Joby Ogwyn ( ; born August 25, 1974) is an American

mountain climber Mountaineering, mountain climbing, or alpinism is a set of outdoor activities that involves ascending mountains. Mountaineering-related activities include traditional outdoor climbing, skiing, and traversing via ferratas that have become mounta ...

BASE jumper BASE jumping () is the recreational sport of jumping from fixed objects, using a parachute to descend to the ground. BASE is an acronym that stands for four categories of fixed objects from which one can jump: buildings, antenna (radio), antenna ...

and Wingsuit flyer.

Early life

Ogwyn grew up in Louisiana and studied business administration at the

Centenary College of Louisiana Centenary College of Louisiana is a private liberal arts college in Shreveport, Louisiana. The college is affiliated with the United Methodist Church. Founded in 1825, it is the oldest chartered liberal arts college west of the Mississippi Rive ...

.Adventurer-Centenary Alumnus Joby Ogwyn, Class of '97, Currently Climbing World's Tallest Unclimbed Peak
, centenary.edu, retrieved February 11, 2014

Mountaineering

He summited

Mount Kilimanjaro Mount Kilimanjaro () is a dormant volcano in Tanzania. It is the highest mountain in Africa and the highest free-standing mountain above sea level in the world, at above sea level and above its plateau base. It is also the highest volcano i ...

when he was just 18. When he first summited

Mount Everest Mount Everest (), known locally as Sagarmatha in Nepal and Qomolangma in Tibet, is Earth's highest mountain above sea level. It lies in the Mahalangur Himal sub-range of the Himalayas and marks part of the China–Nepal border at it ...

in 1999, he was at the time the youngest American to do so.Centenary Alumnus Becomes Youngest American to Reach Summit of Mt. Everest; Joby Ogwyn, Class of '97, Stands at the Roof of the World
, centenary.edu, retrieved February 11, 2014 He is a top speed climber. In 2004 Ogwyn beat the speed ascent record of an 8,000 meter peak at the Tibetan peak

Cho Oyu Cho Oyu ( Nepali: चोयु; ; ) is the sixth-highest mountain in the world at above sea level. Cho Oyu means " Turquoise Goddess" in Tibetan. The mountain is the westernmost major peak of the '' Khumbu'' sub-section of the Mahalangur Him ...

. Ogwyn planned to jump off Mount Everest in a wingsuit in May 2014, but after the

2014 Mount Everest avalanche On 18 April 2014, seracs on the western spur of Mount Everest failed, resulting in an ice avalanche that killed sixteen climbing Sherpa people, Sherpas in the Khumbu Icefall. This was the same icefall where the 1970 Mount Everest disaster had t ...

on Everest's lower slopes during the month of April, causing the deaths of 16 Sherpa guides, the jump was cancelled.

References

External links

Official website jobyogwyn.com
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ogwyn, Joby 1974 births American mountain climbers Living people Summiters of the Seven Summits Centenary College of Louisiana alumni