Print, Photographic

Name/Title

Print, Photographic

Entry/Object ID

2004.19.01

Description

Jason Edwards, one of only eight guides to climb Mount Rainier more than 300 times, leads the way over a crevasse as Bronka Sundstrom of Ashford makes her way to Rainier's summit. On this Aug. 31, 2002, trip, the 77-year-old Sundstrom became the oldest woman to climb Rainier. Most people take two or three days to accomplish the feat, but Sundstrom needed only one. She and Edwards attempted to climb the peak again in 2003, but were unsuccessful. Sundstrom survived the Auschwitz and Bergen-Belsen concentration camps during World War II and met her husband, Ake, in a hospital in 1945. They moved to Tacoma in 1948 then Ashford in 1980. Bronka and Ake became fixtures on Rainier, regularly hiking to Camp Muir. Ake died in 2010 at the age of 93. Bronka kept going and has been seen hiking the slopes of Rainier as recently as 2018.

Made/Created

Date made

Aug 31, 2002

Place

Location

Mount Rainier

Lexicon

Search Terms

Mountaineering, Mountain Climbing, Professional/Semi-Pro, Recreational

Relationships

Related Person or Organization

Person or Organization

Edwards, Jason

Person or Organization

Sundstrom, Bronka