On Thursday, July 27th, Kristin Harila, a Norwegian mountaineer, and her guide Tenjen (Lama) Sherpa achieved an extraordinary feat by successfully climbing Mount K2 in Pakistan. This ascent marked their 14th highest mountain conquered in just over three months, totaling 92 days.

This accomplishment made them the fastest climbers in the world to scale all peaks above 8,000 meters (26,246 feet). The news was confirmed by an official from their Nepali organizing company.

Their incredible achievement surpassed the previous record set by Nirmal Purja, who completed all 14 peaks in six months and one week back in 2019. While the accomplishment was witnessed and acknowledged by other climbers on the mountain, it is yet to be officially approved by the Guinness Book of World Records.

In May 2021, Harila set a world record by becoming the fastest woman to climb Mount Everest and Lhotse in 9 hours.

In another noteworthy event, photojournalist Purnima Shrestha also scaled Mount K2 on the same day, making it her eighth 8,000-meter peak conquest. Before this, she had already conquered seven 8,000-meter-high mountains in Nepal, setting a record as Nepal’s fastest woman to achieve this feat when she summited Mt Makalu (8,463m) on May 27, 2022.

2023 is proving to be an incredible year for women in mountaineering as they continue to scale new peaks and create new records.