Where IN THE World IS Jake Norton?/ Colorado climber-photographer

Gazette, The (Colorado Springs), Feb 8, 2003 by DEB ACORD

Jake Norton has stood on the summit of Mount Everest. But ask him about the best moments of his life and he doesn't mention it, even though fewer than 1,500 people can claim that feat.

Instead, his best-of list includes: "A glowing sunrise cresting the peaks of the Cordillera Blanca in Peru."

"A moment all alone on the south summit of Everest, a few hundred feet from the highest point in the world, when the sun caught my eye as it played on the mountains that stretched out below."

And, "the moment my girlfriend, Wende Valentine, said she would marry me."

That list might make Norton, 29, sound like a romantic, sunset- loving, quiet kind of guy, which he is.

But that softer side of this rangy, rock-hard climber belies the life he leads and his involvement in some of the most publicized and sensational events in recent mountaineering history. He's a graduate of Colorado College and a former Colorado Springs resident who now lives in Denver but still loves the Springs. Colorado is his base camp as he travels the world.

He'll talk about his adventures and display his photographs in a presentation Feb. 21 at the East Library, 5550 N. Union Blvd.

Besides climbing Everest, Norton has been on many more of the world's highest peaks - Cho Oyu in the Himalayas, Denali in Alaska (two ascents), Kilimanjaro in Africa, Mount Rainier in Washington state (more than 80 ascents), peaks in the Alps and the Cordillera Blanca in Peru.

He was a member of the group of climbers who discovered George Mallory's body in the Mallory-Irvine Expedition in 1999.

He was the photographer for the all-female group of climbers sponsored by the Ford Motor Co. in the No Boundaries expedition in 2002.

And he is the photographer for the climbers who will race for the summit this season on the Outdoor Life Network reality show, "Extreme Adventures."

All of these adventures have been tinged with controversy.

The goal of the Mallory-Irvine Expedition was to find the bodies and gear of George Mallory and Sandy Irvine, British climbers who set out for the summit of Everest in 1924 and never returned.

Their disappearance created one of the greatest mysteries in mountaineering. Some climbing pundits believe they died on the way up. Others are convinced they reached their goal and died on the way down. If they did, that would change history, taking the title of "First on Everest" from Sir Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay, who claimed it in 1953.

Norton was among six climbers on the Mallory Expedition, and when he and fellow climber Conrad Anker found the body of Mallory on a rocky slope on the north face of Everest, Norton had his camera ready. His photograph of a prone body, stone-like and whitened by the cold and the wind, was both celebrated and reviled when published around the world.

Some thought the expedition, the photos and the resulting publicity fascinating and important. Others thought it intrusive and insensitive.

"That expedition got a lot of publicity," Norton said upon his return. "There were many renowned climbers, including Hillary, who said we were despicable. That surprised us." Undaunted, the team returned to the mountain two years later to resume its search. Norton was on Everest again with that group, and he found a nearly intact camp used by the Mallory team.

But detective work was put aside on that trip, as Norton and fellow climbers rescued a group of distressed Chinese scientists.

"Only one could walk. We knew they would die on their own," Norton says. The climbers had to tie an unconscious scientist onto a frame pack and carry him down. The men lived, and Norton injured his knee.

But in 2002, he was back on Everest; this time shooting pictures of the historic all-female expedition launched by Ford Motor Co., to promote its new SUV, the Expedition.

Again, more controversy. The women's group was made up of amateur climbers. All had big-mountain credentials, but were they up to Everest? And their support team was almost all male.

Norton documented the group's failed attempt at Everest, summited for the first time himself, and returned home.

In April, he'll be back on Everest, again photographing a project steeped in controversy - Outdoor Life Network's reality show, "Extreme Adventures."

The weekly show features 50 amateur athletes from the United States as they compete in outdoor sports around the world for a chance to be one of five to climb Everest and win $50,000.

Some mountaineers believe the idea is ill-conceived. Norton already has followed contestants to grueling competitions in South Africa, and in the next few months will be shooting as they compete in Costa Rica and Iceland.

Photography his business

All of his adventures aside, most of Norton's energies are spent establishing his company - MountainWorld Photography - and making a name for himself as an art photographer. His specialty is a series of soft, watercolor-like photographs of people and places in Nepal, printed on handmade Nepali paper.

Because he is a strong, experienced climber with a topnotch safety record, and because of his sunset-loving personality, he's become a sought-after team member who, along the way, takes gallery-worthy photographs of rarely seen locations.