#34: Junko Tabei: Master Mountaineer
Junko Tabei was a Japanese mountaineer who broke down the gendered walls of mountain climbing. In 1975, she was the first woman to summit Mount Everest, the world’s highest peak. Tabei further proved herself to be the G.O.A.T. because she allegedly didn’t see why “men make all this fuss about Everest,” and continued to summit some of the highest peaks in the world for the remainder of her career.
In 1992, she earned the distinction of being the first woman to ever successfully climb all Seven Summits, the tallest mountains in all seven continents. Tabei has inspired many more women to follow in her footsteps – literally. In 2019, about 20% of Everest climbers were women, which is the most ever in recorded history. She passed away at 77 years old in 2016 and has gone down in history as one of the most accomplished mountaineers in history.