Family celebrates Davidson's Everest summit

Miles Blumhardt
The Coloradoan
Fort Collins climber Jim Davidson checks in during his attempt to scale Mount Everest.

While Fort Collins climber Jim Davidson stood on top of the world Sunday, breathing in with the aid of oxygen a view few will ever see, his family 7,600 miles and nearly 12 hours away were screaming so loud he might have heard them.

Davidson's wife, Gloria, and their two children were tracking the blue dots showing Davidson's progress via Garmin to the summit of the 29,035-foot mountain on the Nepal/Tibet border.

Around 5 p.m. Sunday in Fort Collins, Davidson reached the summit.

"There were wild cheers so loud you couldn't hear yourself and lots of hugs,'' said friend and fellow climber Alan Arnette, who celebrated with Davidson's family. ''Everyone was beaming with smiles. My heart is still exploding and my face won't stop smiling.''

Davidson, 54, posted this via Facebook from the summit: "I'm standing on the roof of the world! The summit of Mount Everest at 29,035 feet! You can achieve anything through #Resilience!''

Arnette knows the feeling of standing on top of the world. He accomplished it in 2011 after three failed attempts. This was Davidson's second attempt. Two years ago, he was at Everest's Base Camp when an earthquake struck, killing more than 20 people. This year, at least four people have died on the mountain, according to Arnette, who blogs about Everest.

Despite the risk, the reward is worth it, Arnette said.

"He summitted just at sunrise and he had been climbing in the dark so didn't feel the warmth of the sun but he saw the sunrise,'' said Arnette, who added Davidson talked about climbing Everest for 15 years. "I don't know one person who can keep their composure at the summit. A flood gate of emotions overtakes you as you realize you have achieved a very difficult goal.''

Davidson should have never summitted the world's tallest mountain. Instead, he should have died during a climbing accident on Mount Rainier in 1992.

Davidson's climbing partner and friend Mike Price died after the two fell in a crevasse. Miraculously, the two landed on an ice bridge that had wedged deep within the crevasse. Price died from the fall. Davidson survived the fall but lost much of his climbing gear yet somehow mustered enough strength to climb out of the crevasse.

"After rangers rappelled down to retrieve Mike's body, they came up to Jim and told him he just did the impossible,'' said Arnette, who has been climbing with Davidson for many years. "It goes to show you the power of the human spirit to survive. Jim took a horrible situation and embraced it and used it as motivation to give back to climbing.''

His story escaping death was the focus of an episode of "I Shouldn't Be Alive'' on Animal Planet and the book "The Ledge," written with 9News journalist Kevin Vaughn.

Davidson left Fort Collins for Everest in mid-March and had been waiting for the right weather window to make his summit attempt. The weather broke and Davidson and his International Mountain Guides teammates made the push.

Arnette said if all goes well, Davidson should get back down the mountain just before midnight Sunday Fort Collins time. He did get back safely tweeting this out Monday morning Fort Collins time: "Today I & PK Sherpa & my teammates summitted Mt Everest! There was joy & beauty. There was pain & suffering. I've been awake for 36 hrs. More later. Goodnight.''

Davidson is scheduled to land in Denver on Friday.

"I guarantee there will be a big celebration at the airport,'' Arnette said.