WHEN an eight-year-old Adriana Brownlee told teachers at her south London school she would one day climb the world’s highest mountain and be one of the youngest girls to achieve that, she wasn’t just sketching out a fanciful ambition – she was making an impressively accurate prediction.
Fifteen years on from that classroom declaration, the now 23-year-old Adriana Brownlee has just completed all 14 of the world’s mountains above 8,000 metres.
Not only that, she is now recognised as the youngest woman ever to have done it.
It was three years ago, while keeping her childhood promise as she set foot on the summit of Everest, aged 20, when she decided to conquer all 14 peaks.
Fast forward to October 2024, and Brownlee ticked off the last 8,000m+ at the top of Tibet’s Shishapangma.
The climber told The Times newspaper how emotion swept over her as she approached the peak of the final mountain.
“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,” she said.
“It took another hour before we reached the incredible summit. By this time it was just sunrise and we had a beautiful clear sky. It was the most incredible moment. I cried again remembering that I had just summited all 14 8,000-metre peaks and made history.”
For the final ascent, the former University of Bath student scaled Shishapangma without supplementary oxygen.
“It’s all about intrinsic motivation for me and wanting to push my body and achieve my personal goals,” she added.
“Mountaineering is my escape in life, it makes me feel free and truly connected with myself so it becomes an obsession to go back.
“I quit university and my degree to pursue a career in mountaineering and sacrificed friendships, regular teenage life and more, but it was all worth it.”
The first British climber to climb the 14 was Yorkshireman Alan Hinkes OBE, who completed the set in 2005, aged 50.
The 14 highest mountains were first completed by famous Italian climber Reinhold Messner who climbed them all without oxygen in 1986.
The youngest person to notch all 14 is 18-year-old Nima Rinji Sherpa, who achieved the goal earlier this month.
Alan Hinkes also spoke to The Times about Brownlee’s monumental efforts.
“I have followed Adriana’s determined progress since first meeting her in 2021. It is great news to hear another Brit has climbed all 14 eight-thousanders,” he said.
“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.”
World’s highest mountains
Everest (8,849m)
K2 (8,611m)
Kanchenjunga (8,586m)
Lhotse (8,516m)
Makalu (8,485m)
Cho-Oyu (8,188m)
Dhaulagiri (8,167m)
Manaslu (8,163m)
Nanga Parbat (8,126m)
Annapurna I (8,091m)
Gasherbrum I (8,080m)
Broad Peak (8,051m)
Gasherbrum II (8,035m)
Shishapangma (8,027m)
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