MONTREAL -- This week marks the anniversary of a life-altering achievement by McGill University graduate Shaunna Burke (BA '01), who on May 30, 2005, became the second Canadian woman to successfully summit Mt. Everest. A former rugby player and alpine skier at McGill, Burke was the first Canuck female to accomplish that feat since Sharon Wood of Camrose, Alta., in 1986.
Originally from Pte. Claire, Que., Burke was part of three separate expeditions to Everest, all from the southern column route on the Nepal side. Her first climb on the world tallest mountain -- measured at 29,032 feet above sea level -- was in 2003 and designed to acclimatize to Base Camp (17,598). It served as the subject of a television documentary Ultimate Survival - Everest, which aired in 2004 on the Discovery Channel. During that climb, she reached Camp 2 at about 21,000 feet.
A year later, she returned to Nepal and reached Camp 4, which sits on the edge of what is known as the "death zone", at about 26,000 feet in altitude. A fierce storm, with 80 mph wind gusts, forced Burke to abandon the climb about 2,790 feet shy of the peak.
Her third attempt, in 2005, had some serious challenges as climbing partner Ben Webster suffered a broken tibia and fibula in his leg after slipping into a deadly crevasse on the Khumbu Icefall. A mountain rescue team was able to evacuate him and Burke made the difficult decision to resume her climb. She and three Sherpa guides left Camp 4 at 10 p.m. local time for the grueling 10-16-hour oxygen-assisted climb to the summit.
Some of her other climbing highlights include a successful ascent of Mount Elbrus in Russia and the difficult traverse of Mont Blanc from Italy to France.
During her time at McGill, from 1998 to 2001, Burke was a two-sport athlete, competing on the alpine ski and rugby teams that both won Quebec league championships. In her junior year she finished on the podium six times in 10 races with the ski team, winning a pair of gold medals in the process. She also skied for the Quebec provincial squad and competed for Canada at the 1999 FISU Winter Games in Slovakia.
After graduating from McGill in 2001 with an arts degree, majoring in psychology and human kinetics, Burke completed a master's degree and PhD in sports psychology at the University of Ottawa. She later attended Exeter University in the UK and has presented her work at numerous conferences around the world, as well as at many motivational speaking engagements.
She has studied the mental strategies of successful Everest climbers, some of which she used herself in her climbs. Burke is currently an associate professor in exercise and health psychology at the University of Leeds in the UK.
Hear all about her experience on Mt. Everest in an interview with Shaunna Burke, featured in a 2021 episode of McGill Athletics and Recreation's podcast series Alma Matters.
SOURCE:
Earl Zukerman
Sports Information Officer
Athletics & Recreation
McGill University
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www.mcgillathletics.ca
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