Western Athletic Hall of Famer Larry Nielson and Western Athletics Historian Paul Madison will discuss Nielson’s historic summiting of Mount Everest. During this talk, Madison will interview Nielson about his historic ascent up the world’s highest mountain, and they will also discuss what motivated Nielson to pursue mountain climbing.
On May 7, 1983, Nielson, along with three other Americans and a Nepalese Sherpa, summited the peak from the southeast ridge located on the Nepal-China border, making Nielson the first American mountaineer to climb Mt. Everest without using bottled oxygen.
Besides Everest, Nielson has climbed Mount Lobouche and the northeast face of Mount Kangchenjunga in Nepal; Peak Lenin in the former Soviet Union; Denali (Mount McKinley) and Mount La Perouse in Alaska; and on numerous occasions Mount Rainier in Washington state.
