Werner Berger already claims a spot in the Guinness World Records, but even at age 87 he’s not done.
The former longtime Newmarket resident claims the title of being the oldest person to climb the Seven Summits after having summitted Mount Everest at age 69 on May 22, 2007.
And although that was considered an incredible feat on its own, it was his ascent of Puncak Jaya, or Carstenz Pyramid, the highest mountain in Oceania in November 2013 at age 76 that landed him on the record books for being the oldest to conquer the Seven Summits
The Seven Summits are the highest mountains on each of the seven traditional continents, a popular challenge first accomplished by Richard Bass, then owner of the Snowbird Ski Resort in Utah, in 1985.
“I started climbing at age 54,” begins Berger, who was born and raised in South Africa before moving to Canada. “It was my first trek was to Everest Base Camp, and I completely fell in love.”
While Berger is proud of his accomplishments and delights in recalling some of his adventures, he doesn’t believe he’s in possession of any remarkable abilities. Age, he argues, need not be an impediment.
What does get in the way for most people, he believes, is our routines and our “addiction” to more sedentary lives, which includes over eating and the lack of regular exercise.
“Really, anybody can do it. It just takes a few elements,” he says, citing nutrition, exercise, and living a balanced life. “If people look after their bodies and stay active, it’s amazing what the human body can do.
“I’ve always been active… at university, I was a pole vaulter, and coming from South Africa, I was a rugby player.”
Doing weights and exercising regularly are part of his daily regime.
So he keeps going and now leads groups to high-altitude settings. Last year, he took yet another group to the Mount Everest base camp, where he figures he’s visited at least a half dozen times.
He’s taking a year off this year, he explains during a phone call while vising friends in Pennsylvania. But next year he plans to take another group to Mount Kilimanjaro, where he’s been nine times.
And it is there, on the continent where he was born, where his next ambition lies.
“Since I was born on African continent, I want to be the oldest person to climb Kilimanjaro but I have to wait a few years, I have to be age 90.”
The woman who currently holds that title, having climbed the Tanzanian volcano at age 89, was someone who had earlier climbed the mountain with Berger.
As for his health and physical condition, Berger says all is good, though his voice, he says, makes him sound like an old person. His double knee replacement two years ago was a success.
Berger lived in Newmarket from 1968 to 2014 where he ran a business and raised his four children with his first wife. He then moved to Mississauga where he now lives.
He climbs for the same reason he takes others on expedition – for the unique experience that has become an integral part of the person he has become.
“I learned so much about myself on the treks, not jus on the climbs… to really know what it feels like to be present… you cannot be in that environment day after day after day and not feel connected.”
Most of the people he’s taken on group treks, he adds, describe the ventures as life-changing experiences.