This Ascent Proves She’s Not on Decline

Bronka Sundstrom, 77, became the oldest woman to climb Mt. Rainier, completing her ascent in 19 hours.

“I just never thought I could do it,� Sundstrom said. “I’m an old lady.�

Guide Jason Edwards found inspiration in her effort.

“What she did was incredible, and that’s what I wrote in the summer register,� he said. “People like her prove that life doesn’t stop at any given age. It stops when you give up, and she hasn’t given up.�

OK, so what does Bronka plan for an encore? Mt. Whitney?

Trivia time: Who was the first player from a Pacific Coast school to win the Heisman trophy?

Zzzzz: Filip Bondy of the New York Daily News sounded bored commenting on Thursday night’s San Francisco 49er-New York Giant game:

“Nobody was quite ready for some football, it turned out. The Giants’ offense was up and down. The Meadowlands crowd lacked fizz. The game dragged like a broken muffler, then puttered along, then sizzled down the stretch....

“The 49ers played a mediocre game, at best, and still won, 16-13.�

Cast your ballots: Tony Kornheiser of the Washington Post, looking forward to Steve Spurrier’s debut today as coach of the Redskins:

“The problem with being a savior in Washington is that the odds are against you succeeding. It’s a short-term place with a built-in recycling policy called ‘re-election.’ Everyone rides in with high hopes, but most leave with a low sigh. Ask Jimmy Carter.�

Easy come, easy go: On HBO’s “Inside the NFL,� special correspondent Wanda Sykes interviewed Houston Texan owner Bob McNair, who paid a record $700 million for the expansion franchise.

Sykes: “You are, like, my first billionaire interview.�

McNair: “That was before I bought the team.�

Want to buy it? Among the luxury yachts to be displayed at the Lido Yacht Expo, Thursday through Sept. 15 at Lido Marina Village in Newport Beach, is the new 2003 Queenship 95 motor yacht presented for the first time on the West Coast by the Crow’s Nest of Newport Beach.

The introductory price of the new Queenship 95 is--take a deep breath--$8 million.

Looking back: On this day in 1998, Mark McGwire of the St. Louis Cardinals broke Roger Maris’ 37-year-old home-run record, lining No. 62 just over the wall in left at Busch Stadium with two out in the fourth inning, off Steve Trachsel of the Chicago Cubs.

The tip: From Jay Leno: “I knew [the baseball players] weren’t going to strike. Last Wednesday, I saw Martha Stewart buying stock in steroids.�

Trivia answer: Terry Baker of Oregon State in 1962.

And finally: Detroit Free Press columnist Brian Dickerson was amused to learn figure skaters Jamie Silverstein and Brandon Forsyth are circulating a prospectus to potential sponsors whom they hope will help pay the estimated $121,500 it will cost them to skate this season.

“They’re ice dancers who share: 1) a dream of participating in the 2006 Olympics and 2) an overhead that makes Ivy League tuition look like chump change,� Dickerson wrote.