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18 Year-Old Climbs World's Highest 'Seven Summits'

forbes.com — An 18-year-old woman has reached the summit of Mount Everest, becoming what is believed to be the youngest person to scale the highest peaks on each of the seven continents.

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  • smartsingh24, on 10/11/2007, -8/+59Pretty Impressive, this is her site www.samanthalarson.com

    On a side note, she makes the rest of us 18 year olds seem pathetic in comparison.
    • SwissCamel, on 10/11/2007, -17/+10Yeah her ability to climb mountains really is unsurpassed.
    • Monolith3, on 10/11/2007, -14/+17http://www.samanthalarson.com/aboutme.htm

      Wow... brains, beauty, athletic ability... *sigh*
    • hbweb500, on 10/11/2007, -33/+9"On a side note, she makes the rest of us 18 year olds seem pathetic in comparison."

      So I guess I have to climb mountains now to be an impressive 18 year old? Kudos to her, but what 18 year old has a website about themselves?
    • royall64, on 10/11/2007, -6/+38It's called a Myspace. I envy you for not knowing of it.
    • Twasi, on 10/11/2007, -14/+4It certainly is impressive but the youngest ever to climb Mt. Everest was 15 years old, and I have no doubt in my mind Temba could have climbed the other 6 with ease. There have been people as young as 13 that have climbed the peaks she did. It's more so impressive in terms of quantity not difficulty since all of the peaks she has scaled have been climbed by people much much younger than her. Great accomplishment but there are many other ways to be considered 'great'.
    • Urusai, on 10/11/2007, -1/+98Gee, I wish my parents could have afforded to jet-set me around the world so I could climb mountains.
    • Morphinity, on 10/11/2007, -2/+28"Kudos to her, but what 18 year old has a website about themselves?"
      Here's a better question - what 18 year old has a website aboutherself that goes down due to exceeding bandwith?
    • TwilightKing, on 10/11/2007, -0/+42For the curious:

      http://img259.imageshack.us/img259/3475/aboutmepic300kd7.jpg
    • Mischi3vo, on 10/11/2007, -0/+18Great feat, though, considering most kids haven't the monetary means to climb Everest, is it truly impressive? I think many youngsters would wish to make the attempt if the means existed for them.
    • TwilightKing, on 10/11/2007, -6/+26@Morphinity

      Here's an even better question:

      What 18 year old girl has a non-pr0n website?
    • monergism, on 10/11/2007, -12/+2World traveling can be done cheap. My last week long photo trip to Central America was about $650. That includes room, board and travel.
    • Flummoxer, on 10/11/2007, -1/+21@monergism

      Hardcore mountain climbing isn't cheap though.
    • griz, on 10/11/2007, -1/+1Her blog leading up to the summit.

      http://www.samanthalarson.blogspot.com/
    • Misogyny, on 10/11/2007, -0/+9What is the going rate for Everest these days? 50-60K?
    • triscuitbiscuit, on 10/11/2007, -0/+21@misogyny...
      About 60K...
      The permits from Nepal are some of the real killers... I think they are around 30K... Also the insurance b/c most insurances won't cover you climbing up Mt. Everest.
      On top of the 60K for the expedition you also need expensive gear. Coats run upwards of 1000 dollars and you need ropes and tents and crampons, etc. Probably in the end it will cost 75 grand or so...
      If you saved up for it, I think it would definitely be worth it however...
    • Jabertsohn, on 10/11/2007, -13/+3It's not that impressive, what is the point in climbing mountains?
      It is not like there is gold at the summit.
    • eatdjorange, on 10/11/2007, -20/+0quote "Gee, I wish my parents could have afforded to jet-set me around the world so I could climb mountains."

      I'm sorry your parent were poor and they didn't believe in your dreams, passion and goals. So what are you doing now, talking ***** about your parents how you never made it to the top?

      Well, for me I know I wouldn't be able to handle that lifestyle of risking my life and climbing mountains days in nights out.
      and plus my parents would never support me, my dreams, passion on mountain climbing.
    • Netrilix, on 10/11/2007, -1/+3Heh, if I decided to climb Everest, my dad would be right beside me. Hell, probably ahead of me.
    • hobbers, on 10/11/2007, -0/+5"World traveling can be done cheap. My last week long photo trip to Central America was about $650. That includes room, board and travel."

      Do you or anyone else have information on how to achieve this? I've always thought this to be the case, but haven't figured out how to put it together yet. I'm guessing you travel efficiently and stick to the local areas instead of the tourist areas to keep costs down.
    • mabba18, on 10/11/2007, -1/+13@urusai
      Right on!

      When I was 18, I was working for a living, trying to contribute to my family, and not pissing away mommy and daddy's money to feed my own vanity.

      How dare anybody say that those of use not lucky enough to be born wealthy are pathetic.
    • monergism, on 10/11/2007, -2/+2@hobbers
      contact me at my nick @ gmail.
    • FlamingWombat, on 10/11/2007, -4/+9Yes, yes, let's all fawn over her and all that, without realizing that the real reason she was able to do all this wasn't so much athletic ability and all that, but money. A pretty significant portion of 18 year olds could probably do the same thing if they were freaking loaded. Everest costs at least $65k, and in most cases more, not to mention the other mountains. So this is really more about her being rich than anything else. High five to the few others who actually got this.
      Let's also consider that rather than use the money for a good cause, she/her family have gone and blown it on something entirely frivolous which just makes her look good.
    • diggzoid, on 10/11/2007, -2/+1Great job young lady!

      Hate the fuc*ed up spam forbe$ ad I was subjected to.
      No Digg!
    • Comatose51, on 10/11/2007, -2/+10Calm down guys. Obviously being from a wealthy family gave her a huge opportunity to do these things but she still has to take it. You don't see Paris Hilton at the top of Everest at 18 do you? Climbing Everest is not a joke. You have to be fairly athletic to do it. As you rise in elevation, the air thins and it gets really cold. The winds up in Everest can be hurricane speeds. There is a reason why people still die trying to summit Everest. Yes it would be great if we lived in a world where any 18 year old can try and climb the seven summits. The fact that most of us are not that lucky doesn't mean her feat was any less admirable. There has been and there is a very large number of 18 years who come from wealthy enough of a background that they could have afford to do this. Everyone of them up to now has failed or most likely choose not to. Kudos to her for aiming for something like that instead of just partying her youth away.
    • Mamesj, on 10/11/2007, -8/+3Her Dad does all this with her.

      $$$ on that he molests her.

      and she's a transvestite.


      /watches too much House
    • Jumba990, on 10/11/2007, -2/+1I bet she's going to get her own fully customized wiki page within a week
    • S1ngular1ty1, on 10/11/2007, -2/+5I would like to be the first to scale her mountains.
    • chronusmcgee, on 10/11/2007, -0/+2Australia was the easiest continent.
    • Midnightbrewer, on 10/11/2007, -0/+2So if your dad is a doctor and has the money to fund you in coming with him in a hobby that he does, anyway, can that really be said to be an achievement? Sure, it takes guts, but the way was not only paved for her, she was given a sports car to boot.
    • noopzilla!, on 10/11/2007, -0/+2im sure we'd see a lot more people (probably younger) doing this if more parents were as 'carefree' about giving their children a ***** ton of money to go flying around the world climbing *****.

      in all fairness, she DID do it all with her dad. so i guess it's kind of like a rich-parents-vacation thing, only they're climbing mountains instead of being lazy in a touristy city.

      but uh, yeah. right on. whatever :)
  • bigd063, on 10/11/2007, -12/+3@ hbweb500

    All those ***** on myspace and facebook for example.
    • ChocoMidget, on 10/11/2007, -1/+19Dude her dad is an anesthesiologist those guys make like 300K a year, no wonder she can afford to do this, still pretty bad ass.
    • smujesse, on 10/11/2007, -11/+7Anesthesiologists also pay 200k a year for malpractice insurance thanks to douchebags like John Edwards.
  • m3mn0n, on 10/11/2007, -10/+5Too bad her web server isn't nearly as durable. Down at 60 diggs.

    www.duggmirror.com/world_news/18_Year_Old_Climbs_World_s_Highest_Seven_Summits
  • gab00n, on 10/11/2007, -16/+5When I read that I knew it had to be some crazy narcissistic yank.
    • LeanenStreet, on 10/11/2007, -3/+15Ya, because performing to the best of ones ability is such a waste of time.
  • ePlus, on 10/11/2007, -11/+12I'd hit it!
  • nepalikakro, on 10/11/2007, -4/+16Whatever, in Nepal, we do our morning 'warm-up' by walking up Everest and back.
  • monergism, on 10/11/2007, -12/+1Most 18 year olds haven't even left their home state.

    Sadly I'll never be able to cimb Everest. I refuse to pray to any other god.
    • Jo9100, on 10/11/2007, -4/+1correction: most 18 yr old statesiders didn't
    • Misogyny, on 10/11/2007, -4/+0I'm sure you'll be missed...
    • Negyxo, on 10/11/2007, -0/+9"I refuse to pray to any other god."
      Wow, that came out of nowhere.
  • kurtwinter, on 10/11/2007, -4/+31How much is talent, and how much is her parents' ability to pay for her lifestyle? While her accomplishment is notable, it is less so because many 18 year olds are trying to go to college, get grades, and earn a little money for the tough costs in front of them. Not to rain on her parade, but its not like every minor has the chance to go mountain climbing half way around the world.
    • handsoffme, on 10/11/2007, -2/+20Sure, but how many 18 year old girls would do this even if they had the opportunity?
    • jaems, on 10/11/2007, -0/+17I agree. When I read about her accomplishment, I kind of wondered who her parents were, as the amount of money involved in this undertaking is huge. Lo and behold, her dad is an anesthesiologist, who easily make several hundred thousands of dollars a year. I'm sure a lot of us know of (if not ourselves) friends who would be willing to undertake such a task if given the opportunity.

      Still, kudos to her. She joins a very exclusive company.
    • sathias, on 10/11/2007, -4/+9Don't be daft, having the money to climb Everest is only a tiny part of the challenge. Do you know how many people die climbing Everest? Quite a proportion. This is a big achievement for anyone, let alone an 18 year old girl.
  • brianoh, on 10/11/2007, -4/+11I agree with Kurt. I don't think this is a feat in itself, there would be millions of other 18 year olds that have accomplished the things she had, if their parents had financially supported them. I know I would have tried.
    • skyfire1, on 10/11/2007, -4/+4Besides, as others have said, any able-bodied 18 year old could do the same thing if they had the proper funds.
    • SenatorPenguin, on 10/11/2007, -1/+2Yeah, any able-bodied 18 year old can climb Everest. Well, except for the 1 in 10 climbers who DIE.
    • skyfire1, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1Senator, I would like you to cite your sources. That sounds like pure *****.
  • HappyScrappy, on 10/11/2007, -1/+4I don't see how this is any tougher for an 18 year old than a 19 year old anyway.

    Anyway, read "Into Thin Air", Doug Herzog's (pres. of MTV networks) wife was dragged ("roped") up Everest with almost no prior climbing experience. Once the ropes are set up for the season, the climb isn't that bad if you're physically fit. It doesn't require extraordinary climbing skill.

    As others have pointed out on here, her major qualification was having the dough to fly from peak to peak to get it done in just a couple seasons.
  • djwade, on 10/11/2007, -1/+64i beat guitar hero 2 on expert ....
  • p51d007, on 10/11/2007, -5/+2Wouldn't it be easier to just take a helicopter ride to the top?
  • dannybull, on 10/11/2007, -1/+3getting up mt. everest is $65k minimum. thats the going price everyone is throwing around at least...
  • ezkcdude, on 10/11/2007, -0/+9After climbing Kiliminjaro a couple of years ago, I can't imagine every wanting to climb Everest. She's got to have an incredible spirit.
  • thepeepshow, on 10/11/2007, -6/+4she hasn't climbed k2... or nanga parbat. Both of which are in Pakistan and are renowned to be harder climbs than everest.
    • techiemac, on 10/11/2007, -0/+5Agreed. K2 is an insane climb!

      But her accomplishment is pretty impressive. Just because there are ropes, ladders, O2, etc, up Everest, summiting Everest is still dangerous and a very difficult feat.
    • SenatorPenguin, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1Yeah, I know. What a loser.
  • TrevorBradley, on 10/11/2007, -2/+4A 4.43 Grade Point Average?

    I thought they maxed out at 4.33 (A+). At least they do where I come from.
    • manfrin, on 10/11/2007, -1/+7An A in AP classes usually count as 5 grade-points.
    • PuppadogServant, on 10/11/2007, -0/+33I have an amp that goes to 11.
    • Cwo655321, on 10/11/2007, -2/+2@manfrin
      you have to remember that there are a lot of stupid people on digg that will bury you out of ignorance.
  • FluxHarmonic, on 10/11/2007, -4/+35I bet she has a PHENOMENAL ass.
  • 666dorado, on 10/11/2007, -2/+7she could be the world's hottest woman to climb everest
  • drpunkerz, on 10/11/2007, -5/+1pics or it didnt happen.
  • DarkReign16, on 10/11/2007, -6/+12WAIT. Let me guess a few things before I ever look for her picture. She is rich, and white, those are my guesses.
  • Phyrefly, on 10/11/2007, -3/+11Gee, a rich kid has enough moolah to climb mountains. Forbes... haha
  • kurttrail, on 10/11/2007, -4/+16Let me guess. All you ***** dissing this young lady are a bunch of fat ***** that have a hard time climbing out of their computer chairs.
    • skyfire1, on 10/11/2007, -3/+5Speak for yourself. From what I've seen around here a good majority of people have to stay in shape to join the military so they can pay for college.
  • xen271, on 10/11/2007, -2/+3And here I sit smoking weed. My life is a failure.
    • HarryCallahan, on 10/11/2007, -1/+8You're a high flyer just like her.
  • Skooma714, on 10/11/2007, -9/+2Well excuse us for not having rich parents in order to be able to do this *****.

    Part of me hopes she falls a couple feet and breaks a leg, not too much. Just enough to show her what life is like for everyone else.

    I dislike people who seem to be able to accomplish everything and never encounter crippling probelms. The hell with her.

    If Everest beats her it shall be forever in my pantheon of heroes, joining the Great Calculus for pushing another lucky bitch flat on her ass.
    • MondayJBlack, on 10/11/2007, -1/+9You don't know a damn thing about her and you're wishing misery on her. I'm sure you're the life of the party.
    • tech42er, on 10/11/2007, -2/+3Go to hell, you *****. It's pathetic, wishing pain and misfortune on someone for no good reason, except maybe petty jealousy. You dislike people who accomplish amazing things? Wow. There's no hope for you.
    • skyfire1, on 10/11/2007, -1/+1Skooma is just another emo.
  • MondayJBlack, on 10/11/2007, -1/+9Just because she's a rich white kid doesn't take away from the face that she CLIMBED MT. EVEREST.

    I suppose you'd much rather see rich white kids serving 45 day jail sentences.
    • tech42er, on 10/11/2007, -1/+2Given what he said above, it seems like Skooma might.
    • Skooma714, on 10/11/2007, -2/+0Nah. On thinking on it I think I should revise my position. I was projecting my anger toward another achiever, which isn't fair to this one. Besides, this one would totally ruin the other one's *****.
  • mabba18, on 10/11/2007, -2/+2Bury
  • Synapse84, on 10/11/2007, -2/+1i'd tap it.

    and for those interested... google cache of her website.
    http://72.14.253.104/search?q=cache:M_5pzqZytSEJ:www.samanthalarson.com/+samantha+larson&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=us
  • rosko1234, on 10/11/2007, -0/+2I was looking at her website and I saw a blog message there left from her on the day when she reached the top of Mt. Everest. I am curious to know how can someone write in their blog while on top of the most isolated (in terms of attitude) place on the face of the Earth? Can one of you guys provide me with an answer to this question?
    • techiemac, on 10/11/2007, -0/+3Sat phones dude. You can actually get data plans for sat phones. Granted you wouldn't want to be streaming video or anything since it's pretty low bandwidth but you can email with sat phones.

      People actually email from base camp over there :). Of course she may have also radioed down to base camp and someone sent it for her. Pretty crazy how connected our society is!
    • 666dorado, on 10/11/2007, -1/+3dude, they put an internet cafe up there, didn't you hear?
    • ldkronos, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1You should have read down one more post:
      "We don't have internet access up here, but we were able to relay this information to our correspondents in New York via sattelite phone."
  • yomamaphat, on 10/11/2007, -1/+6A lot of 18 year olds could accomplish this with the money.... That's the real challenge.
  • execute, on 10/11/2007, -2/+1The real questions here are: 1. Is she a mac user and 2. what bandwidth does she get on top of Everest?
    • techiemac, on 10/11/2007, -0/+3Tiny amounts of bandwidth! Actually if you look at a sat phone like Iridium, you get a blistering 2400 baud across it's data modes! Of course that's more than adequate if you are simple sending emails. I believe there are some sat phone plans that can support higher bandwidth rates but not by much.
  • xbasilx, on 10/11/2007, -5/+3please. any able-bodied 18 year old can do the same damn thing. her accomplishment is a NON-accomplishment, like eating at macdonalds for 30 days. why do people gain such noterity for such meager mundane tasks.
  • robbiedo, on 10/11/2007, -0/+8Why all the haters? Take advantage of whatever opportunities life presents you, and make the best of them. I read that in my P.F. Chang's fortune cookie.
  • HanSolo69, on 10/11/2007, -3/+1a WOMAN????? marked as inaccurate. if we let this kind of garbage proliferate through the intrawebs the next thing you know people will think a woman might be good enough to be president. you people make. me. sick.
  • LogitechG15, on 10/11/2007, -3/+5Regardless of ones amount of money they have climbing ***** MOUNT EVEREST is an AMAZING feat. It takes skill any of you bums being negative to this whole matter would never have, and regardless of what you say would not be able to just develop with a lot of money.
    • tech42er, on 10/11/2007, -1/+2I know. It's not that ***** easy to climb Mt. Everest. While it is a factor, the money is certainly NOT the biggest factor.
  • tektalk, on 10/11/2007, -1/+2I can never afford to do something like that, but mad props to her for accomplishing it. It's not an easy feat.
  • RyeBrye, on 10/11/2007, -2/+2No K2? No Siula Grande? Nothing done alpine style? Denali trip is still "under construction"? Weakling.

    So, she bagged all the peaks money can buy. Great. If I had the money to pay a sherpa to haul all my crap up a mountain and take a picture of me at the summit, I could do that too...
  • saponify, on 10/11/2007, -1/+0Now if she did something original that took sustained intellectual focus or heroic athletic ability or something that helped humanity, she might be worth something other than the cash value of her elements.
  • Tweets, on 10/11/2007, -2/+2 Over 2,000 people have climbed Everest, and this is still news ?
  • jclassracer, on 10/11/2007, -1/+3**Cut to 2 years from now... www.samanthalarson.com will require an age verification and a credit card.

    my god... i'm an awful person.

    digg this down.
  • bmind, on 10/11/2007, -2/+0You poor people sound so pathetic. I feel sorry for you.
  • DarkReign16, on 10/11/2007, -1/+5"Hey look, look at me. I am white, female, rich, and I graduated with a perfect GPA! Not only that, but I climbed a bunch of very tall, dangerous mountains! I even have a website by my own name! Please look at me, or else I will need to do something else for attention, like spend my millions. People who aren't perfect like me are just lazy, and they are just jealous."

    If she was poor, she could never have done this. Her money enabled her.
  • koebs, on 10/11/2007, -0/+4Im going to have to go along and say that im not too impressed. Anyone with a bit of athletic ability and alot of money could have done anything like this.
  • fudged71, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1I have a month before my 18th. Maybe can climb all seven by then?
    *****, I've been thinking about that all day. hahaha
    • gbro, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1You could, but how fit is your bank account?
  • Digitalmafia, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1Hmm - a whole lot of comments about wealth and rich people n cost of climbing. I went to Nepal on a shoestring budget - didnt do Everest, but I trekked the mountains and then later went on to Tibet-most people could save up and do something like that (I saved it while working in a motorcycle shop-real white collar ;)...few do, although so many people talk and dream about it. Travel does not have to cost a lot, people are just generally lazy n content being boring-they live their lives via the movies and tv.

    **I think the most impressive part of this story is that she and her dad did this together - kudos to that guy for working his ass off and being that involved with his daughters life. Oh yea, she is going to Stanford too - she is an exceptional girl. So many parents are on autopilot with their kids-you don't have to go to exotic lands to be involved-you can summit your own seven peaks with your kid, be it hiking, sports, road trips or whatever. Cool story-cool dad.

    *Oh yea EVEREST is ez...while I was there 4 people did on the way up...must not have had enough money...
    • ldkronos, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1Travel does not have to cost a lot, but climbing everest DOES. Perhaps you missed the repeated posts here mentioning the costs. In case you did, I'll repeat it for you......65K! You can be as shoestring as you want and it's still not going to be cheap. If you wanted to try climbing it with zero equipment, zero food, zero help, and zero transportation (you walked there) it would STILL cost you $25K just for the permit. $25K is the starting point. All of those other requirements are on top of that.

      http://www.nationalgeographic.com/adventure/0305/expert_everest.html

      I'm not saying what she did wasn't impressive or anything...just addressing your suggestion that you can do it inexpensively.
  • satx, on 10/11/2007, -4/+0IM IN UR MOUNTAINZ CLIMBIN UR PEAKZ
  • satx, on 10/11/2007, -4/+1IM IN UR DIGG COMMENTZ SECTIONZ MAKING DOUBLE POSTS BECUZ OF SERVER SQUIRRELZ
  • joelypolly, on 10/11/2007, -1/+2Alot of petty comments regarding money. Most people work hard for their money even if it is a high paying job. Don't go bashing people just because they might have worked harder then you and got their rewards. Sure she has money but her parents still had to work for it. You don't get something for nothing and I don't get why people keep expecting it.

    If you don't have enough money to climb a mountain does it make her acheivement any less?
    • skyfire1, on 10/11/2007, -0/+2Key word: her parents earned the money. She's just a freeloader.
  • gthrank, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1Absolutely brilliant!
  • badogg, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1If anyone is going to scale these peaks, it should be an 18 year old.

    I am more impressed with the older guy who made the summit of Everest on two prosthetic legs:

    http://www.legsoneverest.com/

    Now, I am not trying to take it all away from her as anyone who can make Everest's peak is 'the man' in my book.
  • zarkon33, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1Ha ha. I guess that 15 year old Sherpa girl's daddy can't afford to fly her around the world to go mountain climbing. What a loser! I bet if he worked harder he'd have the money to take care of his little girl. Instead, she has to haul around other people's portable camping stoves and REI microfiber underwear.
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