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Australian climber Allie Pepper has announced her bid to summit Mount Annapurna-I without supplementary oxygen as part of her 14-peak summit bid aimed to be completed within two years.
Addressing a press conference here in the national capital on Saturday, the 48-year-old climber from Sydney's Blue Mountains announced that she is preparing for the spring ascent of the 10th highest peak. "I climbed Manasalu when I started my project last year. I climbed up Manasalu with Mikel (Sherpa) and it went very well while I was climbing without oxygen. So up until now I have been just climbing with one Sherpa (mountain guide) but now I have decided to do this project in two years. So, I started on July 15 in Broad Peak in Pakistan last year, and my aim is to complete the project by July 15, 2025," the famed Australian climber said. With the slogan, "The Respect Above the Clouds 14 Peaks No O2," Allie, with 24 years of experience in different mountains, now is eyeing the 12 remaining peaks. Seven Summit Treks is locally managing her expedition in Nepal while a small crew is also working hard to document her climb. Pepper wants to complete all 14 peaks without oxygen in the fastest time possible. As per the records, there are two men in the world who have verified ascents of all 14x8000 meter true summits without oxygen. But the timeframe for completion stands quite wide, with 16 years for completion. "Now in Nepal with the spring season we will start with Annapurna and I am climbing along with the Mikel, all of the mountains. In Nepal we are climbing along with Nima (Sherpa) is his (Mikel) brother," Peeper said. As per the plan, Pepper would attempt the summit of Kanchenjunga and Makalu after Annapurna in the first phase. Mount Annapurna-I is often regarded as the toughest mountain to summit among the 8000ers. In May 2023, Pepper also attempted to summit Mount Everest, the world's highest peak, without oxygen but returned from an elevation of 8450 meters. Despite the failure, she became the first Australian woman to reach that height without supplemental oxygen. As per the accounts shared by Peeper, she embarked on her first 8000-metre expedition in 2007 by climbing Cho Oyu (8188 metres) in Tibet in 8 days without the use of supplemental oxygen. (ANI)
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