Kristin Harila of Norway bagged her eighth 8,000’er of the season today, summiting Annapurna at the very last minute before the monsoon rains arrive. This was probably the last summit of Nepal’s spring season.
Harila reached the top at 6 am today. Annapurna was climbed early in the season, and by the time she and her team reached Base Camp, all the other teams had left weeks ago. So Seven Summit Treks gave Harila a reinforced support team for the summit push.
In addition to Tenjen “Lama” Sherpa, with whom she has summited all eight peaks during her record attempt, she climbed with Pasang Nurbu Sherpa, Lakpa Temba Sherpa, Mingma Tenjing Sherpa, Pasang Sherpa, and Lakpa Gyaljen Sherpa.
The team started the climb from Base Camp yesterday, climbing all the way to Camp 3. They went from Camp 3 to the summit today and are already safely back in Base Camp.
Tibet is done, one peak left in Nepal
Harila needed just 52 days to summit the two 8,000’ers in Tibet (Shishapangma and Cho Oyu) and all the Nepalese giants except for Manaslu. She may leave Manaslu for the final stage of her quest to summit all 14 8,000’ers in six months. To complete her goal, she needs to finish in October this year.
Manaslu is also the only peak she failed to summit. She attempted it early in the season with Adriana Brownlee and a strong sherpa team. However, bad weather prevented the team from reaching the higher sections or considering a summit push. Harila quickly changed goals once she obtained a climbing permit for Tibet. The rest of the team subsequently abandoned their attempt.
Harila on Dhaulagiri. Photo: Kristin Harila
Next, Harila will travel to Pakistan, home to five 8,000’ers. Her immediate goal might be Nanga Parbat, where several teams are already fixing ropes and camps along the route.
Harila has become a mountain celebrity, especially among mainstream audiences and the media in her home country. Yet, as with Nirmal Purja’s similar 14×8,000’er speed run in 2019, Harila’s feat is primarily an athletic and logistical achievement. It is not based on mountaineering values. Nevertheless, her performance is very impressive. As with her first attempt last year, she is chain-climbing peak after peak in single pushes.
