Martin Zhor, a Czech skyrunner, broke a new record for the quickest climb and descent of Aconcagua in December 2019. He returned from base camp in under 3 hours, 38 minutes, and 17 seconds. 15. Adriana Bance, a Frenchwoman, became the first woman to reach the top of Aconcagua in 1944. She took 9 days to complete the ascent in bad weather conditions. 14.
Aconcagua is the highest mountain outside of Asia and among the most challenging to scale because of its extreme altitude and cold temperatures. The fastest known time to climb it is 10 hours and 50 minutes, when Fabio Zardini reached the top of the peak using only his body weight as resistance. 13.
The first woman to climb Aconcagua and survive, who held the women's record until 1995, was Ana María Matos de Castro with her guide Alberto Juarez. They were searching for Jorge Newbery, an Argentine geologist who had disappeared on the mountain while trying to find a passage through to South America's interior. In 1995, another female climber, Maria Jose Martinez Del Rio, died on the mountain. She was 49 years old.
The first American woman to climb Aconcagua was Jean Lonsdale. She reached the top of the mountain in 1951 but did not stay long because of bad weather. Lonsdale went on to become one of the leading mountaineers in the world.
Marie Paradis was the first woman to reach the peak of Mont Blanc in 1808. There have been two remarkable speed ascents: in 1990, Swiss climber Pierre-Andre Gobet ascended Mont Blanc in 5 hours, 10 minutes, and 14 seconds round trip from Chamonix. In 2001, American Heidi Whitsett became the first person to complete the ascent in less than 24 hours when she reached the top in around 6 hours.
Paradis was born in 1770 into a wealthy family who owned land near Chamonix. She married at age 20 to a man 25 years her senior with whom she had three children. Her husband went bankrupt and was forced to sell their property. Forced to leave her home, she decided to go to Switzerland where she could earn a living as a governess. Using her savings, she traveled there with her children. When her husband learned that she was no longer under his control, he sent police officers to arrest her for abandonment. However, she was allowed to stay because women were not considered citizens at that time. This experience motivated her to work hard so that one day she could support herself and her children alone.
In 1807, after sending money home for several years, Paradis finally managed to save enough money to return to France. Upon her arrival in Paris, she received news that her husband had died. After the funeral, she returned home to Chamonix where she opened a school for girls.
In the 1990-91 season, Tabei reached the summit of Mount Vinson, Antarctica's highest mountain. On June 28, 1992, she summited Puncak Jaya and thus became the first woman to complete the Seven Summits.
Tabei made three further attempts on Mount Vinson but never again reached its summit.
She died in a climbing accident on Kangchenjunga, Asia's highest peak, on May 9, 1993. She was 44 years old.
Mount Tabeling is named after her. The peak was first climbed by Tabei and Hans Kammerlander in 1991. Before that, it had been considered unclimbable due to its extreme nature and lack of knowledge about the area.
It is located in India's Himalaya Mountains. The team led by Tabei consisted of five members from Germany and two members from India. The Indian members were Prakash Padangah and Srinivas Ganesh.
Padangah later wrote a book about his experience titled "On Top of the World: A Climber's Journey".
Ganesh is known for being one of the four people who survived the Kedarnath earthquake of 2013. The others are Prayag Singh, Bikas Kunwar and Sunita Williams.
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