From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Naomi Uemura
Naomi Uemura
Uemura found a 3-foot-wide (0.91 m) ice bridge and raced
to safety.
He persevered, and became the first ever to reach the
Pole solo. Describing his 57-day push, he wrote, "What
drove me to continue then was the thought of countless
people who had helped and supported me, and the
knowledge that I could never face them if I gave up."
In this trip he cooperated with the Canadian Air Force
and received his supplies from its helicopters. After the
trip he questioned such extensive support and decided to
carry supplies on his own back.
Mount McKinley
Naomi Uemura In August 1970, Uemura climbed Mount McKinley solo,
becoming the first person ever to reach the top alone. He
Naomi Uemura (植村 直己, Uemura Naomi, February did this quickly and with a light pack (8 days up, versus
12, 1941 – c. February 13, 1984) was a Japanese adventur- an average of 14 days or so; 55-pound (25 kg) pack, ver-
er. He was particularly well known for doing alone what sus an average probably twice that). August is after the
had previously been achieved only with large teams. For end of the normal climbing season. While the weather he
example, he was the first person ever to reach the North faced was not terrible, the mountain was almost empty
Pole solo, the first ever to raft the Amazon solo, and the with only four other people on it. Though many people
first ever to climb Mount McKinley solo. have climbed McKinley alone since Uemura, most do it in
the middle of the climbing season.
Uemura dreamed of soloing across Antarctica and
Early adventures climbing that continent’s highest peak, Vinson Massif. In
Uemura was born in Hidaka, now part of Toyooka, Hyōgo, preparation, he did a three year solo dog run from Green-
Japan. Shy by nature, he began climbing in college in the land to Alaska, then prepared to climb McKinley again so-
hope that mountaineering would increase his self-confi- lo in winter.
dence. The difficulty of a winter ascent will be difficult to
While still in his 20s, Uemura had climbed solo Mount understand for people unfamiliar with Alaskan climbing,
Kilimanjaro, Aconcagua, Mont Blanc and the Matterhorn, and nobody had successfully climbed any large Alaskan
had walked the length of Japan and was a member of peak in winter until 1967, when Gregg Blomberg orga-
the first Japanese expedition to climb Mount Everest and nized an expedition that got to the top of McKinley
subsequent disastrous 1971 International Everest Expedi- (Blomberg himself did not summit). This team lost one
tion. member and the rest of them almost died in a storm on
the way down. Team member Art Davidson’s book about
the climb was named after that storm — Minus 148°.
The Pole There is a very large danger with glacier travel, with
Uemura wrote that he almost gave up twice during his even short treks across the ice. As an example, glaciers
1978 North Pole trip. On the fourth day of his trek, a polar are often broken with cracks, called crevasses, that are
bear invaded his camp, ate his supplies, and poked his often covered with snow and not visible. Because of this,
nose against the sleeping bag where Uemura lay tense an ascent is very difficult to manage without a team.
and motionless. When the bear returned the next day, Uemura had developed a "self-rescue" device, bam-
Uemura was ready and shot him dead. On the 35th day of boo poles tied over his shoulders that would span any
the trip, Uemura had hunkered down on an ice floe with crevasse into which he fell and allow him to pull himself
his malamutes, when there was the roar of breaking ice out. He planned a very light run, with only a 40-pound
and the floe cracked into pieces. He and his dogs were (18 kg) pack plus sled. He kept his gear light by planning
stranded on a tossing island of ice. After a night of terror, to sleep in snow caves, so he would not need a tent. He
also skimped on fuel and planned to eat cold food.
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Naomi Uemura
He began his climb in early February, 1984, and "I wish I could sleep in a warm sleeping bag. No
reached the summit on February 12. Much later, climbers matter what happens I am going to climb
found the Japanese flag that he left at the summit. McKinley."
Disappearance Legacy
On February 13, 1984, he spoke by radio with Japanese Like many great adventurers, Uemura gave frequent
photographers who were flying over the mountain, say- public lectures and wrote about his travels. His adven-
ing that he had made the top and descended back to ture books for children were popular in Japan.
18,000 feet (5,500 m). He planned to reach base camp in He is remembered as not only a gifted climber and a
another two days, but never made it. driven adventurer, but also as a gentle, self-effacing man
There appeared to be high winds near the top, and who cared about others. In the words of Jonathan Water-
the temperature was around −50 °F (−46 °C). Planes flew man,
over the mountain but did not see him that day. He was
spotted around 16,600 feet (5,100 m) the next day (pre- [Just as remarkable] as his solo achievements was
sumably on the ridge just above the headwall). However, his sincere modesty and unassuming nature.
complications with weather made further searching dif- Another part of his greatness lay in his deep inter-
ficult. est in everyone he met.
It was likely that Uemura was running out of fuel at
this point but because of his reputation, nobody wanted
to send a rescue party for fear it would offend him. Doug
Notable climbs
Geeting, one of the bush pilots who had been "Uemura • 1968 Mount Sanford, Alaska, USA. Solo ascent, fourth
spotting" over the previous week, said "If it were any- ascent of peak, topping out on Sept 19, 1968.[1]
body else, we’d have somebody [a rescuer] on the moun-
tain already". Trivia
On February 20, The weather had cleared and Uemura
was nowhere to be found. There was no sign of his earlier Naomi Uemura was a licensed radio amateur operator,
camp at 16,600 feet (5,100 m), and no evidence that signed as JG1QFW. He used amateur radio communica-
caches left by other climbers nearby had been disturbed. tion during his expeditions. [2][3]
Two experienced climbers were dropped at 14,000
feet (4,300 m) to begin a search. Though another storm Sources
came in, they stayed on the mountain until February 26,
• The Rescue Season, Bob Drury 2001
finding a cave in which Uemura had stayed at 14,000 feet
• To The Top of Denali, Bill Sherwonit 2000
(4,300 m) on the way up, but no sign of the climber him-
• High Alaska : A Historical Guide to Denali Mount Foraker
self. A diary found in the cave revealed that Uemura had
and Mount Hunter, Jonathan Waterman 1989
left gear there in order to lighten his load on the summit
• http://www.the-north-pole.com/answers/a7.html
push. He had also left his self-rescue poles back at 9,500
• http://maui.ksbe.edu/faculty/keduell/extracredit/
feet (2,900 m), knowing he was past the worst crevasse
Women%20in%20Sports%20Complete%20file/
fields. Most people figured he had fallen on his descent
Naomi%20Uemura.doc
of the headwall and been hurt, died, and was buried by
snow. Another theory is that he could have made it to
14,200 feet (4,300 m) (which is the base of the headwall) Notes
and then fallen into one of the many crevasses there and
[1] Hoeman, J Vincent; H. Adams Carter (editor) (1969).
perished.
"Climbs and Expeditions". American Alpine Journal
A group of Japanese climbers arrived to look for the
1969 (Philadelphia, PA, USA: American Alpine Club)
body. They failed, though they did locate much of the
16 (43): 379.
man’s gear at 17,200 feet (5,200 m).
[2] QST Magazine, Sep., 1978, p.41
The diary found in the 14,000 feet (4,300 m) cave has
[3] QST Magazine, May, 1984, p.52
been published in Japanese and English. It describes the
brutal conditions that Uemura suffered – the crevasse Persondata
falls, -40° weather, frozen meat, and inadequate shelter. Name Uemura, Naomi
The diary entries showed him to be in good spirits, and Alternative names
documented the songs he sang to stay focused on his
Short description
task.
The last entry read, Date of birth 1941
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Naomi Uemura
Place of birth Place of death
Date of death 1984
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Naomi_Uemura&oldid=449801622"
Categories:
• Explorers of the Arctic
• People from Hyōgo Prefecture
• Japanese mountain climbers
• Mountaineering deaths
• Japanese explorers
• Amateur radio people
• 1941 births
• 1984 deaths
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