New Year's Summiteers

Photograph courtesy of Pamela Wolfe Crimson hikers (from left) Anne Walston ’67, Éva Borsody Das ’63, and Ken Moller...

Photograph courtesy of Pamela Wolfe

Crimson hikers (from left) Anne Walston ’67, Éva Borsody Das ’63, and Ken Moller ’69 spent early 2008 in Tanzania, climbing Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa’s tallest peak, in an international group sponsored by the Appalachian Mountain Club. To combat altitude sickness, the trekkers took six days to ascend; they needed only a day and a half to return to base camp. They spent about 20 minutes on the summit. “I don’t remember a lot of it,” Das told her Massachusetts hometown paper, the Hull Times. “Your brain cells are dying. I don’t remember the wind or the cold.” She’d already gone climbing again, in the Catskills.

Related topics

You might also like

Harvard Alumni Win Two 2026 Nobel Prizes

Karl Deisseroth revolutionized neuroscience. Navanethem “Navi” Pillay has adjudicated cases in international courts concerning genocide.

How J. Max Bond Jr. Honored Black History Through Architecture

A new book explores the Harvard-trained architect’s vision and impact, from Ground Zero to the Smithsonian.

How Facebook Escaped Harvard

In 2004, a frenzy spread across Harvard Yard in days. Four billion users later, we are only just catching up.

Most popular

Harvard Weathers a Year of Turmoil

The federal government has launched unprecedented actions against the University. Here’s a guide.

Lafayette’s Unexpected Gift to George Washington: Pheasants

The two birds will be on display at Harvard this summer.

Harvard art historian Jennifer Roberts teaches the value of immersive attention

Teaching students the value of deceleration and immersive attention

Explore More From Current Issue

Portrait of a man in a denim shirt beside a blue book cover for "Gretal and the Great War" featuring an illustration of a leg holding an army helmet..

The Gretel and the Great War author on how the Lampoon derailed his science career—and set him on a literary path.

Runners compete on a track, with a Harvard athlete in the foreground and others behind.

After a historic 2025-26 season, athletes eye NCAA championships.

Colorful word cloud with various emotions and ideas related to learning and reflection.

But it can’t replace human connection.