Nepal - May 11, 2008 — He’s been to space five times, but this time Scott Parazynski set his sights on a different type of adventure — climbing the Earth’s tallest mountain.
Parazynski, a NASA astronaut whose last mission was STS-120 to the International Space Station, left Houston on March 23 en route to Nepal and the Himalayas. He has since spent weeks climbing up and down Mt. Everest to get his body acclimated to the high altitude, in preparation for his trek to the 29,028-foot summit later this month.
According to the expedition blog dated May 11, Parazynski made it to Camp III at 24,000 feet, but he then climbed back down to Camp II at 21,300-feet; meanwhile, they reported that the route to Camp IV is in and some of the sherpas have already taken loads in preparation for setting up camp.
A pilot with 2,000-plus hours and commercial, multi-engine, seaplane and instrument ratings, Parazynski has been planning this expedition for more than 15 years. He was originally scheduled to join an expedition to climb Mt. Everest in 1992, but his selection into the astronaut corps and subsequent space mission postponed his expedition plans until this year.
On April 19, Parazynski reported that he was in “excellent spirits,” but that “loneliness is starting to set in” since he was missing family and friends. Plus he said he felt “out of the loops” in terms of the presidential primaries, NBA playoffs and Britney Spears news.
But he wrote that he is enjoying the magnificent scenery. "This place is so photogenic. You cannot take a bad picture.”
Parazynski describes himself as a mountaineer and explorer. “I just love going to challenging places and seeing what’s there.”
Many of the challenges Parazynski is facing at Mt. Everest aren’t much different from his time in space. He said the physical and mental obstacles one has to overcome when training to be an astronaut are similar when training to climb a mountain.
“Being a climber has helped me be an astronaut. One of the best ways to prepare for a spacewalk is rock climbing. It takes a lot of strength and endurance,” he said.
Parazynski has already conquered several other mountains, including Cerro Aconcagua, which at 22,841 feet above sea level is the tallest mountain in the world outside of Asia, and 53 of Colorado’s mountains, which peak at more than 14,000 feet.
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Scenes from Scott Parazynski's expedition to the summit of Mount Everest and previous mountain hikes. Credit: NASA
Astronaut Scott Parazynski poses for the camera on his latest adventure — climbing Mt. Everest. Credit: NASA
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