Mt. Everest 2005: Canadian Urszula Tokarska begins her final ascent of Mount Everest

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Update 6/01/2005: Canadian climber Urszula Tokarska begins her final ascent of Mount Everest on her way to becoming the first Canadian woman to climb the highest peaks on all seven continents

Canadian climber Urszula Tokarska of Toronto, begins her final ascent to the summit of Mount Everest at 10:00 p.m. Everest time (noon Eastern Daylight Time) today. The final ascent is expected to take 10 to 16 hours.

    Tokarska, arrived at Camp Two on Friday, May 27 and started for Camp Three on Sunday  May 29. She arrived at Camp Four yesterday to prepare for her final ascent.

    Tokarska is on her way to becoming the first Canadian woman to climb the highest mountains on the world's seven continents. If successful, she will become only the third Canadian woman to have reached the top of Mount Everest.

    The team includes Tokarska, Jim Williams and two American climbers. The team arrived in Kathmandu, Nepal to begin training on March 30.

    Heavy winds, snow and extreme cold have hampered climbers from reaching the top of Mount Everest this year. Tokarska started high altitude mountain climbing in 1998 with a Mount Everest base camp trek. In January 2001, she climbed South America's Mount Aconcagua. The following year, she climbed Africa's Mount Kilimanjaro and Europe's Mount Elbrus. In 2004, she climbed Antarctica's Mount Vinson Massif, North America's Mount Denali and Oceania's Mount Kosciuszko and made an unsuccessful attempt to summit Mount Everest coming within 70 vertical meters or 30 minutes of the top only to be turned back by a blinding snowstorm.

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Background: Canadian Urszula Tokarska is trying again to become the first Canadian woman to climb the highest mountains on the world's seven continents. Last year her climb was a tribute to two close personal friends, climber Richard Barryman who died in 1998 while tramping in Ball Pass near Mount Cook in New Zealand and climber Franz Waibel who died two years later while climbing Mount Athabaska in Alberta," said Tokarska, from camp four. "I am pursuing their dream to reach the top of the legendary Mount Everest."
    Tokarska attempted Everest last year on a New Zealand commerical expedition but failed to summit. Tokarska started high altitude climbing in 1998, with a Mount Everest Base Camp trek. Since that time, she has lost two friends in back-to-back climbing accidents. The decision to climb all seven mountains was made in 2002 as a tribute to Richard Barryman and Franz Waibel, and has turned into a quest to be the first Canadian woman to climb seven summits.
    In 2001, she climbed South America's Aconcagua (6,962 metres). The following year, she climbed Africa's Mount Kilimanjaro (5,895 metres) followed by Europe's Mount Elbrus (5,642 metres).    "Urszula is not only one of the most creative designers I know, she is
also one of the most determined people I have ever met," says Stephen Pile, Tokarska's business partner. "I have no doubt she will succeed in making all seven climbs."

Urszula Tokarska is a a licensed interior designer, 41-year old Urszula Tokarska is a partner of Stephen R. Pile Architect, a Toronto based architectural and interior design firm. She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Ontario College of Arts, a Bachelor of Fine Arts from The Academy of Fine Arts in Gdansk, Poland and is a member of the Association of Interior Designers of Ontario, the Interior Designers of Canada and the American Society of Interior Designers.

Tokarska was born in Slupsk, Poland and immigrated to Canada in 1988. She became a Canadian citizen in 1993.

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