David Breashears is not a strange name in the field of mountaineering. Based in the United States of America, the mountaineer cum filmmaker and author is widely acknowledged for his record-keeping Everest ascent in 1985, becoming the first-ever US Citizen to climb Mount Everest Twice. Since then, he has done numerous expeditions and produced and directed numerous music videos, documentaries, and feature films. Moreover, he is also involved in philanthropy and helps people know about the extreme consequences of climate change.
In this article, we will thoroughly peek into David Breashears’ career accolades and his contribution to the mountaineering, movie, and entertainment industry. Let’s explore this in detail.
Who Is David Breashears?
David Breashears is known for his multi-dimensional career as a mountaineer, author, filmmaker, and motivational speaker. He rose to prominence after successfully climbing Mount Everest, the tallest peak in the world, in 1985, making him the first American climber to reach the summit multiple times.
Besides being a mountaineer, he is the founder and Executive Director of GlacierWorks. It is a non-profit organization that raises public awareness about the consequences of climate change in the Greater Himalayan Region. The organization works with art, science, and adventure to help people know about climate change.
David was born on December 20, 1955, in the United States – currently, he is 68 years old. He was married to Veronique Choa in late 1980. Veronica is also an adventure enthusiast. However, the lovebirds have dispatched their relationship now and are legally divorced. Currently, Breashears live in Breashears lives in Marblehead, Massachusetts.
You can connect with him on his social media platforms, including Instagram and Twitter, where he handles his account under the username @davidbreashears.
David Breashears Career and Accolades
Mountaineering Career
David Breashears was fond of rock climbing and mountaineering from an early age. It led him to take several mountain climbing training during his early age. Everest was always one mountain that Breashears wanted to scale. With the same motive and passion, he climbed Mount Everest in 1983. He immediately got into the limelight as he shared photographs from the summit of Everest. Having a craving for record-keeping and mountaineering, Breashears again went to Nepal to try his second luck on Mount Everest.
It was the year 1985 when he initiated his second successful Everest Expedition. He successfully reached the top of Mount Everest and became the first American to scale Everest more than once. As of now, David Breashears has climbed Mount Everest more than eight times, out of which five expeditions have been successful.
Besides Mount Everest, Breashears also climbed several other mountains from the Nepalese Himalayas. He climbed another peak from the Mahalangur Mountain range, Ama Dablam (7,466 meters). Apart from the Himalayas, Breashears has also been involved in rock climbing activities around the United Nations. He rose to prominence after as he was part of climbing circles, which is known for having free climbed the technically challenging rock walls in Colorado. He was also a member of Perilous Journey, 5.11b/c on Eldorado Mountain in 1975. This is one of his notable achievements, becoming one of the boldest short first ascents of the 1970s.
David Breashears has not only been involved in mountain climbing. He has also guided and facilitated several mountaineers who climb Everest and other peaks. In 1985 (the same year he climbed Everest for the second time), Breashears guided Richard Bass to the top of Mount Everest. This was also the same year when Bass completed the first-ever ascent of the Seven Summits. He climbed all the highest peaks of the seven continents in the world.
David Breashears’ FilmMaking Career
Throughout the year, David Breashears has been a part of several entertainment industry publications. Back in the 90s, he worked on feature films, such as Cliffhanger (1993) and Seven Years in Tibet (1997). Apart from that, he also worked on several music videos and documentaries. One of his notable works includes the music video for David Lee Roth’s ‘Just Like Paradise.’ In addition, he also has worked in an award-winning TV Documentary ‘Red Flag Over Tibet). The docuseries was released in October 20, 1989, and became one of the most successful docuseries of his lifetime.
Talking about honors and regards, David Breashears’ contribution to the movie and entertainment industry has been well-applauded. He is the recipient of four Emmy Awards for his contribution to cinematography.
Furthermore, David Breashears produced the acclaimed IMAX Film Everest (1998), where he put his innovative climbing, filmmaking, and photography skills. Not only that, but the best-selling book Everest: Mountain Without Mercy (1977) also features the photographs taken by Breashears on Mount Everest. Going ahead, he served as director and producer of the Nova Television program Everest in 1998. It shows the moments of Breashear and his friend Ed Viesturs climbing Mount Everest as they go through physical and mental tests. The main motive of the tests was to record the effects of altitude on humans. In addition, he directed the IMAX film Kilimanjaro: To the Roof of Africa (2000) for the National Geographic Society.
One of the successful ventures of Breashears was Storm Over Everest, released on May 13, 2008. It was shown on PBS Frontline, and it featured photography from the mountain. Not only that, it featured interviews with the survivors of the three climbing teams who dealt with the life-threatening storm in 1996. Also, the documentary featured music composed by Jocelyn Pook.
Besides all that, David Breashears also filmed ‘Epilogue to the 1996 Everest Disaster.’ Moreover, he scaled Mount Everest in 2006 while filming his documentary.
You may also like:
- How Cold Is It On Mount Everest?
- How Tall is Mount Everest?
- Dangers of Climbing Mount Everest
- How Hard Is It To Climb Mount Everest?
David Breashears Career As An Author | Organizational Accolades
David Breashears is also a successful author. To this date, he has published several books, including his autobiography, High Exposure: An Enduring Passion for Everest and Unforgiving Places. The book was published in 1999, and it summed up the story of his extraordinary journey to Mount Everest. Besides that, he is also an author of ‘Every Man For Himself.’ The book was published in American Alpine Journal in 1988.
As mentioned earlier in his bio, David Breashears works in raising awareness on climate change in the Greater Himalayas through his non-profitable organization, GlacierWorks. It was founded in 2007, and he works as an Executive Director of the company.
