By The Associated Press and James Gordon for Dailymail.com
05:51 March 17, 2024, updated 05:51 March 17, 2024
- Famed mountaineer, author and director David Breshears, best known for co-directing the 1998 IMAX documentary about Mount Everest, has died at the age of 68.
- Breshears has climbed Mount Everest five times and founded GlacierWorks to address the impact of climate change on glaciers in the Himalayas
- His pioneering achievements include transmitting live television images from the summit of Everest in 1983
David Breshears, the mountaineer, author and director who co-directed and produced a 1998 IMAX documentary about climbing Mount Everest, has died, his manager confirmed Saturday. He was 68 years old.
Breshears was found unconscious at his home in Marblehead, Massachusetts, on Thursday, Ellen Gulbranson said.
She said he died of natural causes, but “the exact cause of death remains unknown at this time.”
Breshears was one of the most influential Americans in the world of Himalayan mountaineering, having climbed Mount Everest five times, including using an IMAX camera in 1996, his family said.
“He combined his passion for climbing and photography to become one of the most admired adventure filmmakers in the world,” the family said in a written statement.
In 2007, Breshears founded GlacierWorks, which describes itself on Facebook as a nonprofit organization that “highlights changes to Himalayan glaciers through art, science and adventure.”
“With GlacierWorks, he used his climbing and photography expertise to create unique records that reveal the dramatic impacts of climate change on the historic mountain range,” his family said.
In 1983, Breshears broadcast the first live television images from the summit of Everest.
Two years later, in 1985, he became the first American citizen to reach the summit twice.
Breshears and his team were filming the Mount Everest documentary when a blizzard struck the mountain on May 10, 1996, killing eight climbers.
He and his team stopped filming to help the climbers.
His IMAX film chronicled his 1996 expedition to the summit alongside American guide Ed Viesturs.
Explore the training mountaineers receive before their expeditions, and the dangers they face along their way to the summit.
Everest grossed more than $120 million and turned Breashears into something of a celebrity.
Over the past decade, Breashears has helped millions of people learn about Mount Everest through its films and radio programs.
Breshears, who grew up in Boulder, Colorado, said he was the 135th person to reach the top of the world, and the experience changed him forever.
“Looking back at 1983, it seems almost surreal. We had the entire south side of the mountain to ourselves, and not only did I know who my teammates were, but I also knew that they had come to Everest with the meticulous preparation, experience and thorough training to climb it,” he said. Front line.
“I remember feeling closer to the mountain then, and more in tune with the experience.”
