The Reverend Walter Weston (25 December 1860 – 27 March 1940), was an English clergyman, missionary, and mountaineer. …
Weston and Edward Bramwell Clarke are the westerners identified with the emergence of mountain climbing as a new sport in Japan. By the end of Weston’s life, some British climbers referred to him as ‘the father of mountaineering in Japan’.
In 1937, Emperor Hirohito conferred on him the Japanese Order of the Sacred Treasures (fourth class) and the Japanese Alpine Club erected a bronze tablet in his honour at Kamikochi in the Japanese Alps. …
… He published Mountaineering and Exploring in the Japanese Alps (1896). As a writer and lecturer he continued to introduce Japan to an overseas audience. He gave universal currency to the term Japanese Alps, though it was first used before he came to Japan. …
Walter Weston statue - Mount Ena Park
He’s honoured at an annual festival in Kamikochi the first Sunday in June.
I’m just browsing articles on this six foot tall thru hiker.
Seems to me she must be the #1 female hiker in the world.
2005 – Appalachian Trail Thru-Hike
2006 – Kilimanjaro Summit, Africa
2006 – Pacific Crest Trail Thru-Hike and Fundraiser ($10,000)
2007 – Hike for Habitat Fundraiser ($10,000)
2007 – Machu Picchu and Cotahuasi Canyon, Peru
2007 – Unsupported Long Trail Record (7 days, 15 hours)
2008 – Unsupported Bibbulmun Track Record, Australia
2008 – Supported Appalachian Trail Record (57 days and 8 hours – an average of 38 miles per day.)
2009 – Colorado Trail
2010 – Foothills Trail, GR20, Tour du Mont Blanc, Pembrokeshire Coastal Path, West Highland Way
Jennifer has hiked over 9,000 miles of Long Distance Trails. She has trekked on 6 continents and currently holds endurance records on The Appalachian Trail, Long Trail and Bibbulmun Track.
Don’t be fooled. This little lady can out hike you. Then out drink you late into the evening. She is vivacious. A whirlwind.
She started less than 4yrs ago to build a hiking trail on the small island of her birth. Today her personal map has over 339km of trails (that number keeps increasing as villages request to be added) attracting perhaps a quarter million walkers a year.
It’s a huge success story in Korea. She started what’s been called a “hiking boom”.
Did she convince the government to build? No, she and her brother picked up shovels. And set out. The rest is history.
I love her life story.
Suh Myung-sook was a sometimes controversial career woman, shattering glass ceilings for women in the publishing industry. But after 23yrs, she felt tired. To rejuvenate, she made a pilgrimage to walk The Way of St. James (Camiño de Santiago). Then published a travelogue on that journey in Korean.
A fellow pilgrim in Spain first suggested the idea of a spiritual walking route in Korea, as it’s so industrialized. As the Korean people work so hard.
Suh Myung-sook made it happen. Out of the sheer power of her personal determination and charisma.
Jeju Olle map - quite outdated
Suh Myung-sook is almost exactly the same age as me. But she’s accomplished so much more.
If you want to build a trail, get consensus of the local people, and build it. Start small. Recruit volunteers. Once you have some success, politicians will come looking for you.
On my best hikes I leave a Summit Stone at the highlight location. But on the Jeju Olle, I gave the Stone to Suh Myung-sook. She’s the spiritual centre of this new world class walk.
Note: her name is sometimes translated Suh Myeong-suk or Suh, Myungsook.
Andew Skurka is the most accomplished “hiker” of all time.
Andrew’s 6,875-mile Great Western Loop ranks as the #1 thru hike of all time, in my books.
He’s currently doing Alaska / Yukon, 4,700 miles in 7 months via skis, foot, and a packraft.
… Now unknown Samuel H Gardner is setting out in January on a 12,500mi proposed route he calls the “All-In Trek”.
… end-to-end and back-to-back the four longest trails in the U.S. This involves starting the trek on snowshoes on January 1st on the North Country Trail Westbound, then the Pacific Crest Trail Northbound, then the Continental Divide Trail Southbound and finally hiking the Appalachian Trail Southbound. It is my intention to hike the 12,500+ miles continuously in one trip. It is my goal is to finish in one calendar year. However, the four trails have never been hiked back-to-back before so the “journey” is more important to me then the speed record. Simply, I intend on walking quickly to avoid most of the deep snow in the mountains. …
British Adventurer Ripley Davenport will attempt the first recorded solo and unassisted traverse across the vast landmass of Mongolia, on foot from east to west, starting in April 2010.
This effort to push the frontiers of human capabilities, challenge ecological values and inspire youth to reach beyond their perceived limits and engage their dreams.
The Expedition will involve walking 1700 miles / 2750 km’s across the Eastern Mongolian Steppe, Gobi Desert and the Altai Mountain Range, while hauling provisions and equipment weighing in excess of 200kg in a wheeled trailer, specifically designed for the journey, in 90 days or less. …
Number of miles hiked: 417.4 miles
Longest hike: 15.9 miles (Hike #48 – San Gorgonio Mountain)
Hardest hike: Hike #21 (Telescope Peak, Death Valley)
Furthest hike from home: Hike #86 (Villarrica, Chile – 5,864 miles from Arcadia, CA)
In tribute to the greatest mountaineer of all time (Dick Bass, my ass), Reinhold Messner, I visited one of his Messner Mountain Museums. (He has 4 museums already and is working on a 5th.)
Reinhold Messner has dedicated to the mountains and the mountain culture a unique project, a network of museums located in five extraordinary places in the Alps. The Messner Mountain Museum is a place of encounter with the mountains, with humanity and ultimately with oneself.
The Messner Mountain Museum Firmian is located at Castle Sigmundskron near Bolzano, Reinhold’s home town.
It is very well done. I highly recommend it even to those not particularly interested in mountaineering.
In fact, the Himalayan section made me homesick for Nepal.
By the way, after 35yrs, in 2005, the remains of Günther Messner, Reinhold’s brother, were found on Nanga Parbat.
Reinhold had lived those decades with accusations that he abandoned his 23yr-old brother to die on that tragic expedition.
I always believed Reinhold’s version of the story. That his brother must have been caught in an avalanche.
It’s nice to see him vindicated in his own lifetime.
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