On Thursday, March 14, the mountaineering world was rocked by the sudden death of climber-extraordinare David Breashears. He was just 68. Reported accounts said he died of natural causes at his home in Marblehead, Massachusetts.
I first heard of Breashears while reading the 1986 book by Dick Bass and Rick Ridgeway called, “Seven Summits.” It’s the gripping account of two 50-something businessmen, Frank Wells, former president of Walt Disney Co., and Bass, founder of Snowbird Ski and Summer Resort, and their outrageous quest to become the first persons to stand atop the highest mountains on all seven continents – Aconcagua (South America), Elbrus (Europe), Kilimanjaro (Africa), Kosciuszko (Australia), Denali (North America), Vinson (Antarctica) and Everest (Asia).
Never mind that the two were rank amateur climbers, they were game for the challenge. After summiting six of the seven peaks, and two tries at Everest, Wells dropped out of the project. But Bass made a third attempt at the world’s highest mountain, and this time he made it. The person who guided him to the top? David Breashears.
In addition to being a world-class climber – he topped out on Everest five times – Breashears was an expert cameraman. A decade after “Seven Summits,” he found himself smack dab in the middle of anther pivotal point in mountaineering history – what’s known now as the “Into Thin Air” disaster. Breashears was on Everest filming an IMAX movie of the same name about the peak with other noted mountaineers including Jamling Norgay, Araceli Segarra and Ed Viesturs.
While the IMAX team patiently waited for a break in the weather, a few amateur groups – two of which were led by Scott Fischer and Rob Hall – went for the summit despite dubious weather conditions, and got caught in a storm. Fischer and Hall were both killed, as well as a half-dozen members of the expeditions. Jon Krakauer wrote the famous 1996 book, “Into Thin Air,” about the tragedy. Breashears’ team aided in the rescue and recovery efforts.
After all of the other groups had left the peak that spring, Breashears and company managed to summit with a heavy IMAX camera, and brought back what was, at the time, the highest-ever resolution footage of Everest. The ensuing movie, “Everest,” became the biggest-grossing IMAX movie of all time.
I had the pleasure of interviewing Breashears a few times in the early 2000’s. He was the consummate gentleman, humble and extremely competent. He didn’t rattle easily, either. I remember an American Alpine Club black-tie dinner where he was the featured speaker. His slide projector malfunctioned, and tech support had to go out and find a replacement.
While waiting, Breashears entertainined a restless New York audience for a full 40 minutes with extemporaneous stories and no visual accompaniment. Once his slide deck was replaced, Breashears calmly made his presentation. Not one person left the event early.
Contacted this morning by Forbes, Viesturs, a personal friend of Breashears, was somber and respectful. “Yes, it’s quite sad,” said the man generally thought of as America’s greatest living mountaineer. “During my early career, I admired David’s accomplishments from afar. I then met him in 1987 on the North side of Everest. In 1996, he invited me to lead the IMAX “Everest” expedition so he could focus on the directing and filming.”
“David set an extremely high standard,” Viesturs continued, “which pushed me to another level. It was an overwhelming project, but together, along with an amazing team, we pulled it off. I joined him on two other Everest projects thereafter. He was a mentor that I admired.”
One can’t imagine anyone in the mountaineering community not as saddened, or as affected as Viesturs, by Breashears’ sudden passing.