Greg Mortimer

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Greg Mortimer
Personal information
NationalityAustralian
Born (1952-12-10) 10 December 1952 (age 71)
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Climbing career
Type of climberMountaineer
First ascents Mount Everest, Nepal by a new route (1984), Mount Minto, Antarctica (1988), many first Australian ascents of major peaks.
Major ascents Annapurna II (1983), Mount Everest (1984), K2 (1990), Manaslu (2002),

Greg Mortimer OAM (born 10 December 1952) is an Australian climber. [1] Mortimer is notable as one of the first two Australians (with Tim Macartney-Snape) to successfully climb Mount Everest, on 3 October 1984. [2] Their ascent, without supplemental oxygen, [3] was the first via the North Face and Norton Couloir. It is one of the climbing routes that has not been repeated often. [4]

Contents

Early life  

Mortimer was born in 1952 in Sydney, New South Wales and grew up around Gladesville and Bondi Junction. [1] He graduated in geochemistry and geology at Macquarie University, Sydney. He then worked as a survival-training instructor and as a Scientific Affairs Adviser for the New Zealand Antarctic Division. [4]

Mountaineering

Mortimer was the first to climb Annapurna II by its south face (1983), the first Australian to climb Antarctica's highest peak, Vinson Massif (1988), the first [4] to climb Mount Minto [5] in the Admiralty Mountains of Antarctica (1988) [6] [7] and, with Greg Child, one of the first two Australians to climb K2 (1990).

In 1991 Mortimer founded Aurora Expeditions.

Since 1992 he has led over 80 expeditions to Antarctica, many on a commercial basis with Aurora Expeditions. [8]

In 1994, Mortimer summited Chongtar in China, which was then the world's highest unclimbed peak. [4]

Honours and legacy

Mortimer is the recipient of a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) and three Australian Geographic Society medals. In 2019, Aurora Expeditions named its newbuild expedition vessel the Greg Mortimer . [9]

The crux pitch on the North Face of Everest route pioneered by Mortimer is known as "Greg's Gully". [4]

Books about Greg Mortimer

Related Research Articles

<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">Lhotse</span> Eight-thousander and 4th-highest mountain on Earth, located in Nepal and China

Lhotse is the fourth-highest mountain on Earth, after Mount Everest, K2, and Kangchenjunga. At an elevation of 8,516 metres (27,940 ft) above sea level, the main summit is on the border between Tibet Autonomous Region of China and the Khumbu region of Nepal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Annapurna II</span> Mountain in Nepal

Annapurna II is part of the Annapurna mountain range located in Nepal, and is the eastern anchor of the range.

Tim Macartney-Snape is an Australian mountaineer and author. On 3 October 1984 Macartney-Snape and Greg Mortimer were the first Australians to reach the summit of Mount Everest. They reached the summit, climbing without supplementary oxygen, via a new route on the North Face. In 1990, Macartney-Snape became the first person to walk and climb from sea level to the top of Mount Everest. Macartney-Snape is also the co-founder of the Sea to Summit range of outdoor and adventure gear and accessories, a guide for adventure travel company World Expeditions and a founding director and patron of the World Transformation Movement.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kangshung Face</span> Eastern-facing side of Mount Everest

The Kangshung Face or East Face is the eastern-facing side of Mount Everest, one of the Tibetan sides of the mountain. It is 3,350 metres (11,000 ft) from its base on the Kangshung Glacier to the summit. It is a broad face, topped on the right by the upper Northeast Ridge, and on the left by the Southeast Ridge and the South Col. Most of the upper part of the face is composed of hanging glaciers, while the lower part consists of steep rock buttresses with couloirs between them. The steep southern third of the Kangshung Face also comprises the Northeastern Face of Lhotse; this section may be considered a separate face altogether following the division of the South "Neverest" Buttress up to the South Col. It is considered a dangerous route of ascent, compared to the standard North Col and South Col routes, and it is the most remote face of the mountain, with a longer approach.

<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">Conrad Anker</span> American rock climber, mountaineer, and author

Conrad Anker is an American rock climber, mountaineer, and author. He was the team leader of The North Face climbing team for 26 years until 2018. In 1999, he located George Mallory's body on Everest as a member of a search team looking for the remains of the British climber. Anker had a heart attack in 2016 during an attempted ascent of Lunag Ri with David Lama. He was flown via helicopter to Kathmandu where he underwent emergent coronary angioplasty with a stent placed in his proximal left anterior descending artery. Afterwards he retired from high altitude mountaineering, but otherwise he continues his work. He lives in Bozeman, Montana.

Susan Erica Fear was an Australian mountaineer, supporter of the Fred Hollows Foundation and a 2005 recipient of the Order of Australia Medal. Her life and climbing career is illustrated in her biography Fear No Boundary: The Road to Everest and Beyond, written by fellow climber Lincoln Hall and Fear, published in 2005.

Jaime Viñals Massanet is a Guatemalan mountaineer, the first person from Central America and Caribbean region ever to climb the Earth's highest peak, Mount Everest, after reaching the summit together with the American Andy Lakpass and the Danish Asmus Noreslet on an expedition from New Zealand organized by Russell Brice, Since then, he became one of the few people to have reached the Seven Summits - the highest mountains of each of the seven (sub-)continents. also he has finished to climb the Seven Islands of the World.

Andrew James Lock OAM is an Australian mountaineer. He became the first, and still remains the only, Australian to climb all 14 "eight-thousanders" on 2 October 2009, and is the 18th person to ever complete this feat. He climbed 13 of the 14 without bottled oxygen, only using it on Mount Everest, which he has summited three times. He retired from eight-thousander climbing in 2012.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sergey Kofanov</span> Russian mountaineer

Sergey Anatolyevich Kofanov is a Russian mountaineer.

Dr. Glenn Singleman is an Australian physician, professional adventurer, wingsuit pilot and BASE jumper. He is also a documentary filmmaker, and practicing medical doctor specializing in remote and rural medicine. His film BASEclimb, about a world record setting BASE jump from The Great Trango Towers in Pakistan, won 21 International awards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zac Zaharias</span>

Lieutenant Colonel Zacharakis Zaharias, is a retired senior Australian Army officer, veteran Australian mountain climber, adventurer and outdoor trainer. Zaharias was part of the Australian Army expedition that climbed Mount Everest in 2010. Zaharias was one of six Australians and two Britons who made it to the summit on 25 May 2010 with an expedition led by South Australian Duncan Chessell. Zaharias is a graduate of the Royal Military College, Duntroon (1974–77) and has served with the Royal Australian Engineers, including appointments as Commanding Officer 5th Combat Engineer Regiment (5CER) and 5th Engineer Regiment (5ER), at the Australian Defence Force Academy, and with the United Nations. Zaharias is the president of the Canberra Climbers Association.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rick Agnew</span> Australian mountaineer and aviator (born 1959)

Richard "Rick" Agnew is an Australian alpine mountaineer and high altitude sports aviator who has completed the Seven Summits climbing Mount Everest and many other peaks. He holds over 40 international and Australian speed, distance and height aviation records.

Vernon "Vern" Tejas is an American mountain climber and mountain guide. He is the current world record holder in the amount of time taken to summit all of the Seven Summits consecutively, having also previously held the same record. He was also the first person to solo summit several of the world's tallest peaks. Tejas was named one of the top fifty Alaskan athletes of the twentieth century by Sports Illustrated in 2002. In 2012, he was elected to the Alaska Sports Hall of Fame. Tejas plays the harmonica and guitar. He currently resides in Greenwich Village, New York.

<i>Greg Mortimer</i> (ship) Cruise ship

Greg Mortimer is a cruise ship operated by Aurora Expeditions. The ship was named in honour of the company's founder Greg Mortimer, in a combined naming and delivery ceremony at CMHI's Haimen base on 6 September 2019.

Carina Dayondon is a Filipina mountaineer, adventurer, and Philippine Coast Guard officer who was the first Filipina to reach the Seven Summits, the seven tallest mountains in every continent in the world, and the second Filipina to reach the summit of Mount Everest.

References

  1. 1 2 "Greg Mortimer". Talking Heads with Peter Morrison. ABC. 5 October 2009. Archived from the original on 1 June 2011. Retrieved 23 May 2019.
  2. White Limbo: The First Australian Climb of Mt Everest (1985) by Lincoln Hall, Kevin Weldon, Sydney.
  3. Cowle, June (6 September 2009). "Brunch - Greg Mortimer". ABC. Retrieved 23 May 2019.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 "Greg Mortimer OAM". Australian Museum . 13 November 2018.
  5. The Loneliest Mountain: The Dramatic Story of the First Expedition to Climb Mt Minto, Antarctica (1989) by Lincoln Hall, Simon & Schuster, Sydney
  6. "Everesthistory.com - Greg Mortimer". Everest History. Everest News. Retrieved 23 May 2019.
    • First Ascent: The Life and Climbs of Greg Mortimer (1996) by Lincoln Hall, Simon & Schuster, Sydney
  7. "About Us - Aurora Expeditions". www.auroraexpeditions.com.au.
  8. "Aurora Expeditions announces farewell season of Polar Pioneer ahead of Greg Mortimer launch".

See also