![]() Lieutenant Colonel Zac Zaharias, retired senior Australian Army officer, veteran Australian mountain climber, adventurer and outdoor trainer. | |
Personal information | |
---|---|
Nationality | Australian |
Born | 21 July 1956 |
Climbing career | |
Type of climber | Mountaineer |
Major ascents | Mount Everest (2001) |
Lieutenant Colonel Zacharakis Zaharias, CSM (born 21 July 1956) 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. [1] 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. [2] Zaharias is the president of the Canberra Climbers Association. [3] [4] [5]
Zaharias is one of Australia's leading high altitude climbers, his first expedition to the Himalayas was in the early 1980s and he was a driving force of the Australian Army Alpine Club for many years. [4] He has participated in 17 major high altitude expeditions and has been leader or deputy leader on 13 of his expeditions. He has summited six of the world’s fourteen peaks above 8000 metres. His notable ascents include: [6]
On an expedition to Ganesh IV in 1981, Zaharias was with fellow climbers Maila Pemba, David Simpson and Jim Truscott who were left stranded, without equipment and "lucky to be alive" after the avalanche destroyed the camp two killing David Sloane. [7]
In 2001, on the Army Alpine Association expedition, one of the team members and two people accompanying him were killed in an avalanche while they were doing an acclimatisation trek in Nepal several hundred kilometres away from Everest. [8] [9]
Zaharias became the second Australian Army representative and the oldest Australian to summit Everest on his third attempt in 2010. [1] That record was surpassed in 2012 by Jan Smith when she summited Everest at the age of 68. [10]
Zaharias' first attempt was in 1988 as part of the Australian Bicentennial expedition. Zaharias got to within 300m of the Summit. RAAF Sergeant Brian Laursen and Paul Bain made it to the top. His second attempt was in 2001 when he was the leader of the Army Alpine Association team. In that attempt Lieutenant Colonel Pat Cullinan made the summit on 25 May 2010. Major Zaharias got to within 100m from the summit. [1] [4]
The Defence Newspaper said that "It was third time lucky for Major Zac Zaharias when he eventually made it to the top of the world – conquering Mount Everest – after falling agonisingly short on two earlier attempts. When he got there, though, there was no hooting and hollering, no singing, no dancing – just relief and a deep sense of accomplishment, and a brief moment to take in the breath-taking view before focusing on a safe descent." [1]
K2, at 8,611 metres (28,251 ft) above sea level, is the second highest mountain in the world, after Mount Everest at 8,848 metres (29,029 ft). It is located on the China–Pakistan border between Baltistan in the Gilgit-Baltistan region of northern Pakistan, and Dafdar Township in Taxkorgan Tajik Autonomous County of Xinjiang, China. K2 is the highest point of the Karakoram mountain range and the highest point in both Pakistan and Xinjiang.
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 (29,031.7 ft) was most recently established in 2020 by the Nepali and Chinese authorities.
Lhotse is the fourth highest mountain in the world at 8,516 metres (27,940 ft), after Mount Everest, K2, and Kangchenjunga. Part of the Everest massif, Lhotse is connected to the latter peak via the South Col. Lhotse means "South Peak" in Tibetan. In addition to the main summit at 8,516 metres (27,940 ft) above sea level, the mountain comprises the smaller peaks Lhotse Middle (East) at 8,414 m (27,605 ft), and Lhotse Shar at 8,383 m (27,503 ft). The summit is on the border between Tibet of China and the Khumbu region of Nepal.
Nanga Parbat, known locally as Diamer, is the ninth-highest mountain in the world at 8,126 metres (26,660 ft) above sea level. Located in the Diamer District of Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan, Nanga Parbat is the western anchor of the Himalayas. The name Nanga Parbat is derived from the Sanskrit words nagna and parvata, which, when combined, translate to "Naked Mountain". The mountain is known locally by its Tibetan name Diamer or Deo Mir, meaning "huge mountain".
Pumori is a mountain on the Nepal-China border in the Mahalangur section of the Himalayas. Pumori lies just eight kilometres west of Mount Everest. Pumori, meaning "the Mountain Daughter" in Sherpa language, was named by George Mallory. "Pumo" means young girl or daughter and "Ri" means mountain in Sherpa language. Climbers sometimes refer to Pumori as "Everest's Daughter". Mallory also called it Clare Peak, after his daughter.
Anatoli Nikolaevich Boukreev was a Russian Kazakhstani mountaineer who made ascents of 10 of the 14 eight-thousander peaks—those above 8,000 m (26,247 ft)—without supplemental oxygen. From 1989 through 1997, he made 18 successful ascents of peaks above 8000 m.
Scott Eugene Fischer was an American mountaineer and mountain guide. He was renowned for his ascents of the world's highest mountains made without the use of 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.
Sir Christian John Storey Bonington, CVO, CBE, DL is a British mountaineer.
Peter Boardman was an English mountaineer and author. He is best known for a series of bold and lightweight expeditions to the Himalayas, often in partnership with Joe Tasker, and for his contribution to mountain literature. Boardman and Tasker died on the North East Ridge of Mount Everest in 1982. The Boardman Tasker Prize for Mountain Literature was established in their memory.
Mount Gongga, also known as Minya Konka, is the highest mountain in Sichuan province, China. It is also known to locals as "The King of Sichuan Mountains". Situated in the Daxue Shan mountain range, between Dadu River and Yalong River, part of the Hengduan mountainous region, Mount Gongga is the easternmost 7,000 metres (23,000 ft) peak in the world and the third highest peak outside the Himalaya/Karakoram, after Tirich Mir and Kongur Tagh.
Mount Everest is the world's highest mountain, with a peak at 8,848 metres (29,029 ft) above sea level. It is situated in the Himalayan range of Solukhumbu district, Nepal.
Jimmy Chin is an American professional climber, photographer, and Academy Award-winning film director.
Sergey Anatolyevich Kofanov is a Russian mountaineer.
Garrett Madison is an American mountaineer and guide. Madison began guiding professionally in 1999 on Mount Rainier, and 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. On May 19–20, 2011, he reached the summit of Mount Everest on his fourth successful attempt as expedition leader and guide for Alpine Ascents International, and reached the summit of Lhotse 21 hours later as guide to climber Tom Halliday. Also on the expedition was guide Michael Horst who made both summits as well in under a 24-hour period, a few days earlier.
Martin Walter Schmidt, known as Marty, was a New Zealand-American mountain climber, guide and adventurer.
Dr 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.