8. ↑ Mazur, Daniel (6 May 2000). Accessory Dwelling Units: Affordable Apartments, Helping People Who Have Low Income and People Who Are Aging In Single Family Housing (PhD thesis). Heller School for Social Policy and Management . Retrieved 11 February 2024.
  9. 1 2 Romano, Bethany (3 June 2020). "Peak Inspiration". The Heller School For Social Policy And Management, Brandeis University. Retrieved 11 February 2024.
  10. ↑ "Local climber narrates harrowing Himalayan adventure". Foster's Daily Democrat. 5 March 2011. Retrieved 11 February 2024.
  11. ↑ "Bristol climber tweets of earthquake from base camp". ITV. 26 April 2015. Retrieved 11 February 2024.
  12. ↑ "Of Friends and Romans".
  13. ↑ "Tales from the grave: Rescues at Altitude" . Retrieved February 9, 2020.
  14. ↑ Hibbert, Ian (2015-11-17). Alpamayo to Everest: It's Not About the Summit. Lulu Press, Inc. ISBN   9781483440736.
  15. ↑ "Lincoln Hall Australia Everest Climber Has Passed Away - Tribute to his climbing and mountaineering career".
  16. ↑ "Rescue on Everest of Lincon Hall, video by NBC". YouTube . Archived from the original on 2021-12-21.
  17. ↑ "Mount Everest Rescue - I Shouldn_t Be Alive". YouTube . Archived from the original on 2021-12-21. Retrieved February 9, 2020.
  18. ↑ "Karakoram Trekking and Climbing News".
  19. ↑ "www.RemoteNepalServiceTrek.org".
  20. ↑ "Adventurers of the Year 2006". National Geographic. 25 April 2016. Retrieved 11 February 2024.
  21. ↑ "Dan Mazur tapped for tenth Sir Edmund Hillary Mountain Legacy Medal". Mountain Legacy. 20 July 2018. Retrieved 11 February 2024.

Sources

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.