Woman of the Week – Samantha Larson

Samantha Larson is an American mountain climber from Long Beach, California. In 2007, at only 18, she became the youngest non-Nepalese woman to climb to the top of Mount Everest.

Source: Samanthalarson.com

Larson began climbing with her father, David Larson, when she was in sixth grade. They began the Seven Summits by climbing Mount Kilimanjaro in February 2001, when she was 12.

During this expedition, she studied her eighth-grade algebra at 16,000 feet during breaks in climbing. She won the science fair for the state’s third-largest district by chronicling the effect of altitude on heart rates, using a medical monitor to test fellow climbers.

Source: Samanthalarson.blogspot.com

She also brought her oboe on the trek and played the instrument in the snowy conditions so as to be ready for a band concert upon her return to Long Beach.

Larson graduated from Long Beach Polytechnic High School in June 2006, deferring her freshman year at Stanford University for a year to train for the Everest climb.

On May 16, 2007, at the age of 18, she temporarily became the youngest non-Nepalese woman to summit Mount Everest. By reaching the top of Everest, she also temporarily became the youngest person to have climbed the Seven Summits (the "Bass list"), the tallest mountains on each of the seven continents. She and her father became the first father-daughter team to complete the Seven Summits. In August 2007 they climbed the Carstensz Pyramid, thereby also completing the "Messner list" of the Seven Summits.

For her climbing records, she was featured in the 2009 and 2012 editions of the Guinness Book of World Records. She’s been interviewed many times for her climbs and has even given a TEDx Talk on the subject.

These are just examples of her resilience and strength. Her adventures are best chronicled on her blog. She posted throughout the entire climb, offers how-tos and reflection on her journey.

She’s now 29, living and working in Seattle as a freelance journalist. She focuses on environmental writing and topics in science.