Gheorghe Dijmărescu (commonly known as George Dijmarescu)[1] was a Romanian-American known for escaping from the Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceaușescu by swimming across the Danube River, and for his mountaineering expeditions including summiting Mount Everest multiple times in the early 2000s.[1]

Biography

Dijmărescu is noted for having summited Mount Everest nine times, a record for a western guide that was eventually overtaken by the American Dave Hahn in 2008.[2][3][4][5][6][7] In 2004, he rescued a Mexican climber who was frostbitten;[1] Dijmărescu and fellow climber David Watson organized the rescue of the Mexican, which Watson later noted as an example of what should have happened to David Sharp, who died high on Everest in 2006.[8]

Dijmărescu married Lhakpa Sherpa in 2002, the first Nepali woman to summit Mount Everest and survive, who also has the record for the most summits of Mount Everest by a woman.[1] They met in Kathmandu in the year 2000.[9] From 2008, Dijmărescu battled with some health issues.[1]

Some of Dijmărescu's life is described in Michael Kodas' book High Crimes, about a 2004 Connecticut expedition to Mount Everest that Dijmărescu organized.[1][10] In Kodas' book, Dijmărescu is portrayed as an angry, short-tempered, and violent man with dictatorial tendencies. Kodas described how he witnessed Dijmărescu beat his wife Lhakpa Sherpa in Everest's Tibetan base camp, and how he felt so threatened by Dijmărescu that he feared he would break into their tents at night and assault them. After returning to Connecticut, Kodas installed a security system at his home because he feared for his family's safety due to Dijmărescu's continued threats.

The marriage with Lhakpa Sherpa came apart in 2012 when Dijmarescu became violent, and beat her to the point she was taken to the emergency room; a hospital social worker placed her and her two girls in a local shelter where they stayed for eight months.[11]

Danube escape

Dijmărescu survived a swim across the Danube to leave his native Romania. He could not even say goodbye to his parents; the swim took over an hour and was timed to avoid guards who had been known to kill those who tried to swim across.[12] He managed to make his way through Yugoslavia and escape to Italy.[12] From there he was granted political asylum in the United States, and eventually settled in New England.[12]

Death

Gheorghe Dijmărescu died of cancer in September 2020 at the age of 58.[13]

Dijmărescu's Mount Everest summit record

Dijmărescu summited Mount Everest:

  1. May 26, 1999.[7]
  2. May 19, 2000[7]
  3. May 23, 2001[7]
  4. May 17, 2002[7]
  5. May 31, 2003[14]
  6. May 20, 2004[14][15]
  7. Jun 2, 2005[14][16]
  8. May 11, 2006[6]
  9. May 15, 2007[6]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Schaffer, Grayson (10 May 2016). "The Most Successful Female Everest Climber of All Time Is a Housekeeper in Hartford, Connecticut". Outside Online. Retrieved 11 May 2016.
  2. ↑ "Everest History time line". Archived from the original on 26 May 2010. Retrieved 16 June 2016.
  3. ↑ "Everest Summiters Lakpa Sherpa and George Dijmarescu slide show/video presentation open to the public". Everestnews.com. 18 May 2000. Archived from the original on 26 October 2016. Retrieved 20 May 2016.
  4. ↑ "The News Tribune: Glory, death share stage on Everest".
  5. ↑ "Everest Weather Reports for Spring 2007". 10 April 2007.
  6. 1 2 3 "Everest Summiteers Association".
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 "Everest Summiteers Association".
  8. ↑ Breed, Allen G.; Gurubacharya , Binaj (30 July 2006). "On Top of the World, But Abandoned There Near Everest's Summit, David Sharp's Quest Met a Tragic End". The Washington Post. Associated Press. p. D01.
  9. ↑ "Lapka Profile Everest 2004". Everest News.
  10. ↑ "Mt. Everest 2004: By George Dijmarescu".
  11. ↑ Bhadra Sharma and Adam Skolnick, The Queen of Everest Trains While Working at Whole Foods, The New York Times, January 31, 2023; accessed February 8, 2023.
  12. 1 2 3 "Everest and Other Enemies".
  13. ↑ "Nine-time Everest summiteer George Dijmarescu is dead". Adventure Mountain. 9 October 2020.
  14. 1 2 3 "Everest Summiteers Association".
  15. ↑ "Himalayan Database Expedition Archives of Elizabeth Hawley". Retrieved 13 January 2024.
  16. ↑ "Himalayan Database Expedition Archives of Elizabeth Hawley". Retrieved 13 January 2024.
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