To_The_Top Posted September 2, 2002 Share Posted September 2, 2002 This was in the Tacoma News Tribune. She is one tough lady. "She doesn't know quit" Skip Card; The News Tribune After racing up and down Mount Rainier in less than a day, 77-year-old Bronka Sundstrom returned at 5 a.m. Sunday to her home near Ashford to get some sleep. Two hours later, the oldest woman ever to climb Rainier awoke to make her usual call to her son in New Jersey. "We always call Allen at 7. I didn't want to break the ritual," Sundstrom explained. And today, free from a regimen of solo speed hiking designed to prepare her fit 5-foot frame for the summit attempt, Sundstrom will take a leisurely trek with her 85-year-old husband, Ake. He has been feeling a little under the weather lately, so the pair will cover only seven or eight miles. "Mazama Ridge is beautiful, with the flowers," she said. "It would be nice to get Ake broken into shape again." Just another walk in the national park for Bronka Sundstrom. But the climb was special. Despite 22 years of hiking Mount Rainier's trails and snowfields, Sundstrom had never tried to reach the peak's 14,411-foot summit. "I just never thought I could do it. I'm an old lady," Sundstrom joked. Anyway, Rainier's high camps aren't nearly as comfortable as the Sundstroms' warm cabin just outside the park's Nisqually entrance. "You're much better off in your own house," she said. Those who know Sundstrom had no doubt of her strength and stamina, and most are amazed at her spirit. "I think what she did was incredible, and that's what I wrote in the summit register," said Jason Edwards, a longtime Mount Rainier guide. Edwards persuaded Sundstrom to finally make the summit attempt and accompanied her on the climb, in part to inspire others her age. "I think people like her prove that life doesn't stop at any given age," Edwards said. "It stops when you give up, and she's hasn't given up." Sundstrom hasn't even slowed down. Next year, she said, she probably will climb Rainier again. "I was happy to go, and I was happy to come back. It was a nice trip," Sundstrom said. Mount Rainier officials aren't sure who held the previous the record as the oldest woman to climb the peak, but they believe it was Eva Meassick of Steilacoom. Meassick was a few weeks short of her 65th birthday when she reached the summit in July 2000. The oldest man to climb Rainier was Jack Borgenicht of Long Valley, N.J. Borgenicht was 81 when, led by guides, he climbed the peak over a three-day period in August 1992. Sundstrom's total time on Rainier was 19 hours. Most climbers take at least two days to go up and down the mountain. Rangers say one-day round trips are attempted by only the fittest climbers. "A one-day climb would be an extreme event for most mountaineers," said Mike Gauthier, lead climbing ranger at Mount Rainier. "There's probably around 50 ascents like that a year out of 12,000 climbers, maybe less." Edwards and fellow Rainier Mountaineering Inc. guide Ryan Stephens set off from 5,420-foot Paradise with Sundstrom shortly after 9 a.m. Saturday. Sundstrom reached 10,080-foot Camp Muir in 3 hours 15 minutes - about 45 minutes longer than Sundstrom's normal pace. After a short break, the trio walked past the tents of Camp Muir and headed toward the 14,411-foot summit. Most climbers take six to eight hours to reach the summit; Sundstrom was there at 7 p.m., after 4 hours, 40 minutes. They spent about an hour on the summit, despite wind gusts that Edwards estimated hit 50 mph. Sundstrom signed the summit register and walked up to the highest point on the summit's crater rim. They started down just as night was falling. Sundstrom said she had trouble in the dim light, so she stayed close to Edwards and Stephens and often held onto their packs. They considered sleeping at bit when they returned to Camp Muir at midnight, but Rainier Mountaineering Inc.'s hut was still full of people. Instead they continued down. Sundstrom said she might climb to the summit again next year. She said she enjoyed seeing the lights of cities like Seattle and Yakima glimmering in the distance. "It was just fun to see something that I never saw before," she said. Skip Card: 253-597-8655 skip.card@mail.tribnet.com (Published 12:30AM, September 2nd, 2002) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisT Posted September 2, 2002 Share Posted September 2, 2002 Truly inspiring. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan_Larson Posted September 2, 2002 Share Posted September 2, 2002 WOW!!!!!!! She has 32 years on me and by the sound of things I would be going ALL OUT to stay with her . This is a truly remarkable feat . Congrats and god bless Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Figger_Eight Posted September 2, 2002 Share Posted September 2, 2002 Good for her! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bug Posted September 3, 2002 Share Posted September 3, 2002 She rocks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mtngrrrl Posted September 3, 2002 Share Posted September 3, 2002 We heard a report about her on the radio driving home from the rainy North Cascades today, but it was unclear if she did Paradise to Paradise in 19 hours. That's wildly impressive!! You go girl!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
To_The_Top Posted September 3, 2002 Author Share Posted September 3, 2002 Paridise to Paridise in 19 hours! 16 hours of hiking, plus she was out hiking with her husband the next day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary_Yngve Posted September 3, 2002 Share Posted September 3, 2002 quote: Originally posted by To The Top: Paridise to Paridise in 19 hours! 16 hours of hiking, plus she was out hiking with her husband the next day. And I bet she didn't post to WTA that she felt sore while hiking with her husband because she did Rainier the day before. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goat_Boy Posted September 3, 2002 Share Posted September 3, 2002 Camp Muir daytrippers will recognize her as the older woman whose always doing the hike on sunny days. She usually travels with another woman (name escapes me) and they're both very friendly and willing to chat. They've even flirted with us. And they can really motor. Great story. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Posted September 3, 2002 Share Posted September 3, 2002 I've met Bronka and her husband a couple of years ago. I was out for a spring ski up to Muir and saw this couple pass another skier below me, also on his way up. I thought they were a couple of young bucks. They were cruising at least as fast as I was on the way up. They arrived at the hut (they work as park volunteers) and we had a nice chat. They left as the other skier arrived. He just shook his head and said they blew his doors off on the way up. He was about 25 years old. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dru Posted September 3, 2002 Share Posted September 3, 2002 I heard Bronka posts on this site as "Bronco" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisT Posted September 3, 2002 Share Posted September 3, 2002 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bronco Posted September 5, 2002 Share Posted September 5, 2002 quote: Originally posted by Dru: I heard Bronka posts on this site as "Bronco" Nope, but I almost got run over by her once while she was descending the Muir Snowfeild and I was plodding/slogging up. I told her to "watch it codger!" and she pushed me into a gaping crevase. She could probably beat me up too, I hear she's a ninja. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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