First Woman To Conquer Seven Summits, Junko Tabei's Legacy Lives On

Meet the first Woman to ascend the mighty Mount Everest, and not just that, she is also the first woman to scale the formidable Seven Summits, she is Junko Tabei. Junko climbed Mount Everest in 1975, which followed her many expeditions to the various summits in the seven continents. While she initially planned to be a teacher, her passion for scaling new heights made her the legend, that she is today.

Junko Tabei's Early Life

Junko Tabei was a Japanese mountaineer, born on  22nd September 1939, in a small town named Miharu located in Fukushima prefecture. From being considered a "Frail" child to being the first woman to scale new heights, Tabei excelled in her mountaineering career. She began mountain climbing at the young age of 10, going on a group climbing expedition to Mount Nasu. Also known as Junko Ishibashi, she studied English and American literature at Showa Women's University.

Junko's Climbing Voyages

Tabei established the Joshi-Tosan Club in 1969, an all-women mountaineering club with the slogan " Let's go on an overseas expedition by ourselves". The establishment of the club was a result of how she was treated by her male counterparts of that time, her male companions refused to climb with her, while a few others made fun of her expeditions with some dogmatic remarks.

Those remarks only strengthened her vision to bring a change, when she started her journey to Everest in May 1975 along with 14 other women, who were accompanied by many journalists and a television camera crew. The midway troubles made it tough and only allowed one of the 15 members to continue their expedition. After those uncountable hurdles, Junko Tabei became the First Woman to summit the mighty Mount Everest, along with her sherpa guide Ang Tsering on 16 May 1975.

As Tabei persisted in her mountaineering endeavours, she eventually ascended Kilimanjaro (1980), Aconcagua (1987), Denali (1988), Elbrus (1989), Mount Vinson (1991), and Puncak Jaya (1992), the highest peak on each continent.[4] She made history by becoming the first woman to complete the Seven Summits after her successful ascent of Puncak Jaya.

Junko's Legacy

Junko has also written several books, and taken up various environmental initiatives, and social activities worldwide. Junko passed away in 2016, after a 4 year ailment with stomach cancer. Junko has an asteroid, and a mountain range named after her in Pluto. Tabei has left behind a legacy to be celebrated for decades to come.