Young Woman's Quest to Becoming a Mountaineer Leads to History Being Made

A 23-year-old from London just became the youngest woman to climb the world's 14 highest peaks after choosing to follow her passion for mountaineering.

Summit of K2 / iStock

Adriana Brownlee, a young woman from London, made mountaineering history on October 9 as she became the youngest woman to summit the 14 highest peaks in the world.

Before she began to dedicate her time to mountaineering, Brownlee was a University of Bath student living the life of the average 23-year-old. However, the mountains called and she decided it was time to put a halt on her studies and pursue her passion for climbing.

According to The Times, Brownlee wrote a foreshadowing message in her elementary homework assignment, sharing her dream.

"I would like to be famous for climbing the highest mountain in the world... and be one of the youngest girls to do this. To achieve my goal, I would have to train very hard every day running to get very fit," she wrote.

Not only did she fulfill her dream of climbing Mount Everest, the highest peak in the world, but she reached an additional goal of becoming the youngest woman to climb all 14 peaks.

The 14 peaks, which are all above 8,000 meters, consist of Mount Everest (8,848m), K2 (8,611m), Kangchenjunga (8,586m), Lhotse (8,516m), Makalu (8,485m), Cho Oyu (8,188m), Dhaulagiri (8,167m), Manaslu (8,163m), Nanga Parbat (8,125m), Annapurna I (8,091m), Gasherbrum I (8,080m), Broad Peak (8,051m), Gasherbrum II (8,034m), and finally, Shishapangma (8,027m).

Brownlee's journey to climbing the 8,000-meter peaks began roughly four years ago. To put her speed into perspective, it takes many climbers decades to complete such a feat. As stated by BBC, prior to her journey at high-altitude, Brownlee grew a fixation with mountains after climbing the Yr Wyddfa's "Three Peaks Challenge" at 8-years-old.

Upon reaching the summit of Shishapangma, her final mountain before completing all 14 peaks, the magnitude of what she was about to achieve had set in.

"I started to cry. I hadn't reached the summit yet, I couldn't even see it, but I knew it was going to happen. It took another hour before we reached the incredible summit. By this time it was just sunrise and we had a beautiful clear sky," Brownlee told The Times.

With her astonishing record now in the books, Brownlee plans to continue climbing, but has a goal of helping others along the way.

"I will stay in the mountains, but now I want to help others achieve their dream by creating a new generation of high-altitude mountaineering and trekking experiences which focuses on safety and clients' experiences," she stated.

Brownlee's accomplishment serves as a striking reminder that when you focus on your passion and purpose, as opposed to following your given path, the possibilities are endless. As a final note, she shared a powerful message on her social media: "If you take one (or two) lessons from this project, let it be this... never ever stop chasing your dreams."