Google dedicates today’s Doodle to Junko Tabei, the first woman mountaineer to reach the summit of Mount Everest and complete the Seven Summits. Today is 80th birthday of Junko Tabei.
The bare-bone search page of Google displays Junko’s journey from Mount Everest to the Seven Summits. The Doodle is a video of Junko Tabei jumping from one summit to another. She’s seen jumping from one letter of Google to another with each letter representing a summit.
Journey of Junko Tabei
Born on 22 September 1939 in Miharu, Fukushima, Junko Tabei began climbing mountains at the tender age of 10. In 1969, she started a formal group after she was continuously decried and discouraged by male mountaineers. Some of them even ill-treated her. But she refused to budge and continued her journey from one summit to another. The slogan of her group was “Let’s go on an overseas expedition by ourselves.”
Junko Tabei defied social hurdles
In 70s, Japan was male dominated society that believed in keeping women confined to homes. But Junko Tabei broke all the rules to fulfill her wish. In 1975, she left her young daughter with her husband to lead a group of mountaineers to Mount Everest.
Most difficult time of Junko Tabei
She was once pinned under four companion mountaineers when an avalanche hit their camp more than 20,000 feet above the ground. She remained unconscious for six months until rescued by Sherpa guides. Unable to stand on her feet even after two days of rescue, Junko Tabei was again ready to hit the mountains after 12 days.
Feat of Junko Tabei
Tabei completed 69 major summits in more than 60 countries and continued to climbing mountains even after she’s diagnosed with cancer in 2012. This great mountaineer breathed her last on 20 October 2016 at the age of 77.
Source: https://cnet.co/2kWb85q