Wednesday, June 4, 2003
|
Wednesday, June 4, 2003 |
|
PTC parents see Rickert top Everest
By MONROE
ROARK
A Peachtree City couple watched proudly last weekend as their son made history on the other side of the world. Make that the top of the world, more than five and a half miles above sea level.. Jesse Rickert reached the summit of Mt. Everest Friday, the 50th anniversary of Sir Edmund Hillary's first climb, and concluded a grueling series of events for the "Global Extremes" competition on the Outdoor Life Network. Among those following this unique reality TV series were Tom and Jan Rickert, Jesse's parents and residents of Peachtree City for 31 years. Jesse, 30, attended elementary school in Peachtree City and graduated from Woodward Academy before heading west and attending college in Gunnison, Colo., where he now lives with his wife and child. An outdoor recreation major in college, he has worked as a guide and competed in a number of outdoor endurance events. His achievements include a win in the Pikes Peak Marathon. His latest quest began last summer when OLN-TV solicited applications for "Global Extremes." He was one of 50 selected out of the hundreds who applied. Various competitions in Utah and Colorado narrowed the field to 12, and more events in such exotic locales as South Africa, Costa Rica and Iceland produced five finalists, each of whom won $50,000 in cash, a Toyota Forerunner and an all-expense-paid trip to Mt. Everest (worth about $60,000). Rickert and the other four finalists reached the base of Mt. Everest in early April. After one finalist dropped out, the four remaining competitors participated in a rescue at the 27,000-foot base camp, Tom said, and then had to retreat to 19,000 feet, where two other participants dropped out. That left Jesse and one other climber, along with a cameraman and two Sherpa guides, to go for the summit. This is the second Everest summit with a Fayette County connection. Hugh Morton reached the top in 1992, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and he may have been the first Georgian to do so. Jesse is expected back in the United States Sunday.
|
||