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MARBLEHEAD, Mass. (AP) — David Breashears, a mountaineer, author and filmmaker who co-directed and co-produced a 1998 IMAX documentary about climbing Mount Everest, has died, his business manager confirmed Saturday. He was 68 years old.
Breashears was found unresponsive at his home in Marblehead, Massachusetts, on Thursday, Ellen Golbranson said. She said he died of natural causes, but “the exact cause of death is still unknown at this time.”
Breashears climbed Mount Everest five times, including with the IMAX camera in 1996, his family said.
“He combined his passion for climbing and photography to become one of the world’s most admired adventure filmmakers,” the family said in a written statement.
In 2007, Breashears founded GlacierWorks, which describes itself on Facebook as a nonprofit that “highlights changes in Himalayan glaciers through art, science and adventure.”
“With GlacierWorks, he used his experience in climbing and photography to create unique records that reveal the dramatic effects of climate change on the historic mountain range,” his family said.
In 1983, Breashears broadcast the first live television footage from the summit of Everest, according to his website, which also states that in 1985 he became the first American citizen to reach the summit twice.
Breashears and his crew were filming the Everest documentary when a blizzard hit the mountain on May 10, 1996, killing eight climbers. He and his crew stopped filming to help the climbers.