18-year-old Lucy Westlake from Naperville, Chicago, summits Mt. Everest, the highest mountain, to become the youngest American woman to have ever stood on the top of Everest. 

Lucy Westlake at the summit of Mt. Everest. Photo Courtesy: Lucy’s Instagram.

Lucy Westlake reached the summit of the world’s tallest mountain on May 12th at 5:36 AM (Nepali time) with Mingma Chhiring Sherpa and became the youngest American woman to have ever scaled the mighty Everest.

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Westlake after reaching Everest Base Camp, Photo Courtesy: Lucy herself.

According to the world records, Malavath Purna, an Indian mountaineer aged 13 years and 11 months when she reached the summit, is the youngest female in the world to summit Mount Everest. However, Westlake is the youngest American woman to do so. 

Mingma, who helped her summit, Everest, works as a climbing sherpa guide. “The expedition took 26 days, and every single step was worth it,” said Lucy. Talking about Mingma, Lucy added, “Looking up at the summit from Camp 4 the day before our summit push, it truly looked impossible, but that night at 9 pm, we began our climb, and 8.5 hours later, we did it!!” I still can’t believe it. In my weakness, he gave me strength. “

Lucy with her climbing guide Photo Courtesy: Lucy’s Instagram

Lucy has one next goal, which is to complete the Explorers Grand Slam. This includes the challenge of reaching both the north and the south poles and climbing each of the highest peaks in the seven continents. Other than Mt. Everest in Asia, this fearless Naperville native woman has successfully climbed Denali in Alaska, Mount Elbrus in Europe, Mount Kilimanjaro in Africa, and Aconcagua in South America. Next, she has Mount Vinson in Antarctica, the Carstenz Pyramid north of Australia, and both poles on her bucket list. 

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Recent high school graduate, Lucy Westlake, will aim to become the youngest mountaineer to complete the Explorers Grand Slam. We have a Japanese woman who was 20 years old when she completed it in 2017. 

Article by

sanjib adhikari

Sanjib is a seasoned adventurer and a tourism expert who has spent the past 6 years immersed in Nepal's vibrant travel industry. He has trekked through Nepal's iconic landscapes in the Everest, Manaslu, Annapurna, and Langtang regions. He now spends his time writing about different places in Nepal and helping others travel effortlessly.