Sporting Witness
Sporting Witness
The man who skied down Everest
Up next
December 30, 2023
9 minutes
Available for over a year
In 1970, Yuichiro Miura became the first man to ski on Mount Everest, starting from the height of the ‘death zone’, an elevation where there isn't enough oxygen to survive for long. His daring ski run saw him reach a speed of 160 kilometres per hour, before he crashed into a boulder and narrowly avoided falling into a crevasse.
Not satisfied with this achievement, he also became the oldest person to climb the mountain when he was 80 years old.
He spoke to Emily Uchida Finch about his experiences on Mount Everest. This is a Whistledown production for the BBC World Service.
(Photo: Yuichiro Miura at the summit of Mount Everest in 2013. Credit: Miura Dolphins)