PRESS RELEASE: First Pictures of Australian Climber Setting Two Records with her Himalayan Summit.
• First Australian woman to summit Makalu without oxygen.
• First Australian woman to summit two 8000ers in the one season
Australian climber Allie Pepper who reached the summit of Makalu (8,485m) without the use of supplemental oxygen on Monday May 6th has just returned to Kathmandu with amazing pictures and video of her feat.
Makalu is the 5th highest mountain in the world and is situated close to Mt Everest. Pepper with Mingtemba (Mikel) Sherpa and Ngima Wanadak Sherpa reached the summit after a 29-hour trek from camp.
“Summit hardest summit of my life. Made summit around 3, heading down now. So tired”, the oxygen-deprived climber shared in a text from just below the summit.
No ascent is successful until the climbers return to camp and Pepper said blue ice – as hard as concrete and traversable only with the use of crampons – was challenging.
“Not easy to come down. So epic, so exhausted, so exposed.” she added, but the team made camp around 8pm after a 29-hour trek.
Her journey symbolizes the triumph of human spirit over adversity. With each summit, she reaffirms her commitment to excellence, and inspires individuals, especially women, to climb their own mountains in life.
Respect Above the Clouds
48-year-old Pepper has now summited 4 of the 14 eight thousanders, Broad Peak in July 2023, Manaslu in September 2023 and Annapurna 1 in April 2024.
With her Respect Above The Clouds challenge of completing the task within 2 years she has until July 2025 to summit the remaining 10 highest mountains in the world.
“Allie needs 10 more eight thousand metre peaks to achieve her dream. With her hard work, and dedication Allie completed 2 eight thousand metre peaks in amazing time. Ngima and I will support her to achieve her dream.” Mikel shared.
Pepper has locked her sights on the third-highest mountain in the world, Mount Kanchenjunga, for her next peak.
No Oxygen
The 8000ers are in the Himalaya and Karakoram mountain ranges in Asia. Summiting all 14 peaks, through the so-called death zones without the use of additional oxygen, is a challenging and demanding achievement. Allie will be the first woman to complete the task.
