Kathmandu, March 11: Australian mountaineer and former guide Allie Pepper is set to embark on climbing all 14 mountains above 8,000 meters in the world without supplemental oxygen. She aims to do so by 2026.
She announced her ambitious venture with the theme of “Respect Above the Clouds: 14 Peaks No O2” at a press conference here in Kathmandu. This spring, she is starting her journey by climbing Mount Annapurna (8,091 meters), the world’s 10th highest mountain. For this, she along with a team has come all the way from Australia. She is undertaking the expedition with Seven Summit Treks, a Kathmandu-based leading trekking and expedition company.
Pepper, 48, is not a new name in the mountaineering sector through. So far, she has conquered two of the 14 mountains above 8,000 meters in the world without supplemental O2. She started off by scaling Mount Cho Oyu in Tibet in 2007 without O2.
On July 15, 2023, she climbed Broad Peak (8,052 meters), the world’s 12th highest mountain, and Manaslu (8,163 meters), the world’s fifth highest peak on September 28, 2023, becoming the first Australian woman to successfully climb Broad Peak without oxygen.
Beyond this climbing feat, her mission carries a meaning. She aims to encourage women who are dealing with challenges to overcome them and move on. “With 23 years of experience in mountain climbing, I am confident that I will achieve my goal within the set time. I have trained and prepared myself for this not only physically, but mentally, emotionally, spiritually. All these things have inspired me to do this,” she said elated.
She has a plan to climb three mountains including Annapurna this spring season. According to available data, so far, only six people in the world have achieved the feat of climbing all 14 mountains above 8,000 meters without oxygen.
Among them, only two men have reached the main peak of all 14 mountains in the world, and it took them 16 years.
