Celebrity climber to speak in Arlington

Published 5:27 pm Friday, October 30, 2009

The Everett Mountaineers have scored a big name for their annual awards banquet next month: Peter Athans.

Athans, an expert climber and high-altitude filmmaker, has reached the summit of Mount Everest seven times in addition to many of the highest peaks in the world.

He is perhaps best known for participating in a lifesaving rescue during the Everest disaster of May 1996, when eight people died on the peak, a story chronicled in the best-selling book and 1997 film “Into Thin Air.”

Athans also has worked on numerous films, including “Seven Years in Tibet.”

The banquet is set for 5 p.m. Nov. 14 at Medallion Hotel in Smokey Point, 16710 Smokey Point Blvd., Arlington.

Mountaineers can register for the event at www.everettmount aineers.org. Nonmembers can contact Bernadette Lamarca at mountain_babe@comcast.net or 425-232-5751. Admission is $32.50.

Sarah Jackson