Kristin Harila of Norway summited Dhaulagiri today, her 7th 8,000’er this year. She intends to complete all 14 in six months.
Her attempt to do them all in half a year failed in 2022 because she couldn’t get permission to enter Tibet. She restarted her countdown this past April 26 on the summit of Shishapangma. Since then, she has chain-summited Cho Oyu, Makalu, Kangchenjunga, Everest, Lhotse, and now Dhaulagiri.
Seven peaks in 34 days
Harila reached the top at 6:15 am, together with Tenjen ‘Lama’ Sherpa, Lakpa Dorchi Sherpa, and Nima Wangdak Sherpa. There are no details on the climb, but they must have progressed quickly because on Saturday, she was in Kathmandu.
It is not clear if she intends to squeeze in Annapurna before the monsoon settles in Nepal in about two weeks. The mountain weather will likely destabilize even sooner. Afterward, she’ll need to summit Nanga Parbat, in Pakistan’s Himalaya, and the other four 8,000m peaks in the Karakoram this summer: K2, Broad Peak, Gasherbrum I, and Gasherbrum II. She will then have to return to Nepal and do Manaslu, a fall peak, before October 26.
Not impossible
In 34 days, Harila is halfway through, but completing her challenge in time remains hard and risky. Still, in 2022, Harila didn’t fail on any mountain she attempted.
On the other hand, the knowledge that this feat is doable if supported by a strong team, as she almost did last year and as Nirmal Purja sort of did in 2019 (he only reached the foresummit of two peaks) has somewhat curbed the enthusiasm of audiences this time. The huge logistics and carbon footprint required to hop from one mountain to the next are a significant part of this story.
She has tried to give an empowering message about women in mountaineering. “She wants to show that it is possible to make a name for oneself in a sport primarily dominated by male athletes,” her press team stated today.
However, all her climbs have relied on a skilled, strong, and male sherpa team.
