The oldest person to climb Mt. Everest from both sides

Dr. Julio Bird from La Crosse, Wisconsin has become the oldest man to climb Mt. Everest from both North and South sides.
Dr. Julio Bird works at Gundersen Lutheran Medical Center and he had set off for the climb on March 25th.
Dr. Julio Bird is also the first Puerto Rican ever to scale Mount Everest.
Dr. Julio says, “You know that your body has just experienced something special, and your mind has as well. There’s a certain reluctance to let go of the moment”.
When Dr. Julio climbed Everest for the first time from the South side at 2002, he was 52 yrs old.
Later in 2007, Dr. Julio tried to climb Everest again from the North side but could not complete his mission due to bad weather conditions.
Dr. Julio said, “We had to turn around at one of the big obstacles in the climb called the second step. So I had that sense of incomplete work for a long time”.
In 2010, Dr. Julio came back to Nepal to complete his mission i.e. climb Mt. Everest from the North side.
To accomplish his goal Dr. Julio trained himself hard to make sure he had plenty of strength and stamina.
Dr. Julio says, “Your appetite goes south as soon as you start increasing your elevation. It’s not unheard of to lose 20, 25 pounds on Everest”.
By mid of May, at the age of 60, Dr. Julio achieved his goal and became the first person to climb Everest from North side and oldest double time summiter.
Dr. Julio says, “For me it was more than just summiting Everest. It was an exploration of the history of it and then an experiencing of the same”.
He also says, “So my eyes were wide open. I actually slowed down as I was getting close to the top, because I wanted to relish the moment”, “That could be as challenging as climbing Mount Everest. It’s a big investment of time with a big reward at the end”.
Now, Dr. Julio doesn’t desire to climb Everest again, he wants to spend time with his three grandchildren’s but he will always remember his adventurous experience while climbing Everest.
Dr. Julio dedicated his climb to his colleague Ants Palm-Leis who died of cancer while he was on the mountain.