Conquered 14 of the world's highest mountains in more than 3 months
On July 27, Harila and her Nepali guide successfully conquered Mount K2 - the world's second highest with 8,611 m - in the Karakoram mountain range in Pakistan. This is one of 14 mountains over 8,000 that Harila has conquered in more than three months – the fastest in the world so far.
Tashi Lakpa Sherpa, Managing Director of Seven Summit Treks (SST), a company that provides logistics services to mountaineers in the capital Kathmandu (Nepal), confirmed the news. Several climbers of K2 at the same time told Reuters they met Harila on the journey and described the journey as difficult because of the inclement weather with heavy snowfall.
Harila began to conquer Mount Shishapangma (8,027 m) in Tibet, China on April 26, 2023, and then climbed Everest - the highest in the world (8,848 m), Kangchenjunga (8,586 m), Lhotse (8,516 m), Makalu (8,485 m), Cho Oyu (8,201 m), Dhaulagiri (8,167 m), Manaslu (8,163 m) and Annapurna (8,091 m). She then went to Pakistan to climb Nanga Parbat (8,126 m), Gasherbrum I (8,080 m), Gasherbrum II (8,034 m), Broad (8,051) and finally K2. Total time is 92 days.
The old record belonged to Nirmal Purja of Nepal set in 2019 with a period of six months and one week. However, Harila's record has not been confirmed by the Guinness Book of World.
Conquering the 14 highest peaks in the world in a few months is a challenging feat that many climbers still strive to accomplish each year. Up to now, 50 people have been identified to successfully conquer 14 of the world's highest mountains, according to chronicler Eberhard Jurgalski - the world's leading researcher of the Himalayas and 14 of the world's highest peaks.
The first to complete was Reinhold Messner of Italy from 1970 to 1986, when he was 42 years old. The first woman was Germany's Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner from 1998 to 2011. This achievement is disputed with Oh Eun-sun, who worked from 1997 to 2010, due to suspicions that the Korean climber has not conquered the summit of Kangchenjunga.
