Female Mountaineers

Francys Arsentiev was an American mountaineer. In 1998, she became the first American woman to reach the peak of Mount Everest sans the aid of bottled oxygen. Unfortunately, she died during the descent. Prior to her ascent of the Everest, Francys Arsentiev had climbed many Russian Peaks along with her husband Sergei Arsentiev.

Pasang Lhamu Sherpa was a Nepalese mountaineer. In 1993, she became the first Nepalese woman to reach the peak of Mount Everest. However, she lost her life while descending. Pasang Lhamu Sherpa was honored posthumously in various ways by mountaineers around the world. She also became the first woman to receive the prestigious Nepal Tara by the King of Nepal.

Austrian mountaineer and climber Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner scripted history as the 2nd woman to climb all 14 of the eight-thousanders of the world and the 1st woman to do so without supplemental oxygen. The 2012 National Geographic Explorer of the Year also scaled many peaks with her then-husband, German mountaineer Ralf Dujmovits.

Emelie Forsberg is a Swedish athlete who competes in ski mountaineering and trail running. Renowned for her endurance and incredible strength, Forsberg has won six medals so far including four gold medals at the Skyrunner World Series. She also has one gold medal at World Championships and three gold medals at European Championships. 

Refused entry in the Tour de France because she was a woman, French athlete Marie Marvingt finished the course by herself. An aviator and mountaineer, too, she later made many sporting records. She was the first female fighter pilot. She had also been a journalist, a medical officer, and a ski school instructor.

Suzanne Al Houby scripted history when she became the first Arab woman to have climbed Mt. Everest and the Seven Summits. The Palestinian mountaineer also owns the adventure travel company Rahhalah Explorers and once led a group of Arab amputees to Mount Kilimanjaro, as part of a charitable event.