A Former Cross-Country Skier Just Became the First Woman to Climb Everest, Lhotse and Nuptse in the Same 10 Days
Kristin Harila, who summited all 14 of the world's 8,000m peaks in a record 92 days, has now completed Everest's brutal Triple Crown — mostly without bottled oxygen.
Only a handful of climbers in history had ever summited Everest, Lhotse and Nuptse in the same short season — and none of them were women. On 27 May 2026, Norwegian mountaineer Kristin Harila changed that, topping out on Everest ten days after summiting Nuptse, with Lhotse in between. She climbed two of the three without bottled oxygen. It was her second world first in three years.
Harila, 40, grew up racing cross-country skis in Norway before turning to high-altitude climbing. In 2023, with Nepali climbing partner Tenjen ‘Lama’ Sherpa, she summited all fourteen of the world’s 8,000-metre peaks in 92 days — smashing the previous record of six months and six days. Then, on 7 October 2023, Tenjen was killed in an avalanche on Shishapangma in Tibet while guiding an American client toward the summit; his body was never recovered. In his memory, Harila founded the Lama Sherpa Foundation, a Norway-based charity that pushes for safety standards, proper equipment and fair pay for the Sherpas and porters who make Himalayan climbing and trekking possible.
Climbed without supplemental oxygen.
Used bottled oxygen because of high winds — her 30th summit above 8,000m.
Without supplemental oxygen — the first Norwegian ever to summit Everest that way.
The Triple Crown — Everest, Lhotse and Nuptse climbed in one season — was first completed in 2013 by British guide Kenton Cool. In the thirteen years since, only a small number of elite climbers, nearly all of them professional Sherpa guides, have managed all three. Harila is the first woman on that short list, and she did most of the climbing without the oxygen most of the men before her relied on the whole way.
What this means for trekkers
What this means for you
Harila’s record sits at the extreme edge of what the Khumbu is capable of — but her foundation’s cause sits much closer to what every trekker actually experiences on the ground. The Sherpas and porters who fix ropes, carry loads and guide clients through the Icefall are the same workforce that guides every Everest Base Camp trek, and their pay and safety conditions vary enormously between operators. Read our reporting on the Icefall Doctors who rebuild Everest’s most dangerous mile every morning for about $3,000 a season for the numbers behind that gap, and ask any agency you book with directly how their guides and porters are paid before you hand over a deposit.
For trekkers who want to walk into the same amphitheatre Harila just climbed out of, our Gokyo Ri trek and the demanding Everest Three High Passes trek both bring you within sight of Nuptse’s south face and the Lhotse wall without needing a rope or an oxygen mask.
Source: Kristin Harila and Wikipedia, cross-referenced with Gripped Magazine and SnowBrains reporting.
Cover photo: Alice Maggi via Pexels (Pexels License).
来源： Kristin Harila (official site)
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