On Mount Everest, a World Record Twofer

Two new climbers made the Mount Everest record books over the past week, including a man who now holds the title of oldest American ever to ascend the 29,032-foot peak. Per Reuters and the Himalayan Times, 75-year-old Arthur Muir is that man, completing his ascent on Sunday and taking his place atop the summit at 7:50am local time, according to an official from the expedition company that arranged the climb. Muir took the title from Bill Burke, who'd climbed Everest at the age of 67 in 2009. Meanwhile, Tsang Yin-hung, a teacher from Hong Kong said to be in her mid-40s, made her own climb, completing the trip from base camp to summit in 25 hours, 50 minutes on Sunday—the shortest time ever for a woman ascending the mountain, per Al Jazeera.

Tsang beat the record of Phunjo Jhangmu Lama of Nepal, who climbed the mountain in 2017 in 39 hours, 6 minutes. "Any variable could make you fail," she told the South China Morning Post, via Newsweek. "I always tell my team, 'Aim high, expect high, so you can achieve high.' When I reached the mountaintop, I felt like I proved this was not just empty talk." Tsang's record still needs to be certified by Guinness World Records. It's not yet clear if Muir's has been. The Times reports on another notable climber over the past week: Mark Pattison, a former wide receiver for the LA Raiders, LA Rams, and New Orleans Saints, who reached the summit on Sunday. He's the second NFL player to do so, and the first NFL athlete to climb the "Seven Summits"—the highest mountains on all seven continents. (More Mount Everest stories.)