Michael Groom (climber)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 |
This article does not cite any references or sources. (September 2006) Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed. |
Michael Groom (born 1959) is an Australian mountain climber and Professional Speaker.
In 1995 Michael became the fourth ever person to summit the four highest mountains in the world (Lhotse, Kangchenjunga, K2 and Everest) without the aid of bottled oxygen. He proceeded to climb the fifth highest, Makalu, in 1999 to top off the completion of the five highest mountains in the world. In 1987 he lost a third of his feet to frost bite during his successful summit of Kangchenjunga and was told he would be lucky to live the rest of his life out of a wheelchair or a walking brace.
Contents |
[edit] Climbs
[edit] Kangchenjunga
- After being forced to turn around at 8400 on Kanchenjunga in 1986, he returned a year later to complete the climb. It was here, in 1987, the Michael suffered the debilatating frost bite injuries that nearly ended his climbing career.
[edit] Everest
- On his third attempt at summiting the tallest mountain in the world in 1993, Michael finally completed Everest without the use of supplemental oxygen. It was not, however, his first attempt. This was completed after two attempts in 1991, the second of which involved a 900m fall down the Lhotse Face. Miraculously, he received only a broken nose and a few cracked ribs and was lucky to have survived the ordeal.
[edit] K2
- In 1994, Groom unknowingly turned around just 40m shy of the summit of K2 after taking the more difficult and technically demanding SSE Spur route. He returned weeks later and successfully summited the mountain via the easier Abruzzi ridge.
