For 80-year-old alpinist Tsuneo Miyamori, reaching the summit of an unconquered peak is far more significant than following thousands of other climbers in ascending famous mountains.
In July, Miyamori successfully led a joint Japanese-Pakistani team to the 6,105-meter summit of a peak in the Karakoram Range, which spans the borders of Pakistan, India and China. He christened it "The Peak of Hope" to promote Japan's recovery from the March 2011 disasters.
"Nearly 4,000 people already have scaled Mount Everest, but I wanted to conquer a mountain no one has ever climbed to the top of — even if its summit is lower," Miyamori said.