SUNDAY STORY:Next stop: Everest

Bill Burke isn’t out to set any records, but if he succeeds in his quest to climb Mt. Everest in the coming months, he will not only have scaled the world’s tallest mountain, but approaching 65, fellow climbers believe he will be the oldest American to do so.

Friends and family of the Costa Mesa resident who “tends to get into things in a very big way” hardly expected he would ease into a quiet and relaxing retirement when he left his 40-year career as a corporate lawyer just last year, but some hoped he would take up a less risky pastime.

As a lover of the outdoors, the fascination for mountain climbing set in when Burke was on a work assignment in Hong Kong in the ‘90s. Beginning with trail walks through the region’s many country parks, Burke soon moved to Tokyo, where he climbed Mt. Fuji — twice — and returned to the United States to take his first alpine climbing course in the Cascade Range in 2001.

Since then, Burke has climbed the tallest peak on six of the world’s continents, starting with Alaska’s Mt. McKinley in 2002, and aspires to round out his repertoire by summiting Mt. Everest, setting out for Nepal on March 25.

“For many people, this is the highest achievement,” said Burke, a father of four with 14 grandchildren. “When I started climbing bigger mountains, I didn’t talk much about Everest, but I knew in the back of my mind that it was in my plans.”

Though his wife, Sharon Burke, wasn’t exactly surprised when he announced the upcoming venture, she’d definitely hoped he would somehow overlook the seemingly inevitable pinnacle.

“I didn’t know if he’d ever really do it. We never said the E-word around here,” she said. She plans to devote her attention to gardening and remodeling their home while her husband is away. “I’m excited for him because he is excited about it, but I’d rather he stays home.”

Burke assures loved ones that he is physically prepared for the endeavor, devoting much if his time to cardiovascular and strength training at the gym and climbing local mountains. Moreover, he feels mentally prepared, which he emphasizes is equally important, if not more so.

“There are so many times on every mountain when you want to give up and just climb back down, but you’ve got to will yourself to continue,” he said. “Good climbing technique — and good weather — is critical.”

Such technique includes moving slowly, pressure-breathing, consuming large quantities of food and water and permitting time to acclimatize — allowing the body to create more red blood cells by moving up the mountain in stages while descending to rest at lower altitudes.

On all his climbing trips, Burke has only made one major mistake — or at least would admit to only one with his wife in the room. While climbing Mt. McKinley, he failed to get his outer glove on soon enough which led to frostbite on the ring finger of his right hand.

“On a big mountain, there is a very small margin of error,” he said.

Friend and climbing partner Mark Luscher, also a member of the Everest expedition, called Burke a “competent and strong climber” and a good partner to have, recalling the time they spent sledding and sculpting their wives’ names out of snow while waiting for a storm to pass on Antarctica’s Vinson Massif last year.

“Bill is really a calm, cool and collected person and that’s basically what you need to be a good climber,” said Luscher, 60, of Albany, Ore.

As expected, Burke said the feeling he gets upon reaching the summit of the world’s tallest mountains is “hard to describe,” and unfortunately, there’s not much time to relish the moment. When he reached the top of Mt. Kilimanjaro in 2004, he spent only five minutes on the summit, just long enough for a photo, and expects about 15 minutes at Everest’s peak.

“It’s just a great feeling when you get to a point where you just can’t take one more step up,” he said, “but you have to remember you’re only halfway done, and you still have to make it down.”

While climbing, much of Burke’s inspiration comes from his 6-year-old grandson Ollie Dillon who suffers from an undiagnosed disability that has left him with limited mobility and unable to speak. Along with an American flag, Burke carries a picture of Ollie on all his climbs.

“When you have someone in your family with this kind of disability, it really puts everything into perspective,” Burke said. “I consider it a big deal to climb a mountain, but if you think about it, he does that everyday.”

Though he will set out on a non-guided climb of the southeast ridge of the mountain, Burke has contracted the help of expedition leader Dan Mazur of Summit Climb, an international company that runs climbing and trekking expeditions in the Himalayas, Africa and South America.

Mazur will provide logistical support — acquiring permits, hiring a Sherpa to carry common gear and set up camps and giving advice and weather reports — though he will not necessarily complete the climb at Burke’s side.

“The three most important things for our expeditions listed in order of importance are safety, good teamwork and getting to the top and back down again — with safety,” said Mazur, who received a good deal of media attention last year after he and his team gave up their own summit opportunity to rescue Australian climber Lincoln Hall, who had been left for dead on a ledge just shy of the summit.

With the seven summits out of the way, Burke, to his wife’s chagrin, hopes to take up trekking as his next hobby, and is looking to complete the 2,650-mile Pacific Crest Trail on foot, which runs from the U.S. border with Mexico to its border with Canada and ranges in elevation from sea level to more than 13,000 feet.

Track Bill Burke on his quest and learn more about the climb at www.eightsummits.com .