From Everest to Ironman: Returning Salem Ironman competitor takes Sunday race easy after challenging Everest climb 

Two months ago, Gary Nishioka stood more than 24,000 feet up Mount Everest struggling to breathe.

The 70-year-old Salem resident left for Everest in April, where he would spend up to 17 hours a day trekking through snow and scaling near-vertical walls of blue ice in the thin Himalayan air. After over a month of climbing and 20 pounds lost, he contracted severe altitude sickness and couldn’t go any further. 

This Sunday, July 19, now…