David Breashears, who co-produced documentary about Mount Everest, dead at 68

MARBLEHEAD, Mass. — David Breashears, a pioneering mountaineer and filmmaker who co-produced and co-directed a documentary about Mount Everest in 1998, was found dead at his Massachusetts home on Thursday. He was 68.

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Breashears was found unresponsive at his home in Marblehead, his business manager, Ellen Golbranson told The Associated Press. She said Breashears died of natural causes but “the exact cause of death remains unknown at this time.”

Breashears reached the summit of Mount Everest, the world’s tallest mountain, five times, his family said. He climbed with an IMAX camera in 1996, his family said in a statement to Outside magazine.

“It is with tremendous sadness that we share the news of David Breashears’ untimely passing. David was a beloved brother, uncle, father, friend and colleague and a caring, impassioned advocate of adventure, exploration and the health of our planet,” the statement read. “In his lifetime, David climbed to the summit of Mt. Everest five times, including an ascent with the IMAX camera in 1996. He combined his passion for climbing and photography to become one of the world’s most admired adventure filmmakers.”

Born on Dec. 20, 1955, Breashears founded GlacierWorks in 1997, according to the AP. The nonprofit’s Facebook page calls itself an organization “that highlights changes to Himalayan glaciers through art, science and adventure.”

“With GlacierWorks, he used his climbing and photography experience to create unique records revealing the dramatic effects of climate change on the historic mountain range,” his family said in their statement.

In 1983, Breashears transmitted the first live television pictures from the summit of Mount Everest, according to his website. Two years later he became the first American citizen to reach the summit of the mountain in the Himalayas twice.

Breashears and his team were filming their Everest documentary when the May 10, 1996, blizzard struck the mountain, killing eight climbers, the AP reported. The film crew stopped and helped the climbers.

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