Adriana Brownlee Becomes Youngest Woman to Conquer All 14 of the World’s 8,000-Metre Peaks

 

Adriana Brownlee, a 23-year-old mountaineer, has made history by becoming the youngest woman to successfully climb all 14 of the world’s peaks that rise over 8,000 meters. Her remarkable achievement culminated on October 9, when she reached the summit of Shishapangma, which stands at 8,027 meters in Tibet. With this accomplishment, Brownlee becomes only the second British climber to complete this challenging feat.

This significant milestone comes three years after Brownlee summited Mount Everest, the first of her many ambitious climbs. As she neared the peak of Shishapangma, she expressed her emotions, stating, “I started to cry. I hadn’t reached the summit yet, I couldn’t even see it, but I knew it was going to happen. It took another hour before we reached the incredible summit. By this time it was just sunrise, and we had a beautiful clear sky.”

Brownlee, who hails from south-west London and studied at the University of Bath, first articulated her climbing aspirations at just eight years old, writing in primary school, “I would like to be famous for climbing the highest mountain in the world … and be one of the youngest girls to do this.”

The 14 highest peaks she has now conquered include Everest, K2, Kangchenjunga, Lhotse, Makalu, Cho Oyu, Dhaulagiri I, Manaslu, Nanga Parbat, Annapurna I, Gasherbrum I, Broad Peak, Gasherbrum II, and Shishapangma. For her final climb, Brownlee chose to ascend without supplementary oxygen, adding to the difficulty of the challenge.

Reflecting on her journey, she shared, “It’s all about intrinsic motivation for me and wanting to push my body and achieve my personal goals. Mountaineering is my escape in life; it makes me feel free and truly connected with myself, so it becomes an obsession to go back.” Brownlee made significant sacrifices for her passion, including quitting university and forgoing traditional teenage experiences.

Looking to the future, she expressed her desire to help aspiring mountaineers, stating, “I will stay in the mountains, but now I want to help others achieve their dreams by creating a new generation of high-altitude mountaineering and trekking experiences that focus on safety and clients’ past experiences.”

Fewer than 100 climbers have successfully reached the summits of all 14 peaks, all of which are located in the Himalayas and the Karakoram range. The first British climber to accomplish this feat was Alan Hinkes in 2005. Hinkes praised Brownlee's achievement, saying, “To climb all these mountains in less than four years is a remarkable achievement. It took me 17 years. None of these giant mountains are easy or safe, and she has shown extreme dedication, as well as enduring a lot of suffering and risk to complete all the 8,000-metre peaks.”