Edurne Pasaban Lizarribar is a Spanish mountaineer. On May 17, 2010, she became the first woman to climb all 14 of the eight-thousanders – and the 21st person to do so. Her first 8,000 peak had been achieved 9 years earlier, on May 23, 2001, when she reached the summit of Mount Everest. She has also completed the seven summits.
Edurne Pasaban
Poster with Edurne Pasaban
The eight-thousanders are the 14 mountains recognised by the International Mountaineering and Climbing Federation (UIAA) as being more than 8,000 metres (26,247 ft) in height above sea level, and sufficiently independent of neighbouring peaks. There is no precise definition of the criteria used to assess independence, and at times, the UIAA has considered whether the list should be expanded to 20 mountain peaks by including the major satellite peaks of eight-thousanders. All of the eight-thousanders are located in the Himalayan and Karakoram mountain ranges in Asia, and their summits lie in an altitude known as the death zone.
Flight over the Khumbu region; six eight-thousanders are visible
Edurne Pasaban, the first woman to climb all 14 after Oh Eun-sun's claim was disputed
Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner, the first woman to climb all 14 without oxygen
No. 1 – Mount Everest