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David Finlay Breashears (born December 20, 1955) is an American
mountaineer Mountaineering or alpinism, is a set of outdoor activities that involves ascending tall mountains. Mountaineering-related activities include traditional outdoor climbing, skiing, and traversing via ferratas. Indoor climbing, sport climbing, an ...
, filmmaker, author, and motivational speaker. In 1985, he reached the summit of
Mount Everest Mount Everest (; Tibetan: ''Chomolungma'' ; ) is Earth's highest mountain above sea level, located in the Mahalangur Himal sub-range of the Himalayas. The China–Nepal border runs across its summit point. Its elevation (snow heig ...
a second time, becoming the first American to reach the summit of
Mount Everest Mount Everest (; Tibetan: ''Chomolungma'' ; ) is Earth's highest mountain above sea level, located in the Mahalangur Himal sub-range of the Himalayas. The China–Nepal border runs across its summit point. Its elevation (snow heig ...
more than once. He is perhaps best known as the director and cinematographer of ''Everest'' (1998)—which became the highest-grossing IMAX documentary—and for his assistance in the rescue efforts during the 1996 Everest disaster, which occurred during the film's production.


Career


Mountaineering, filmmaking, and photography

In 1983, Breashears transmitted the first live pictures from the summit of Mount Everest, and in 1985, he became the first American to reach its summit more than once. As of September 2015, Breashears has made eight expeditions to Everest, reaching the summit five times. He has also climbed to the summit of
Ama Dablam Ama Dablam is a mountain in the eastern Himalayan range of Province No. 1, Nepal. The main peak is , the lower western peak is . Ama Dablam means "Mother's necklace"; the long ridges on each side like the arms of a mother (''ama'') protecting he ...
in the
Himalayas The Himalayas, or Himalaya (; ; ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the planet's highest peaks, including the very highest, Mount Everest. Over 100 ...
, and is known in climbing circles for having free climbed some of the most technically challenging rock walls in
Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...
, as a young man. His ground-up, on-sight, totally-unprotected, ''Perilous Journey,'' 5.11b/c on Eldorado Mountain in 1975, was probably the boldest, short first ascent of the 1970s. In 1985, Breashears guided
Richard Bass Richard Daniel "Dick" Bass (December 21, 1929 – July 26, 2015) was an American businessman, rancher and mountaineer. He was the owner of Snowbird Ski Resort in Utah and the first man to climb the "Seven Summits", the tallest mountain on each con ...
to the summit of Everest; with this, Bass completed the first-ever ascent of the
Seven Summits The Seven Summits are the highest mountains of each of the seven traditional continents. Climbing to the summit of all of them is regarded as a mountaineering challenge, first achieved on 30 April 1985 by Richard Bass. Climbing the Seven Summits a ...
(the highest summit on each of the seven continents). He has also worked on feature films including ''
Cliffhanger A cliffhanger or cliffhanger ending is a plot device in fiction which features a main character in a precarious or difficult dilemma or confronted with a shocking revelation at the end of an episode or a film of serialized fiction. A cliffhang ...
'' (1993) and ''
Seven Years in Tibet ''Seven Years in Tibet: My Life Before, During and After'' (1952; german: Sieben Jahre in Tibet. Mein Leben am Hofe des Dalai Lama; 1954 in English) is an autobiographical travel book written by Austrian mountaineer and Nazi SS sergeant Heinrich ...
'' (1997), as well as
David Lee Roth David Lee Roth (born October 10, 1954) is an American rock singer. Best known for his wild, energetic stage persona, he was the original lead vocalist of the hard rock band Van Halen across three stints, from 1974 to 1985, in 1996 and again fro ...
's "
Just Like Paradise "Just Like Paradise" is a song by American rock singer David Lee Roth. Released after he left Van Halen, it was produced by Roth and guitarist Steve Vai. The lead single from Roth's second solo album, 1988's '' Skyscraper'', it reached the top 1 ...
" music video and numerous documentaries, such as the award-winning TV documentary ''Red Flag over Tibet'' (October 20, 1989). He has received four
Emmy awards The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...
for achievement in cinematography. Combining his interests and skills in climbing, filmmaking, and photography, he directed, starred in, and produced the acclaimed
IMAX IMAX is a proprietary system of high-resolution cameras, film formats, film projectors, and theaters known for having very large screens with a tall aspect ratio (approximately either 1.43:1 or 1.90:1) and steep stadium seating. Graeme F ...
film ''
Everest Mount Everest (; Tibetan: ''Chomolungma'' ; ) is Earth's highest mountain above sea level, located in the Mahalangur Himal sub-range of the Himalayas. The China–Nepal border runs across its summit point. Its elevation (snow heigh ...
'' (1998), and contributed still photos to the best selling book ''Everest: Mountain Without Mercy'' (1977). He also directed and produced the '' Nova'' television program, ''Everest'' (1998), in which he and fellow mountaineer
Ed Viesturs Edmund Viesturs (born June 22, 1959) is a high-altitude mountaineer, corporate speaker, and well known author in the mountain climbing community. He is the only American to have climbed all 14 of the world's eight-thousander mountain peaks, and o ...
climbed Everest while undergoing physical and mental tests to record the effects of altitude on humans. Additionally, Breashears directed the IMAX film ''Kilimanjaro: To the Roof of Africa'' (2000) for the
National Geographic Society The National Geographic Society (NGS), headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States, is one of the largest non-profit scientific and educational organizations in the world. Founded in 1888, its interests include geography, archaeology, and ...
, which documented the climbing of the world's largest freestanding mountain in
Tanzania Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands and ...
by an expedition of seven climbers. Breashears' documentary film, ''Storm Over Everest'' (May 13, 2008), shown on PBS ''
Frontline Front line refers to the forward-most forces on a battlefield. Front line, front lines or variants may also refer to: Books and publications * ''Front Lines'' (novel), young adult historical novel by American author Michael Grant * ''Frontlines ...
'', features photography on the mountain, interviews with survivors of the three climbing teams that were caught in the 1996 storm, and music composed by
Jocelyn Pook Jocelyn Pook (, rhyming with "book"; born 14 February 1960) is an English composer and viola player. She is known for her scores for many films, including ''Eyes Wide Shut'', ''The Merchant of Venice'' and '' The Wife''. Education Pook gradua ...
. During the filming of the documentary in 2006, Breashears summitted Everest a fifth time. He also documented his personal reactions to climbing Everest again, while filming the ''Nova'' documentary, in "Epilogue to the 1996 Everest disaster".


Publications

He is the author of several books, including an autobiography, ''High Exposure: An Enduring Passion for Everest and Unforgiving Places'' (1999). He also wrote the article, "Every Man For Himself?", published in ''American Alpine Journal'' (1988).


Work with organizations

Breashears is a director of Destination Himalaya, a travel firm specializing in adventure travel to Himalayan countries. In 2007, Breashears founded GlacierWorks, a non-profit company that uses science, art, and adventure to raise awareness about climate change in the Greater Himalaya.


Personal life

He was married to fellow adventurer Veronique Choa in the late 1980s. They have since divorced, and Breashears lives in
Marblehead, Massachusetts Marblehead is a coastal New England town in Essex County, Massachusetts, along the North Shore. Its population was 20,441 at the 2020 census. The town lies on a small peninsula that extends into the northern part of Massachusetts Bay. Attache ...
when not climbing.


See also

*
List of Mount Everest guides This is a list of notable Mount Everest guides, which are professional mountaineers (and mountaineering firms) who help people to ascend Mount Everest in the Himalayas in return for fees. Previously, the summit was only accessible to expert mounta ...
*
List of Mount Everest summiters by number of times to the summit The list consists of people who reached the summit of Mount Everest more than once. By 2013, 6,871 summits have been recorded by 4,042 people. Despite two hard years of disaster (2014 and 2015), by the end of 2016 there were 7,646 summits by 4,469 ...
*
List of 20th-century summiters of Mount Everest Mount Everest, at is currently the world's highest mountain and is a particularly desirable peak for mountaineers. This is a list of people who reached the summit of Mount Everest in the 20th century. Overall about 1,383 people summited Evere ...


References


External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Breashears, David 1955 births Living people American mountain climbers American summiters of Mount Everest Mountaineering film directors