Alex in her own words: I had my first taste of climbing mountains in March 2012 when I made a solo three-week trek in the Nepal Himalayas. The experience was life changing and inspired me to reach even greater heights by setting one of the biggest goals of my life so far – to climb the 7 summits. I tackled the first of the 7 summits on 9 June 2014 as a very proud member of the first team to summit Russia’s Mt. Elbrus, the highest mountain in Europe, from the difficult north side in pre-season. Less than six weeks later, on the 17th of July, I successfully climbed Mont Blanc solo, without a guide, team or support. I summited at 6.45am, reaching the top in just over four hours. I have also successfully summited Kilimanjaro in September, second of my 7summits. On the 6th of December 2014, I stood on the top of the highest point of Antarctica, Mt Vinson. After months of hard training and preparation I summited one of the most difficult one; North America’s highest peak Denali in June 2015. Continuing my 100% summit success, I climbed Aconcagua in South America on the 2nd of January 2016, the highest mountain in the world outside the Himalayas and stood on the top of Oceania's highest point, Carstensz Pyramid in Indonesia on the 19th of March 2017. To keep pushing my boundaries, I successfully climbed the Matterhorn in August 2017 without acclimatisation. After a 6-months focused training I scaled Mt Everest, the highest mountain in the world on the 18th of May 2018. New episodes every Tuesday and Thursday at 7am UK time - Make sure you hit that subscribe button so you don’t miss out. The tough girl podcast is sponsorship and ad free thanks to the monthly financial support of patrons. To find out more about supporting your favourite podcast and becoming a patron please check out www.patreon.com/toughgirlpodcast. Show notes Growing up in Hungary Coming from a sporty family Moving to the UK 14 years ago Building a career in marketing Deciding to make a change in her life Quitting her job in 2012 with no plans Travelling to Nepal Falling in love with the mountains Making the decision to climb the 7 summits Overcoming her fear of heights Heading off to climb Mt. Elbrus Putting a plan in place to climb the 7 summits Practical steps of making it happen Writing everything down Focusing on safety Working with local guides and companies Funding and paying for the 7 summits Taking out a loan and maxing out credit cards Feeling exhausted from the challenge Reflecting back on the different mountains Doing more research and asking more questions Surrounding yourself with positive people Feeling ready to take on the mountains Not telling many people at the start Why climbing Mt. Aconcagua was so hard Struggling with injury 2 weeks before the start Turning the negatives into positives Leaving for the summit… Dealing with adventure blues Challenges and adventures after Mt Everest Her passion for mountain biking Thinking about the next challenge The impact of Covid Follow along with the adventures Final words of advice and why you should just go for it. Social Media Website http://www.alex7summits.com Instagram @alex7summits
