No strike out on Everest

Bill Burke never feared for his life during his two-month Himalayan ordeal that recently culminated with him triumphantly climbing onto the summit of Mt. Everest: The 67-year-old retired lawyer’s biggest fear came on the last day, sitting in a tent while strong winds swirled.

His body felt strong, he said. He had spent the last eight weeks climbing up and down sections of the mountain to get acclimated to the lack of oxygen — a routine followed by most hopefuls.

But sitting in his tent that night, one thought dominated: Would the weather turn him away on his third consecutive attempt at the world’s highest peak in three years.

The season for climbing Everest is narrow — a couple of months in the spring between early April and late May. Once he was down, Burke found out that May 23, the day he reached Everest’s summit, was the last day anyone made it to the top for the season.

Increasing the urgency further, the air is so thin at 26,000 feet that it is called the death zone because even supplemental oxygen cannot sustain a person’s life for long.

“It was a judgment call. I thought, if I don’t leave camp and I just sit in my tent and don’t make the effort I will never know,” Burke said, looking back on the journey from the office of his plush home abutting the Costa Mesa golf course the day after returning to the United States.

A white-haired grandfather, Burke is slender, muscular and no more than 5-feet, 7-inches tall.

On one wall of his office two rows of brown metal picture frames hang, holding shots of him at the highest points of each continent. He believes he is the only person to climb all of those peaks after age 60. He also believes he is the oldest American to ever summit Everest. The evidence to support it is only anecdotal, but he becomes more convinced of its veracity with each passing day. Given the media storm surrounding his feat, he figures anyone who has a conflicting claim would come forward.

There are eight pictures on the office wall. Seven of them show the smiling adventurer enjoying his conquests. The eighth is a shot of the gleaming pyramid of rock at the top of Everest taken from below with no human beings in the shot.

It is from one of Burke’s two failed attempts at the mountain in 2007 and 2008, and will soon be replaced by a shot of him, unrecognizable in his protective gear, holding the American flag while sharp bits of ice blow in his face.