Junko Tabei becomes the first woman to summit Mount Everest
On this day · 16 May 1975
Twelve days after an avalanche buried her in her sleep, the Japanese climber reached the top of the world's highest peak.
On May 16, 1975, Japanese mountaineer Junko Tabei stood on the summit of Mount Everest, becoming the first woman ever to reach it and the 36th person overall. Climbing alongside her Sherpa guide Ang Tsering, she completed an ascent that had nearly ended in disaster.
Tabei led the Japanese Women’s Everest Expedition, made up largely of working women. At about 6,300 meters, an avalanche swept their camp and buried Tabei in her tent; she was dug out unconscious. She resumed climbing after only two days of recovery.
Just twelve days after being pulled from the snow, she was on top of the world.
With oxygen limited, the team could send only one climber to the top, and they chose Tabei. Born in 1939, she went on to become the first woman to complete the Seven Summits, the highest peak on every continent, before her death in 2016.
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